Sensitivity - 94 dB
ESL Power Handling - Unlimited for any amplifier intended for domestic use
Bass Driver - 10"
Bass Design - Transmission Line
Crossover Frequency - User adjustable. Factory settings 172 Hz, 48 dB/octave slopes, Linkwitz-Riley filter
Frequency Response - 20 Hz. to 27 KHz. +/- 2 dB
Magtech Amplifier Power - 500 watts RMS per channel into an 8 ohm load. 900 watts RMS per channel into a 4ohm load. Both Balanced and Unbalanced Input / Output Connections
Speaker Net Weight (assembled) Model 10e - 90 pounds (40.8kg)
Speaker Dimensions - 15" W x 18"D x 69" H (38cm x 45cm x 175 cm)
Shipping Weight 5 boxes
Total shipping weight - 309 lbs (140 kg)
ESL Panel Size - 15" x 42" (38cm x 106.7cm)
Magtech Amplifier Weight - 55 pounds (25 Kgs)
Magtech Amplifier Dimensions - 17" wide x 5.5" tall x 16" deep (43cm x 14cm x 40.6cm)

Magtech Amplfier
Power (Stereo Version)
500 watts RMS per channel into an 8 ohm load
900 watts RMS per channel into a 4 ohm load
Bandwidth - DC through 100kHz
Class of Operation - Class AB
Input Impedance - 100K unbalanced, 1K balanced
Input voltage required for full output - 2.2 Volts
Noise - More than 110dB below rated output
Gain - 26dB
THD - Less than 0.01%
Damping Factor - Greater than 600 into an 8 ohm load
Voltage - Voltage is user selectable for use world-wide.

Weight - 55 pounds (25 Kgs)
Dimensions - 17" wide x 6" (including feet tall) x 15" deep (including binding binding posts) 43cm x 15.2cm x 40.6cm
17" wide x 5.5" (NOT including feet) tall x 14" deep (NOT including binding binding posts) 43cm x 14cm x 35.5cm

MER INFORMATION HÄR

Design philosophy
Roger Sanders built his first ESL (Electrostatic Loudspeaker) in 1972. He quickly appreciated the superior performance that a massless electrostatic offered over conventional magnetic speakers with regards to low distortion, lack of resonances, and incredible detail. But their problems of limited output, inability to produce deep powerful bass, and unreliability have kept him busy improving them over the last 30+ years.

The result of this lifetime of work is that Sanders Sound Systems ESLs are the only ones to have solved all the problems and limitations of ESLs. Roger's "Ultrastat" panels will play at ear-bleeding levels, cannot be arced, do not use or need protective circuitry, are immune to humidity, dust, and dirt, and do not need or use dust covers. They can be driven by multi-thousand watt amplifiers without damage. They are more rugged than conventional magnetic drivers. They do not fail and are so robust that they come with a lifetime warranty.

The Model 10 electrostatic speaker is Sanders' flag ship. It is the best speaker Roger knows how to make after 30+ years of research, design, and testing of electrostatic speaker. This is simply a no-compromise electrostatic speaker that solves all the problems that plague other electrostatic speakers.

Passive crossovers are not used as they are seriously flawed and degrade the performance of any speaker. Expensive electronic crossovers and biamplification are used to achieve spectacular levels of performance.

This speaker practically disappears into the room, both sonically and visually. This helps with the age old problem of the speakers taking over the room. This integrated speaker system will be a worthy anchor of a reference-level high-end audio system of the highest performance possible.

Features of our Model 10 speakers

• Perfect Insulation
• The amplifier cannot damage the Ultrastat panel
• No protective circuitry required
• Panel is arc-proof
• Extremely rugged and durable
• Immune to dust, dirt, humidity, insects, pet fur, and foreign objects
• Higher sensitivity (94 dB)
• Highest precision - made with computerized diamond routing equipment
• Greater percentage of open area and visual transparency
• More attractive appearance than perforated metal designs
• Voltage is user selectable for use world-wide
• Highly efficient operation permits the electronics to be left on continually without concern for electricity usage

How do electrostatic speakers work?

Unlike conventional speakers that use magnetic forces to move a relatively heavy cone, electrostatic speakers use high voltages to move an extremely thin, light diaphragm. High voltages produce an attractive force similar to magnetism. You may have discovered this by combing your hair on a dry day. The comb takes on a high voltage charge and you can feel it pull the hair on your arm or watch it pick up dust or small bits of paper.

Note that this charge is STATIC (it doesn't move). In an electrostatic loudspeaker (ESL), a small, high-voltage power supply puts a static charge on the speaker's diaphragm. Hence the name, electroSTATIC loudspeaker. This is also why the speaker must be plugged into the wall like any other electronic component. On either side of the speaker's diaphragm is a STATOR, an electrically conductive, acoustically-transparent grill. The amplifier is connected to both stators through a high-voltage step-up transformer.

The transformer is necessary to raise the voltage of your amplifier from a few tens of volts to the several thousand volts needed to drive the diaphragm. Music causes the amplifier to deliver varying amounts of electricity to the stators.

Like north and south magnetic forces, positive and negative electrostatic forces are attracted to each other, while similar polarities are repelled from each other. Music drives the amplifier to produce a positive voltage on one stator and a negative voltage on the other. These voltages alternate back and forth between positive and negative very rapidly to produce a tone. For example, "middle C" on a piano has a frequency of 256 Hz (Hertz). That means the polarity on the stators will alternate 256 times per second. The amplifier also alters the voltage as necessary to make the music a particular loudness.

