[sci.electronics] Plasma speakers

bwhite@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Bill White) (10/16/90)

In article <7203.2719ec15@jetson.uh.edu> rcte2q@jetson.uh.edu writes:
>As the cut was
>being made, the test tone could be clearly heard emanating from the plasma.

	I seem to recall reading or hearing about a beast called a "plasma
speaker" - which used some form of a gas plasma (I think argon) to produce
high-quality sound.  I guess it even went to market, but was too high
priced and too bulky (you had to have a tank of argon to make it work)
for most people.  Is this just another urban myth?

>--Jazz Ninja


-- 
|   Bill White			Internet: bwhite@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu	|
|	BILDO'S FIRST METALAW:						|
|		All laws are, by their very nature, false.		|

ee5391aa@hydra.unm.edu (Duke McMullan n5gax) (10/16/90)

In article <2142@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU> bwhite@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU
(Bill White) writes:
>	I seem to recall reading or hearing about a beast called a "plasma
>speaker" - which used some form of a gas plasma (I think argon) to produce
>high-quality sound.  I guess it even went to market, but was too high
>priced and too bulky (you had to have a tank of argon to make it work)
>for most people.  Is this just another urban myth?

Back in the sixties, there was a plasma tweeter on the market (Ioneer, or
something like that, I think.) for a while. It died, apparently. I heard
stories of ozone-induced nausea, bad shocks and even a fire. (Note that I
_do_not_ speak for the veracity of any of those stories: they're _rumors_!)
Whatever the reason, it went away.

In the early seventies, Alan Hill of Albuquerque developed a virtually
distortionless corona/plasma speaker and marketed it in the late seventies.
It was an "upscale" (read: expensive as hell) device, and as far as I'm
aware was a commercial failure. I don't know if he ever sold any of the
things or not. If there's any interest, I can ask him...I need to talk to
him about something else, anyway....

A ham I knew, Howard Meridith w5q-something-or-other, now a silent key, had
a resonant coil of some sort that he drove with a 2 kW amplifier. In AM mode,
that thing developed an eight-inch corona -- corona, hell, it was an electri-
cal _flame_ -- that said whatever you said into the microphone. It's been
years since I've seen that...I musta been about twelve when he showed it to
me...and I can't recall any details on the how and what. Such is life.

							d


--
	"It's my _dessert_ that's gross! Look, a thermos full of phlegm!"
						-- Calvin
   Duke McMullan n5gax nss13429r phon505-255-4642 ee5391aa@hydra.unm.edu

gleason@mwk.uucp (Lee K. Gleason, Control-G Consultants) (10/17/90)

In article <1990Oct16.145517.10214@ariel.unm.edu>, ee5391aa@hydra.unm.edu (Duke McMullan n5gax) writes:
> In article <2142@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU> bwhite@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU
> (Bill White) writes:
>>	I seem to recall reading or hearing about a beast called a "plasma
>>speaker" - which used some form of a gas plasma (I think argon) to produce
>>high-quality sound.  I guess it even went to market, but was too high
>>priced and too bulky (you had to have a tank of argon to make it work)
>>for most people.  Is this just another urban myth?

  First place I saw anything about plasma speakers was a construction
article in the early '60s, in _Popular Electronics_. THe project used
a gas flame for the plasma source, and produced pretty acceptable audio -
a little weak on the low end, but not bad at all.

sjb@dalek.UUCP (Seth J. Bradley) (10/17/90)

In article <1990Oct16.145517.10214@ariel.unm.edu> ee5391aa@hydra.unm.edu (Duke McMullan n5gax) writes:
>In article <2142@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU> bwhite@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU
>(Bill White) writes:
>>	I seem to recall reading or hearing about a beast called a "plasma
>>speaker" - which used some form of a gas plasma (I think argon) to produce
>>high-quality sound.  I guess it even went to market, but was too high
>>priced and too bulky (you had to have a tank of argon to make it work)
>>for most people.  Is this just another urban myth?
 
>Back in the sixties, there was a plasma tweeter on the market (Ioneer, or
>something like that, I think.) for a while. It died, apparently. I heard
>stories of ozone-induced nausea, bad shocks and even a fire. (Note that I
>_do_not_ speak for the veracity of any of those stories: they're _rumors_!)
>Whatever the reason, it went away.

This sounds a lot like the Ionovac.  There apparantly were a fair number
made, and there are people who still collect them and manage to get them
to work.  I've never seen one, and don't know how exaggerated the danger
reports were.

>In the early seventies, Alan Hill of Albuquerque developed a virtually
>distortionless corona/plasma speaker and marketed it in the late seventies.
>It was an "upscale" (read: expensive as hell) device, and as far as I'm
>aware was a commercial failure. I don't know if he ever sold any of the
>things or not. 

He must have sold a significant number, because I occaisonally see them
used (for as little as $2500/pr.).  I was always under the impression
they used helium.  While production has been intermittent, as recently
as last year they were listed as available for $12,500/pr. in the Audio
Directory.  They weigh 580 lbs./pr., and the plasma driver only operates
at 700 Hz on up.  Conventional cone drivers (a 14" and 6 1/2") handle the
rest of the audio range.  A French company is trying to market a full range 
ion speaker.  There are a few problems though.  Maximum SPL is less than 90 
dB, they may have some ozone leakage, and they are priced at over 
$100,000/pr.!  They also weigh about as much as the hill, and are 4 ft.
wide.  Followups to rec.audio.
-- 
Seth J. Bradley   Path: {uunet}!iwarp.intel.com!dalek!sjb

KOSINSK@gecrdvm1.crd.ge.com (10/17/90)

  Back in 1971 i seen one with my own eyes and heard it with my own
ears. We clamped a gas torch in a vise got a 4 foot flame going
placed 2 corbon rods about a foot apart and a glass rod below it
to add ions. with the hiss of the flame and the lack of any low
end due to the short flame it sounded like crap.
 we figgured we needed an oil well fire to get the low end of
a cheap 15 inch speaker.
 we drove the rods with 100 watt amp.

LANGFRD@osu-20.ircc.ohio-state.edu (david langford) (10/18/90)

If any information can be found on these resonant speakers I would be very interested. I have a do High-Voltage projects as a hobby....
 
Thanks...
         David Langford
langfrd@ohstmvsa.ircc.ohio-state.edu
 
(sorry no neat fotter...yet)

rmf@bpdsun1.uucp (Rob Finley) (10/18/90)

In article <2142@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU> bwhite@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Bill White) writes:
>In article <7203.2719ec15@jetson.uh.edu> rcte2q@jetson.uh.edu writes:
>>As the cut was
>>being made, the test tone could be clearly heard emanating from the plasma.
>
>	I seem to recall reading or hearing about a beast called a "plasma
>speaker" - which used some form of a gas plasma (I think argon) to produce
>high-quality sound.  I guess it even went to market, but was too high
>priced and too bulky (you had to have a tank of argon to make it work)
>for most people.  Is this just another urban myth?

Nope.  It was real.  The system could use environmental air but 
would generate ozone as a result.  In the Audio magazine article, the
inventor would get asthma attacks near any electrostatic device
(I.E. photocopiers) after demonstrating it for the CES convention.

It did sound great but needed subwoofers (conventional) to make
up the low-end.

If I ever run across the article again...

-----
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