plasma tweeter - ion tweeter

[kuribo]

has anyone heard a plasma tweeter? Do they sound as good as I have been led to believe? Anyone built one? I hav found several DIY sites on the net, but before launching into this project, I hope to get some independant confirmation as to the sound quality these produce...Thanks.

 

[mrfeedback]

Hello kuribo, you need to give us those links, so we all are discussing the same thing.
Plasma tweeter is an old idea - downsides are ozone and other gasses production.

Over to you,
Regards, Eric.

 

[kuribo]

links for plasma tweeters

See below:

http://www.audiocircuit.com/9108-ionic-circuit/9108IMAI.htm

http://www.ee.vill.edu/ion/

 

[mrfeedback]

IMHO, expensive, RFI production ?, low SPL, ozone and nitrogen oxides etc, stink.

I never got a proper listen to magnats, and the concept never really caught on.

Good domes are much cheaper and easier.

Regards, Eric.

 

[halcyon]

Try Acapella Violon speakers

I've heard Acapella Violon speakers and if I had the money, these are the speakers I'd buy (along with some heavy duty subwoofers to play the bottom end through bi or triamping).

http://www.acapella.de/german/violon2001.htm

To me these are closest to the holy grail I've heard, but I've not heard all great speakers in the world (naturally).

cheers,
Halcyon

 

[Havoc]

Don't know if you would get a pair of those CE certified!

From what I remember reading in old JEAS copies, apart from the already mentioned problems, the intermodulation distortion is large compared to other type of speakers.

 

[audioaficionado]

I've heard that you can get around the O3 and NO2 problems by using argon gas feed into the plasma tweeters. Argon is totaly inert to any oxidation. Still would be an expensive expirement.

I think I'll just stick with ribbon tweeters such as Raven R2 or ESg3.

 

[kuribo]

There are spray-on catalysts available now that weren't around 30 or more years ago that can be applied to the wire mesh cover or horn interior to abate most of the ozone. A little ozone is seen as a good thing as it cleans the air-notice all the ozone air cleaners out there, many of which, by the way, use a corona discharge to produce the ozone, just like these tweeters...

 

[mrfeedback]

Hello kuribo, I agree that a little ozone is good, however too much is not and also gives a nasty headache - not what is wanted.

Regards, Eric.

 

[Bill F.]

Here's an idea I've been dreaming of for a while:

Load a corona discharge tweeter with a downward-pointing horn in conjunction with an upward-firing mid/bass like this. http://www.duevelloudspeaker.com/loudspeaker.htm

You'd end up with a full-range quasi-pointsource omnipole, which is a charming concept to my mind.

Since the treble horn points down, all the low-density hot air/ozone should mostly stay up in the horn throat. This would give the above-mentioned catalyst plenty of time to break down the ozone. For even less ozone/NO2, you could direct a tiny trickle of helium up into the horn. Helium flow could be very minimal.

This could be quite a speaker!

Bill

 

[Ignite]

I built a single plasma tweeter as an experiment about 3 months ago. It sounded absolutely amazing, though it would have needed a horn to be loud enough I can figure out the exact schematic I used though I ended up playing around with a number of different configurations. This was just bare, no horn or anything like that. I never got into using it regularily but I had considered using a thin fibreglass cloth covering with a spray-on catalyst as kuribo said.


One issue with enclosing in a horn: these usually require a spark or an insulated screwdriver sitting just above the discharge area to get going. You'd need to develop something to automate that.

 

[Bill F.]

I seem to remember DIY designs that got around the starting issue with a switch that lit the spark after the driving circuit warmed up. I'll have to check on the details.

Bill

 

[maik]

Bill,

> Here's an idea I've been dreaming of for a while:
>
> Load a corona discharge tweeter with a downward-pointing horn in
> conjunction with an upward-firing mid/bass like this.
> http://www.duevelloudspeaker.com/loudspeaker.htm

do you have information how to calculate
such a radial horn?

Maik

 

[Bill F.]

Check out Brett's post.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=3140

He's gathered a list of good resources.

Bill

 

[MurrayP]

Have gathered parts to do this for some time now (ie haven't got around to it!). The spray on catalyst sounds like a brilliant scheme - any hints on where to obtain this?

Thanks

Murray

 

[Petter]

I heard some

I have heard Plasmatronics Type 1. The plasma section was really interesting, particularly when crossed at 700Hz. Extreme transients, very fluid etc (electrostatic type qualitites). Still there was some crackling background noise (which actually was not all that annoying).

I still regret not buying the pair, but due to the logistics of plasma speakers, I would probably not go there if given the chance today.

Petter

 

[Bill F.]

I think a little ingenuity and modern technology can go a long way to simplifying plasma speaker logistics. Using the relatively low density of the ozone/NO2 byproducts to keep them trapped up in a catalyst-coated horn throat could save you the trouble of gas shielding (see my prev. post).

What's more, you could eliminate the RFI of the RF oscillator by "pumping" the tip of the discharge spike with a laser instead.

Bill

 

[kelticwizard]

DIY Plasma Tweeter? Here's Another.

Came across this on the net. Response graph looks really fine-ready to cross over at 5K, flat from there on up. 85 dB sensitive.

Looks good.

Be sure to click on "Plasma Speaker" on the left, then "DIY Speaker" on the left.

 

[Nelson Pass]

Re: I heard some

I have heard Plasmatronics Type 1. The plasma section was really interesting, particularly when crossed at 700Hz. Extreme transients, very fluid etc (electrostatic type qualitites). Still there was some crackling background noise (which actually was not all that annoying).

I still regret not buying the pair, but due to the logistics of plasma speakers, I would probably not go there if given the chance today.

I've owned 2 pair, and I definitely would go back there today.
A pain in the butt, but excellent opportunity for fooling around
with the electronics and such.

Probably the best tweeter every made.

(pass is listening to Massive Attack / Mezzanine)

 

[Bricolo]

Re: Re: I heard some

(pass is listening to Massive Attack / Mezzanine)

Pass likes good music 🙂