Now, let's look at what is happening inside the speaker to make it produce sound. At a given moment in time, in response to the musical signal, let's say the front stator has a positive voltage. The rear one will be negative. Let's assume that the diaphragm has a negative voltage. Remember that the diaphragm's voltage is static and comes from the little power supply and does not change like the voltages do on the stators.

The negatively-charged diaphragm will be attracted to the positively-charged front stator because opposite charges attract. It will be repelled from the negatively-charged rear stator because like-charges repel. A moment later, the amplifier will reverse the voltage polarity on the stators, so the diaphragm will move the other way. As the diaphragm moves, it produces pressure waves in the air that we hear as music.

Why use electrostatic loudspeakers?
ESLs have several advantages over conventional magnetic speakers. These include better transient response, lower distortion, and absence of resonances. Here's why:

Transient response
The moving part of a magnetic speaker is relatively massive. Its voice coil, suspension system, and cone or dome, add up to a lot of mass. The total weight of all of these parts is much more than the air that the speaker drives. Music consists mostly of transients (rapidly starting and stopping sounds). Because mass has inertia, the mass of magnetic speakers prevents them from responding quickly enough to follow the rapidly-changing musical wave-form with perfect precision.
The diaphragm of an ESL is much thinner than a human hair. Its mass is so small, that at audio frequencies, an ESL can be considered to be a massless speaker. As a result, it responds instantaneously to the music and can accurately and effortlessly reproduce perfect transients.

Distortion
The voice coil of a magnetic speaker only drives one point (the apex of the cone or the edge of a dome tweeter). Because cones and domes are not perfectly rigid, the driven surface flexes and distorts the sound. By contrast, an ESL's diaphragm is driven uniformly over its entire surface. There is no distortion of the surface to alter the character of the music.

Resonances
A massive magnetic speaker resonates at many frequencies. It behaves somewhat like a bell. Because these resonances are not present in the music, magnetic drivers "color" the sound. Also, because the "ringing" continues long after the original note has stopped, transient response is poor.
An ESL's diaphragm is swamped by the mass of the air in which it is immersed. Much like trying to ring a bell under water, the ESL simply cannot "ring." The result is the legendary purity and clarity of sound for which electrostatic speakers are justly famous.

Magtech amplifier

Magnetic speakers differ from electrostatic speakers in one fundamental way -- they require massive amounts of current and power. This causes the power supply voltages in an amplifier to change dramatically (typically by 30%) between idle and full power.

Electronics have their lowest distortion and optimum performance at a specific design voltage. If the voltage varies, the amplifier's performance will suffer.

An additional problem in amplifiers is that they require bias to eliminate crossover notch distortion and determine their class of operation. The bias will vary as the voltage does, which will further reduce performance.

An amplifier's voltage will fluctuate wildly as dynamic music is played. This causes the amplifier's distortion and bias to vary constantly and fail to meet its full performance potential.

As if all these problems are not enough, as an amplifier's voltage sags under load, the power it can deliver is greatly reduced. If the voltage would remain stable, the amplifier could produce much more power. Since most audiophile speaker systems require several hundred watts of power to avoid clipping and compression of the dynamic range, power is extremely important.

The solution
All quality, line-level electronics use voltage regulation in their power supplies to produce a stable voltage, regardless of load or the mains voltage. Audiophiles would not consider using a source component that did not have regulated power supplies. So why use amplifiers with unregulated supplies?

The main problem is heat. Amplifiers operate at much higher voltages and currents than line level source components. These higher voltages and currents forces conventional regulator designs to waste large amounts of energy, which wastes expensive electricity and causes the amplifier to get very hot.

Also, many regulator designs radiate RF (Radio Frequency) energy when switching high currents and voltages. This RF gets into the amplifier's electronics and can cause instability, oscillation, and noise. As a result of these problems, modern power amplifiers do not use regulated power supplies and fail to take advantage of the benefits available from doing so.

Sanders has solved these problems by developing a voltage regulator that is essentially 100% efficient. There is no heat dissipated by the regulator system. There is no high-power/high-voltage switching that causes heat generation or RF problems.

The regulator in the Magtech amplifier maintains a stable voltage regardless of load or reasonable changes in the line voltage feeding the amplifier. It runs stone cold, produces zero RF energy, and is simple and reliable.

Unlike other amplifiers, the distortion in the Magtech amplifier is virtually unchanged regardless of power level. The bias is stable regardless of load.

The regulator makes it possible to obtain a 50% increase in power over the same amplifier operated unregulated. In its stereo form, the Magtech will deliver 500 watts/channel into an 8 ohm load and 900 watts/channel into a 4 ohm load.

The Magtech is built into the same chassis as the ESL Amp, so it is compact enough (17" wide, 5-1/2" tall, 15" deep) to place on a shelf or into a cabinet. It is also light enough (54 pounds) to be picked up. Like the ESL amp, it runs very cool and may be left on continually without concern for power usage.

The Magtech amplifier also uses the same advanced technology that makes the ESL amp able to drive the most difficult loads without performance-degrading, protective circuitry. The Magtech amplifier features a linear voltage regulator. The result is a compact, yet extremely powerful amplifier that is ideally suited to driving the most difficult magnetic speakers.