Sanders Sound Systems

Model 10a ESL Speaker System

This is what Jason Victor Serinus of Stereophile had to say on his CES 08 blog about the sound of the Sanders new 10A ESL system:

"Every subtle nuance, every intention, every slight change of color and shading, was so perfectly clear that I felt like was but a step or two from the real thing. Ameling's voice has a fine line that most systems smudge, as well as a one-in-a-million radiance on high notes that most speakers cannot handle without distorting. Here, everything was perfect. Overtones on the piano were stunning, literally the best I've heard. I can only begin to imagine how good Sanders speakers and electronics would sound when paired with a front end of equal or better quality than my reference Theta Carmen II/Gen. 8 combo."

"Willie Nelson sounded fabulous, Miles Davis incredible. Just as with my CD, every bit of musical nuance seemed exposed. I wouldn't want to listen to second-rate musicians on such an infinitely revealing system, but with artists of genius, genius is what you hear. By all means check this equipment out. I certainly intend to do so again in the future." Jason Victor Serinus, Stereophile blog, 1/8/2008

Roger Sanders’ Eros ESL won the prestigious Absolute Sound Editor's Choice Award in 2001. He then designed the Innersound Kaya, Stereophile Speaker of the Year in 2005. Now he has put his 30 plus years of experience in designing ESL speakers into this latest model, destined to become a classic.

This integrated speaker system will be a worthy anchor of a reference-level high-end audio system. It will be known as the Sanders Model 10a and is the flagship in a full speaker line, with a smaller model 11a, and center channel Model 12a to follow.

• The Model 10a will be similar in size to the original Eros. It will be 15" wide and 68" tall.
• All Sanders' speakers will use composite stators, similar to the latest "Ultrastat" stators used in the last Eros design. These stators have perfect insulation, are immune to humidity, look great, and have never failed.
• The Model 10a will be a hybrid design using a new and improved woofer design. The woofer will be transmission line loaded to achieve the transient response and damping needed to achieve flawless integration between the woofer and electrostatic. The woofer cabinet will maintain the graceful curves seen in the Eros speaker rather than being the typical box. Using curved surfaces also greatly increases the stiffness and strength of the enclosure; resulting in better performance than flat-sided, box enclosures.
• The woofer enclosure sides will be finished in wood veneer. Both cherry and maple will be available. The top and back will be covered in black, aluminum laminate.
• The electrostatic panel will be made as sheer and minimal as possible. To meet this criterion, there will be no cabinet around the panel. Instead, it will be suspended by square steel rails only 3/4" across. The steel rails will be trimmed in wood that matches the woofer cabinet.
• The speaker will be modular in construction so that it can be shipped in relatively small boxes by couriers like FedEx, UPS, DHL, or even the Post Office. This will eliminate the cost and difficulties of shipping by truck. It will also make it easy to exchange or ship separate speaker parts instead of the entire speaker when upgrades or repairs are desired. The speaker modules will consist of the panels, the woofer cabinets, the woofer grilles, and the steel rails and trim.

Any speaker that claims to offer the finest performance MUST use electronic crossovers and bi-amplification as passive crossovers degrade the sound severely. Therefore the Model 10a will include electronic crossovers. To eliminate concerns about customers having to buy two amplifiers, the crossover will come with a built-in, 600 wpc bass amplifier. This "crossover/amplifier" will also include adjustable deep bass equalization so that the customer can achieve flat bass response in his particular room. It will also include an electronic volume control so that it can be matched to the customer's preamp or even used without a preamp if a single source is used. A digital readout will show the various levels and all controls will be available by remote control. The crossover/amp will come in either black or silver and will be built into the same chassis used for the Sanders Electrostatic Amplifier so they will form a matched pair.

ESL lovers, these will be your last speakers! Price is $12,995/pair.

Sanders Sound Systems offers the finest in high-quality audio components and accessories at reasonable prices and will feature some new ground-breaking technology developed by Mr. Sanders.

ESL AMPLIFIER

Features

The quality of construction is typical of the finest components made today. All exterior and interior aluminum parts are anodized. Steel parts are powder-coated. Resistors are high reliability, precision metal film, 1% tolerance. Capacitors are of the highest quality, and none are used in the signal path. Connectors are gold plated. Both balanced and unbalanced connectors are standard. Wire has been eliminated wherever possible. Where wire is necessary, it is silver-plated copper, 141 strand, 18 gauge, with silicone insulation.

Technical Details

This amplifier will deliver more than 2000 volt-amps per channel into an ESL, and when driving magnetic speakers, the ESL amplifier will deliver over 360 watts/channel into an 8 ohm load, and over 600 watts/channel into a 4 ohm load. Momentary output into a 2 ohm load exceeds 1000 watts. For more details about our amplifier, please refer to the ESL Amplifier White Paper and the Amplifier Bias White Paper.

ESL Monoblock Loudspeaker Amplifier

The Sanders Sound Systems ESL amp is now available as a monoblock power amplifier. Performance is similar to the ESL amplifier with the exception of dramatically increased power output capability! As with the Sanders Sound Systems ESL amplifier, the ESL Monoblock offers superb build quality, superlative sonics with extremely high output capability.

Features

The quality of construction is typical of the finest components made today. All exterior and interior aluminum parts are anodized. Steel parts are powder-coated. Resistors are high reliability, precision metal film, 1% tolerance. Capacitors are of the highest quality, and none are used in the signal path. Connectors are gold plated. Both balanced and unbalanced connectors are standard. Wire has been eliminated wherever possible. Where wire is necessary, it is silver-plated copper, 141 strand, 18 gauge, with silicone insulation.

Kilowatt Monoblock Amplifier

Sanders Sound Systems "Electrostatic Amplifier" has proven to be the finest amplifier available for electrostatic speakers. This reputation has resulted in many requests for a magnetic-speaker amplifier that offers similar ground-breaking performance. The "Kilowatt Monobloc" is that amplifier.

The main problem with most magnetic speaker systems is inefficiency. Very few amplifiers have enough power to drive them even moderately loudly without being overloaded. The Kilowatt Monobloc solves this problem with so much power that it simply will not be taxed by any home audio system. Its power, innovative circuit design, and magnificent build quality result in the finest sonics available but at a lower price and with higher power than any competitor's amplifier. This is the last amplifier you will ever need.

Features

• 1,000 watts continuous power at 8ohms
• 2,000 watts continuous power at 4ohms
• 56 output devices capable of a combined power of 14,000 watts
• No protective circuitry -- the output stage is so massive that the power supply cannot overload it.
• Completely balanced design with mirror image circuitry from input to output. Each phase has a completely independent power supply.
• Single-ended RCA input included. No switches or jumpers required when switching from balanced to single-ended operation.
• Absolutely the very finest construction without regard to cost. Chassis is completely machined, anodized, heavy-gauge aluminum. Even the huge power capacitors are mounted in machined-aluminum housings. Face plates are 1/2" thick, CNC-machined aluminum.
• Although the weight is over 100 pounds, the amplifier is small enough to fit on most equipment racks (7" tall, 18" wide, 20" deep)
• Quiet operation -- no cooling fans -- huge heat sinks.
• Line voltage is user-selectible from the back panel.
• Black or silver face plate.
• High efficiency design runs cool and may be left on continually without regard for power usage.
• "Standby" mode feature turns off the output stage bias to further reduce power usage. This circuit maintains optimum operating parameters for "instant-on" operation.