MartinLogan SCRIPT i, User Manual

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ESL
Panel
Critical Zone: 500Hz–20kHz
The most significant advantage of MartinLogan’s exclusive
transducer technology reveals itself when you look at
examples of other loudspeaker products on the market today.
The Script i uses no crossover networks above 500 Hz
because they are not needed. The Script i consists of a single,
seamless electrostatic membrane reproducing all frequen-
cies above 500 Hz simultaneously. How is this possible?
First we must understand that music is not composed of
separate high, mid and low frequency pieces. In fact,
music is comprised of a single complex waveform with all
frequencies interacting simultaneously.
The electrostatic transducer of the Script i essentially acts
as an exact opposite of the microphones used to record
the original event. A microphone, which is a single work-
ing element, transforms acoustic energy into an electrical
signal that can be amplified or preserved by some type of
storage media. The Script i’s electrostatic transducer trans-
forms electrical energy from your amplifier into acoustical
energy.
Due to the limitations of electromagnetic drivers, no
single unit can reproduce the full range of frequencies.
Instead, these drivers must be designed to operate within
narrow, fixed bandwidth of the frequency range, and then
combined electrically so that the sum of the parts equals
the total signal. While nice in theory, we must deal with
real-world conditions.
In order to use multiple drivers, a crossover network is
enlisted to attempt a division of the complex musical signal
into the separate pieces (usually highs, mids, and lows) that
each specific driver was designed to handle. Unfortunately,
due to the phase relationships that occur within all crossover
networks and during the acoustical recombination process,
nonlinearities and severe degradation of the music signal
take place in the ear’s most critical zone (See Figure 20).
The Script i’s electrostatic transducer can single-handedly
reproduce all frequencies above 500 Hz simultaneously.
You have in one transducer the ability to handle in elegant
simplicity the critical frequencies above 500 Hz.
The crossover phase aberrations that are associated with
traditional tweeter, midrange, and woofer systems are
eliminated. The result is a dramatic improvement in imaging
and staging performance, due to the minutely accurate
phase relationship of the full-range panel wave launch.
Tweeter
Midrange
Woofer
Conventional Loudspeaker MartinLogan Script i
Figure 24. This diagram illustrates how a conventional
speaker system must use multiple crossover networks
that have negative effects on the musical performance.
Full Range Operation
crossover point (2–5kHz)
crossover point (500Hz) crossover point (100–500Hz)
Woofer
16 Electrostatic Advantages