Final Labs
1000i Full Range Electrostatic Speaker System
It’s late in the day and CES
has all but worn me out (I love going to the Consumer
Electronics Show every year in Las Vegas, but ten hours on
my feet and I’m pooped). One more room, I thought to myself,
and I’ll call it a day.
The sign on the
next door down the hallway read: Final Sound. It
sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Anyway, it
was the closet option and I was beat. Ten steps later my
fatigue vanished… the sound here was so captivating I didn’t
sit down, but just stood there soaking it all in. “Do you have
any questions?” Huh? What? Collecting my thoughts and wiping
the drool off my chin, I turned to find the company
representative standing next to me. Yes, I said, I do have one
question: Where do I sign!
Only a couple of times have I
been impressed enough with a product to become a dealer on the
spot - the Final Sound 1000i was that good.
Interestingly, I
had “heard” this company’s offerings on a previous occasion
and came away cold (in hindsight, quite understandable, given
the conditions). The speakers were on display in what show
goers refer to as the “zoo,” the overcrowded floor of the
gigantic Las Vegas convention center. The place is loud,
raucous, jam-packed with people and so noisy it’s hard to hear
yourself think. So who could tell what the Finals sounded
like? This year was different, very different. Their suite was
located in the Venetian Hotel with the rest of the high end
crowd, where (relatively) quiet hotel rooms allow more serious
listening. Good move.
I must admit, I’ve always had a
weakness for electrostatic speakers; their ultra fast,
transparent character reveals intimate detail and timber like
no other transducer. Coherency, too, is another forte, and a
characteristic that no multi-driver speaker can hope to match.
However, like any other design, they have their limitations.
Historically ‘stats have been tough to drive, somewhat fragile
and very “beamy,” allowing only one listening position. Final
Sound electrostats shrink those issues, almost to a vanishing
point, or at least far enough that a good percentage of those
who ruled out electrostatic speakers might now consider owning
a pair. Let’s see what makes the Final Sound design unique.
 With their exclusive
Inverter Technology™, Final has
re-engineered the way sound and polarizing voltage is handled.
Unlike traditional electrostatics, where a polarizing voltage
is applied to the Mylar diaphragm and the audio signal is
directed to the outer stator panels, Final inverts the process
sending the audio signal directly to the diaphragm through an
audio conductor embedded within the sealed 12-micron clear
film speaker diaphragm. The simplicity of the new
Inverter Technology™ design
insures speaker impedance will remain well above 4 ohms across
the entire frequency spectrum for the smaller speakers and
above 3 Ohm for the larger models. This allows the use of
lower powered amplifiers (as few as 35 watts) to drive the
speakers. Until now, high-performance electrostatic speakers
required more powerful and expensive amplifiers with 100 - 200
watts per channel to adequately drive the speakers. No more.
In addition to improving
performance, sealing the conductors inside the diaphragm helps
protect the speaker against scratches, dust, cigarette smoke,
and other environmental damage.
Another slick move, Final
divides the panel into vertical segments of varying widths.
The partitions (running from top to bottom along the panel)
mechanically damp portions of the panel at certain
frequencies, allowing distinct frequencies to radiate from
each segment. This is especially important for the higher
frequencies. Here’s why.
One of the problems vexing
electrostatic (and other flat panel) speakers is beaming at
high frequencies - the result of having a large surface area
reproducing a small waveform. Final’s trick of segmenting the
diaphragm drastically reduces this problem since the narrowest
of the segments reproduces the higher frequencies, thus
increasing horizontal dispersion and virtually eliminating the
“head in a vise” phenomena. Additionally, the broader
dispersion increases soundstage width, allowing the image to
extend beyond the outer edge of the speakers. Another first,
Final uses variable stator-to- panel spacing (the distance is
greater at the area of the panel which reproduces low
frequencies), allowing for more excursion and therefore
greater output. Novel, don’t you think?
Other advantages of planar
electrostatic speakers include:
·
The extremely light weight
diaphragm contributes to exemplary frequency response (both in
amplitude and phase). A light diaphragm is fast, able to start
and stop very quickly, improving transient response, reducing
overhang and increasing transparency.
·
Furthermore, the thin diaphragm
is less prone to the resonances common in cone drivers.
·
Electrostatic speakers do not
require an enclosure, eliminating a significant cost and
removing a major source of coloration.
·
Minimizing lost acoustic volume
and wasted amplifier power. Unlike point source radiators
(most cone speakers), whose output drops off by 6dB for every
doubling of distance (inverse square law), the output from a
planar line source is decreased by just 3dB for every doubling
of distance. So, for a given volume level, more sound reaches
the listener. As an example, if we measure 90dB output at 1M
from a point source radiator, we hear a level of just 78dB at
4M. A same 90dB produced by a planar speaker results in an
84dB level at the listener. If we turn that around and say we
want to see 84dB at the listener, the point source speaker
needs to play at 96dB. From the amplifiers perspective, this
requires four times more power. Furthermore, the planar wave
front results in less room interaction by providing a broader,
non-beaming first wave reflection, improving sound staging and
intelligibility.
