any plasma experimenters ?
Raymond Koonce
I've probably seen the same pages... I once subscribed to a tesla list at te...@pupman.com where you can get a lot of coil info. It's as busy as the JoeList. Because of my interests in both Tesla stuff and hi-fi, I'm really interested in the plasma tweeter thing too. I don't think they'd be too difficult to build. If you get any good ideas, post them here. I'll look around and do the same.
Regards,
Raymond
Those big sparks are cool, aren't they...
James Bednar wrote:
I've finally lost my marbles, the B+ of a 211 amp no longer scares me, so
I've decided to take another step forward and start fiddling around (albeit
very carefully) with plasma tweeters/loudspeakers. Anyone else out there
tryed them out? There are a few pages on the web with some smaller
implementations that look promising, but I'd like to try to go for something
a bit bigger. I've seen a couple tesla demonstrations that have prove that
low frequencies and high outputs are possible...Anyone?
-jb
David Ginsberg
http://members.aol.com/uhaumann2/plasma/ion.htm
Note Dr. Siegfried Klein invented both the Ionovac/Ionofane and
the Magnat Tweeter. A personal geek golden moment is when Jon
Dahlquist introduced me to this fascinating engineer (Dahlquist
was going to distribute Magnat in the US) I've been running
highly modified Ionovacs for years as super tweeters. Wildly
impractical (but hey, you can say that about most gear we RATs
own!)I was attracted to them for their engineering intrest. I've
taken mine pretty far with a direct-drive amp (ECC803S/6CG7)
built right into the tweeter case, and no horn. Flat (at least
electrically, I certainly don't have the mike to acoustically
measure) to ~85kHz they are as open and transparent as I've ever
heard with the exception of some other exotic tweeters (Technics
10TH1000 leaf tweeters, various ribbons, etc.) Good luck rolling
your own!
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
James Bednar
Garthap
Haven't built any myself (has anyone?) but I do have a pair of speakers with a
plasma tweeter built here in Germany by Otto Braun named the Corona (not
to be confused with the like named beer, both good BTW). They require a certain
amount of maintenance but are without a doubt the finest tweeter I and many
others
have ever heard. Mating other drivers to them is a problem but if one could
build
one that is fullrange that's it! LIVE!
Garth
reylon...@my-deja.com
I've been offered a pair of Magnat tweeters,which I think would fit in
admirably with my M-L CLS IIs.My listening enviornment is approx.2000
sq. feet.Would these tweeters pose a health hazard?I do most of my
listening with closed windows.Thanks,Raanan
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
James Bednar
the Magnats do not use helium as the plasma medium(?). They use the air
itself, and because of this, some ozone is created in the process. Ozone
isn't the best thing for you to be breathing in. However, on another note,
I worked in a big print shop for a while with a row of giant Siemens laser
printers. The smell of ozone was VERY distinct and couldn't be missed, all
day long, all week long, the whole time I worked there. (If you don't know
what ozone smells like, go up to an old tv set (one that crackles when you
touch the screen) boot it up, rub your hand all over the screen, and smell,
you cant miss it).
Just think of it this way, your fixing the hole in the ozone layer :).
If you don't want those Magnats, I would really LOVE to get my hands on
them.
-jb
<reylon...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:8aopa8$4p0$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> In article <20000315123840...@ng-bh1.aol.com>,
> gar...@aol.com (Garthap) wrote:
> > From: "James Bednar" jbe...@isbgroup.com
> >
>
> I've been offered a pair of Magnat tweeters,which I think would fit in
> admirably with my M-L CLS IIs.My listening enviornment is approx.2000
> sq. feet.Would these tweeters pose a health hazard?I do most of my
> listening with closed windows.Thanks,Raanan
>
<snip>
David Ginsberg
tweeters. My Ionovacs put out such a small amount that there is
only a faint odor right near them when they first fire up. Hill
Plasmatronics are quite another thing!
Andrew
Is there anyone out there who has tried this themselves?
reylon...@my-deja.com
"James Bednar" <jbe...@isbgroup.com> wrote:
James,The guy with the Magnats owes me 950$.Are they worth that much to
you?Raanan
per_ho...@my-deja.com
David Ginsberg <ginsberg...@catskill.net.invalid> wrote:
> I wouldn't worry about unhealthy levels of ozone from plasma
> tweeters. My Ionovacs put out such a small amount that there is
> only a faint odor right near them when they first fire up. Hill
> Plasmatronics are quite another thing!
>
> * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion
Network *
> The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet -
Free!
>
Syntetic rubber are quite sensitive to ozone, so whay does this mean to
- say - a woofer? Or wiering? /Pär
David Ginsberg
only hifi pieces that can literally destroy the competition!
Anyway, years of Ionovac use have not produced any damage to
butyl rubber surrounds or my Strathern mylar. Just another .02
David Ginsberg
Popular Electronics (probably in the '60's) had an article about
building one; if I recall, take a blowtorch and have the flame
hit a metal plate. Hang the secondary (or was it the primary??!!)
of an audio transformer between the metal nozzle and plate.
