And so it came to pass, on 01-07-97 14:36,
   that Gordon Gilbert spake unto Matt Ion:
 MI>>  and being an entirely capacitive load, require an amp that can 
 MI>> deliver *LOTS* of current.
 GG>         Where did you get that idea?  Without the passive
 GG> crossover, the ribbons are almost totally resistive from what I've
 GG> been told. 
Unless Carver's doing something completely off the wall (which wouldn't be 
entirely out of the realm of possibility :) this is completely against the 
way electrostatic speakers work.  They are to condenser microphones as 
"regular" speakers are to dynamic microphones.  
From the _Handbook for Sound Engineers_, section 16.4.3 "Electrostatic 
Loudspeakers":
"An electrostatic loudspeaker consists of a diaphragm made of two pieces of 
metalic foil separated by a sheet of dielectric .... An electrostatic speaker 
is nothing more than a capacitor; the internal capacitance is in the order of 
0.0025uF from electrode to electrode.  Thus, the impedance presented by the 
loudspeaker to the output of the amplifier falls off at a constant rate of 
6dB/octave as the frequency is increased."
In essence, a large capacitor which is then hung vertically within the 
framework of the speaker.  A polarizing voltage is then applied to the foils, 
and the signal voltage fed to it to generate a fluctuation.  Again, like a 
condenser mic in reverse.
 GG> It's the passive crossover that makes it a tough load, although
 GG> hardly "entirely capacitive." 
Complex crossovers always complicate the load :-)
-------------------------------------------
Love, luck, and lollipops...
Matt


--- Sqed/32 1.10/unreg
---------------