Industrial design

NMJ electrostatic

 

Electrostatic hybrid speaker.

 

Years ago, I was introduced to a pair of electrostatic floor-standing speakers built by my father and another audio enthusiast. Even though the speakers were already 25 years old, I immediately sensed the unique qualities in their sound reproduction. This experience inspired me to explore an innovative speaker design of my own.

 

I began an extensive self-study journey, diving into topics such as acoustics, electrical engineering, technical design, material science, CNC machining techniques, and more. Over time, I developed a growing ambition to one day start my own speaker company, focused on serving the audiophile market.

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In my design, the upper part of the speaker—the electrostatic element—was constructed using round steel rods. The goal was to improve high-frequency dispersion, which has long been a weakness of planar speakers with large surface areas, as they tend to be highly directional. Unfortunately, the results did not meet expectations, and continuing with this approach proved unfeasible.

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But I wasn’t ready to give up. I realized that by angling the bass cabinet, I could achieve two key improvements:

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• Optimal positioning of the electrostatic element relative to the listener’s ear height, creating a well-defined sweet spot.

• Acoustic enhancement by using the angled structure to induce destructive interference in internal standing waves, thus improving the cabinet’s acoustic behavior and overall sound quality.

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Both objectives were successfully achieved. However, I still struggled with the limitation of a single optimal listening position, despite the impressive sound quality. In the end, I decided to wrap up the project.