Drive the other side of the trannie and sound comes out. The
article also suggested some added stuff like salt water drizzled
into the flame helped. Someone out there please do a search and
find the article. Let us know how it works.
Bill Sheppard
actually? A modulated Tesla coil? Enquiring o.c.'s want to know.
oc
alk...@mcs.net
> I wouldn't worry about unhealthy levels of ozone from plasma
> tweeters. My Ionovacs put out such a small amount that there is
> only a faint odor right near them when they first fire up. Hill
> Plasmatronics are quite another thing!
> * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
> The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
to really fire things up why not go with propane?
in grade school,before out of control lawyers Bell labs put on a demo
one day to show their high-tech stuff of the day.
the last thing was a yard long burner with a wire a foot or so above it.
after lighting it he asked us all listen carefully.
then he threw a few switches,turned a knob and there was music!
not loud but very clean highs as I recall,and watching the flame change
shape with the sound was cool. you think a musical barbeque grill would sell?
James Bednar
for tesla coils, and spare parts (if you get my drift). Man, why can't I be
an internet millionaire. Oh well..
-jb
<reylon...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:8apvgq$ra$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
James Bednar
driving a coil (tesla coil) with the audio signal modulating a high
frequency carrier wave. Basically, the way I see it working is this:
Tesla coil resonates at a fixed frequency, causing arcing at the electrode.
By modulating the amplitude of this resonating frequency with the audio
signal, sound is made.
Simple... right?
-jb
Bill Sheppard <old...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:27834-38...@storefull-174.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
Bill Sheppard
running in class A on smooth DC, with amplitude modulation. A wind is
produced by corona discharge from a sharp point, and pressure
fluctuations of this wind reproduce the audio. How good is the guess?
(Tesla "pinwheels" spin from the corona-discharge wind off a couple
of points.)
oc
Dennis "DirtBall" Shaske
sixties when I was in Tech School as an open house project fro the school. I
will attempt to remember the hook up ....
We used a large tube type power amp ( mono ) ( about 150 watts ) with it's
input hooked a music source. We had a similar audio output transformer as
was in the power amp. We hooked the 8 ohm output of the power amp to the 8
ohm output of the separate transformer ( thus making it an input ) Then we
hooked about six 300 volt power supplies in series to get about 1500 volts
at 1 amp ( I think it was about one amp, may have been more ) of power.
These were hooked in series with the input ( now output ) side of the
separate audio output transformer. Also in this series circuit were a pair
of welding rods with the flux knocked of them. The were held by separate
clamps and positioned about an inch apart. A flame from a butane torch was
positioned between the two welding rods and with careful positioning of the
rods, and continues spark ( arc ) would develop between the rods through the
flame. The 1500 volts would be modulated by the music in the separate audio
output transformer.
As I recall, I thought it sounded like the greatest tweeter of all times in
clarity. I remember it was a big hit at the open house.
Buffstereo
copier charger filament
wire. Apparently it worked quite well but a great deal of ozone was emited,
and he suffered ozone poisoning. He said he couldn't go near a copier for a
year after that. Folks reported his speakers they were the best speakers
they'd ever heard. I read all this in a Stereophile interview years ago. I
wouldn't buy Stereophile today, but the story stuck with me. Why not contact
him through his business site. Search for "Pass Audio Labs". Robert Thompson
Live and let live!
Doak Wattigney
I heard a story about the Pass Plasma speakers recently from a major
speaker manufacturer who shared exhibiting room with Pass at a show -
CES, I think. Pass' speaker was said to resemble a yogi's "bed of
nails." They were hooked up to some monstrous amps, of course of Mr.
Pass' design. He roped them off due to the high voltage present.
At some point late in the day a ruckus was heard which turned out to be
paramedics taking Mr. Pass away on a stretcher due to ozone poisoning.
The speakers were said to sound very clean, but even with the big amps
did not produce much in terms of volume.
-Doak-
Larry Roe
with one side of the output connected to the burner, and the other to a
center electrode pulled from a spark plug. The ionization level in the
flame was elevated by bubbling the fuel (natural gas, in this case)
through a flask filled with salt water. The sound is clean, but speaker
efficiency is very low. Fun to do , though. I've always envisioned a
heavy metal band with 20-foot high flame speakers, driven by a few
kilowatts.
David Ginsberg wrote:
>
> Wow! I completely had forgotten about the flame loudspeaker!
> Popular Electronics (probably in the '60's) had an article about
> building one; if I recall, take a blowtorch and have the flame
> hit a metal plate. Hang the secondary (or was it the primary??!!)
> of an audio transformer between the metal nozzle and plate.
> Drive the other side of the trannie and sound comes out. The
> article also suggested some added stuff like salt water drizzled
> into the flame helped. Someone out there please do a search and
> find the article. Let us know how it works.
>
BEARlabs
the amps...
They were scaled up versions of Shirley's Corona Wind Loudspeaker from
the 1950's...as seen in the AES Loudspeaker I compendium...
_-_-randy
BEAR Labs