Monthly Estatron Product Development Update
I'm going to try and keep this short and sweet as it is a work night and I need to go to bed.
Energizers: Been doing a lot of piddling background research for this and spent some time tweaking the Turbo Destroyatron 2000. It is almost ready for a full release I just need to send out some more prototypes to verify it, and then update the schematic with the tweaks.
I have also been doing some research into amplifier modules, the plug and play kind, so that at a later point I can make a all in one module.
The Inductatron has been doing very well, so well I am running low on boards. I will have to order more soon and will be making small changes to the design to improve it. This will be a much more subtle change than the chassis, and will not garner a full revision.
The Economy transformers are getting reworked. I am simply no longer happy with them. I want them to be noticeably easier to drive than the Hammonds so that they work better for people with pickier, or lower powered amps. Also to make up for the fact that I can't make them sound as good as the hammonds. I plan to split them out from the main Inductatron as an entirely new product that can double as a headphone stand. It will use the same bias circuit as the Inductatron, just different output transformers, and hopefully I will be able to get the price down to an even $200, but we shall see about that.
I have ordered transformers to test for this, and will do so this upcoming weekend.
Tools:
Tools are very very important because they enable you to build things. I have two big fancy new tools in my collection.
The first is new adapters, specifically new adapters that let me accurately measure estat amplifier outputs with a Quant Asylum QA403. (An excellent piece of equipment) these adapters are repeatable and feature a dummy load. I will post a blog about just these at a later date. Other adapters I had to make are less cool, they are simply some adapters to allow me to connect the QA403 to a XLR input.
The really cool new tool I have acquired is a pair of MiniDSP Ears PRO. The reason I purchased these will be very obvious if you looked at the cover image.
And the final Announcement: Electrostatic headphones.
These are not the Condensitrons that I showed off at Canjam Socal 2026. They are much smaller, and easier to drive. I am calling them the Capacitrons. They are not in any way ready to sell, they are barely even physical objects, but they are much closer than practicality would suggest.
They are a revision of a previous design I had mashed together with some of the "Cool" features from the Condensitron. They will be by far the most reliable and easy to build headphones I have designed so far, with double moisture and dust shields, and fully insulated stators.
I hope to improve the sound-stage and imaging over the Condensitrons, but I am completely throwing away any semblance of an attempt at keeping any of the bass at all. 100 percent treble and mids.
I also really want them to be very very comfortable. I want them to be comfortable enough to wear for twelve hours at a time with no fatigue of any kind.
I have already made 2 complete revisions of the design. (The one pictured is the first) I suspect I will have to make at least three more. I am very concerned about the headbands durability, as I have heard from multiple highly respected headphone designers that 3d printed plastic does not like fatigue.
That is all the announcements I have for this month, I'll talk to you all again on November 1st!