The theoretical and practical
advantages are interesting, but as Audiophiles, we are more
interested in sound quality. That brings us to the meat of
this article.
To preface, I’ll note that I
have a listening room from hell. In fact, I can’t recall a
room I’ve been in, ever, that was as difficult to work
with as the one selected for the Finals. Even though we
followed all the formulas, employed all manner of construction
details and were diligent in their execution, we ended up with
a stinker. As a result, speakers that would take me a few
hours to rough in (and a few days to tweak) in another room,
take weeks to sound halfway decent, months to tune, and may
never sound quite right. The 1000i was the very first
speaker that was stunning from the word go. Time will tell if
this was dumb luck, but I get the feeling that Final’s
comments about the speakers being easy to place carries some
weight.
So, what does the 1000i
sound like? Let me break that answer down into smaller bites.
·
Coherency:
I don’t know of a more coherent speaker than the Final Sound
1000i. There is just something about crossover-less speakers -
removing the large passive components from the signal path
eliminates a tremendous amount of obfuscation. The best single
driver systems are indeed very coherent, but they make too
many tradeoffs to satisfy me. The best multi-driver systems
can be very good, but once you’ve heard the real deal, you’ll
know what you’ve been missing.
·
Resolution of fine detail:
Delicacy and nuance are prized qualities in a loudspeaker.
There are a few speakers out there which are quite good in
this respect, but the 1000i will stun you with their abilities
in this domain. The minutest details are easily hearable, and
even at low levels – these are not speakers that must be
played loud to open up- another quality hard to come by. Most
speakers need to be run up to a gallop to hit their stride and
come alive and I often find that volume too loud for my taste.
No need to wake the neighbors to hear detail with this
speaker.
·
Imaging:
A really good point source speaker can be outstanding in its
ability to focus players on the stage. Bi-polar speakers in
general aren’t quite as good in this regard. Even though I
love a tightly focused image, I find the 1000i are good
enough, and I’m willing to trade a teaspoon here for a
tablespoon there. Remember, no speaker is perfect, you choose
based on the fewest weaknesses.
·
Air:
Now here’s an area where planar speakers excel. The ability to
float the images in space gives the speakers an ethereal
quality and reveals spatial cues that define ambience, venue
and proportion; tough qualities to come by.
·
Stage Height:
As good as some small speakers are at extending the vertical
stage above the enclosure, they just can’t compete with a
taller speaker. The taller the speaker, the taller the
soundstage. With a height of 78”, the 1000i accomplishes that
task, enveloping you in a soaring sound field that has width,
depth and realistic vertical extension.
·
Frequency extremes:
Electrostats aren’t known to be great performers in the
subterranean realms, but most people will be surprised by the
bass extension of the 1000i. I don’t think you’ll have to
worry about a cracked foundation, but I do think you’ll find
this speaker offers bass extension adequate for the vast
majority of music. Few will complain about a speaker with the
ability to move air into the low thirties. If you really must
have subterranean bass, Final makes a very good subwoofer.
·
Transient Speed:
The neat thing about ‘stats is rise time and settling time, or
how fast they start and stop (begin and end the note). I’ve written about it before but
it bears repeating here – the ability of a speaker to end a
note is just important as the ability to begin the note. While
a number of factors influence this ability, I think the most
important is a light diaphragm which easily transitions from
rest to action and back to rest. This almost instantaneous
transition from motion to motionless is vital to defining the
dynamic envelope, which in turn is crucial in understanding
the emphasis the performer placed on each note. Just play
plucked strings on the 1000i’s and you’ll understand what I
mean.
The bottom line: Yes, there are
speakers that have more scale, those that have more slam, some
play louder, others have more bass and a few compete on
soundstage, but when totaling up the bottom line, the 1000i is
as good as anything I’ve heard at the price. And, if you’re
like me, it won’t take you long to come to that conclusion. At
$12k, the model 1000i is the top of the line, but Final offers
models starting at $995.
There are a half dozen speakers or so that I
rank as my all time favorites.
That list just grew by one.
Enjoy The Music review by Dick Olsher - pdf file
"To my way of
thinking, the Final Sound 1000i represents a milestone in
the evolution of the electrostatic loudspeaker. It is a
reliable, real-world ESL, whose musically expressive
personality has won me over in spades. Its harmonic purity,
tonal realism, and dynamic range meet the needs of most
musical genres. If I had to live with only a single ESL —
cost no object — the 1000i would be my top pick. A must
audition for any ESL aficionado and anyone serious about
approaching the live experience at home." Dick Olsher
for Enjoy The Music
"The Final Sound 1000i electrostatic
speakers are truly delightful. I loved the transparency, the
clarity, the natural timbre, and the smoothness of the
sound. They require a good amplifier, but that is standard
for ESLs." John E. Johnson, Jr. in Secrets of Home
Theater Hi-Fi
"It was therefore
gratifying to see the perfect marriage of video and audio in
the form of a plasma display surrounded by electrostatic
panel technology. The folks at Final Sound provide, if not
the final sonic solution, then certainly a most definitive
one." Dick Olsher, CES 2007 Report
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