The field of the invention is electrostatic loudspeaker systems and more specifically, systems having two or more electrostatic driver elements, or speakers, which operate over different frequency ranges in the audio spectrum.
To provide an efficient electrostatic loudspeaker system, drivers of differing sizes are combined to cover the entire audio spectrum. Each is designed to operate over a limited frequency range and the audio output signal applied to the speaker system is coupled to a crossover network that includes filters which direct the frequency components of the audio signal to the appropriately designed electrostatic driver element. The crossover network in a two-way speaker system establishes two frequency ranges and may, for example, direct audio frequencies below 500 Hertz to a bass driver element and direct audio frequencies above 500 Hertz to a tweeter drive element. The coils and capacitors which are required in the filters of such crossover networks are bulky, heavy, and add considerable expense to the speaker system. Such crossover networks become even more complex and expensive when three- and four-way speaker systems are contemplated.