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Plasma Driver DIY

post #1 of 12
4/9/08 at 1:28am
Thread Starter 
I came across this concept of "massless" drivers today and I'm interested in building my own plasma driver-based speaker. Sure there's the ridiculous amount of RF radiation, carcinogen production (Ozone), heat, and lethal voltages... but these things apparently sound amazing
I'm just wondering if anyone has either heard a plasma speaker and/or attempted to build their own? I'm wondering if this would be worth pursuing or if I should just stick to standard dynamic drivers.
YouTube - Plasma Speaker - DREAM THEATER - Acid Rain
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post #2 of 12
4/9/08 at 5:53am
Do a search here and you'll find that there were even plasma headphones made once. It's certainly possible to make and could be fun although integrating the drivers would be a real headache.
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post #3 of 12
4/9/08 at 6:41am
That looks amazing!!! Hope the person who designed that would release some instructions for making one soon
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post #4 of 12
4/9/08 at 6:58am
Build your own plasma tweeter with the instructions here:

Ulrich Haumann's DIY PLASMA TWEETER

I've always loved the concept of the "talking arc," but the implementation spooks me. And Spritzer, I'm not sure I'd want one on my head!
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post #5 of 12
4/9/08 at 8:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post
Build your own plasma tweeter with the instructions here:

Ulrich Haumann's DIY PLASMA TWEETER

I've always loved the concept of the "talking arc," but the implementation spooks me. And Spritzer, I'm not sure I'd want one on my head!
There are a few different types of plasma drivers so there is no need for a huge arc on each side of the head. You are still dealing with voltages an order of magnitude higher then electrostatics so if 500v is scary to you run far away. I'm more interested in the use of ribbons for headphone drivers rather then plasma.
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post #6 of 12
4/9/08 at 1:47pm
Thread Starter 
I even found a kit for $100 per tweeter that uses a tesla coil, but the demonstrations of those sounded pretty bad as you could hear the arcing.

Ulrich's design is the one I've been considering building. It's a bit steep at $250 per tweeter though. This site has some pretty good directions based on Ulrich's original design:
Untitled
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post #7 of 12
4/9/08 at 2:32pm
OP asked if anyone had hear one. I heard the Plasmatronics speaker many years ago. It sounded fabulous. .
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post #8 of 12
4/9/08 at 3:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by audiomagnate View Post
OP asked if anyone had hear one. I heard the Plasmatronics speaker many years ago. It sounded fabulous. .
Thanks audiomagnate. It looks like they are completely flat >2kHz. I think I might build one to see how the DIY versions sound and then build another and use them as tweeters in my bigger 3-way speaker project if it sounds good.
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post #9 of 12
4/10/08 at 1:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post
Build your own plasma tweeter with the instructions here:

Ulrich Haumann's DIY PLASMA TWEETER

I've always loved the concept of the "talking arc," but the implementation spooks me. And Spritzer, I'm not sure I'd want one on my head!
I've looked over that website before, I like timetec's design since it doesn't look like it's using any tubes.

YouTube - Plasma Speaker / Tweeter - Completed Working Setup
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post #10 of 12
5/9/08 at 7:42am
For anyone who's interested..
High Voltage Labs - HVLabs.com

I'm gonna try it out when I get some time.
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post #11 of 12
10/21/10 at 9:46am

just curious, this post ends two years ago, is everyone involved still alive?  Any get cancer from something like this?

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post #12 of 12
10/21/10 at 11:32am
I'm still alive, though I haven't played with plasma speakers yet. I'd still love to get around to it one of these days.
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