jim@noscvax.UUCP (James A. Zaun) (08/15/85)
[From Bill Sommerwerck, Stereophile, vol 8.3, p. 60]
VITASON continues on its lonely path, supplying only hi-fi pro-
ducts that are substantially organic. Their motto: "You can't
get natural sound from unnatural substances." Since everybody
and his brother makes an electrostatic speaker, they decided to
jump on the bandwagon. No Mylar for them, no sir. Their
diaphragm is made from sheep intestine membrane, and the speaker
system that results is called the Dynableat.
Sheep intestine is not exactly the most stable material, so
the diaphragm must be replaced after every ten hours of opera-
tion (or until your olfactory sense is alerted). This is not
really such an inconvenience, since your average audiophile
doesn't spend all that much time listening to his system. Since
most hi-fi nuts don't have a walk-in freezer in which to store
spare diaphragms, Vitason supplies them freeze-dried, wrapped in
aluminum foil.
Replacement couldn't be easier. First, remove the 20 readi-
ly available Torx screws that hold the speaker to the base.
Then dismantle the 6 bracket arms which hold the frame up, while
two other people prop it to keep it from toppling. Carefully
lower the frame to the floor. Remove the 35 screws that retain
the top plane, then pry loose the 102 small staples holding the
grille cloth. The diaphragm is mounted on a special carrier and
slowly pulled out, to keep it from catching on the stators (made
from bramble bush branches). Reverse the process with the new
diaphragm (don't forget all the staples, or the grille cloth
will rattle at levels above 75 dB), and then repeat these steps
with the other speaker. Voila! What could be simpler?
Organic audio will undoudbtedly be ordained the dernier cri of hi-end.
-Jim@NOSC (ARPAnet)jaw@ames.UUCP (James A. Woods) (08/22/85)
technically sweet, this piece. deserves a matching rodriguez cartoon. --jaw