Speaker Porn

[Duggeh]

The Ion Cloud was his coolest speaker.

[crappyjones123]

they are pretty damn sexy.

[faust3d]

Didnt Nelson start out designing speakers? Either way, those are, IMO, some of the sexiest speakers I have ever seen.

Yeah, he worked for ESS from 1972 through 1973 and Ion Cloud is very cool.

Here is what Pass said about them in a post at DIY audio:

The "ion cloud loudspeaker" used photocopy

machine ionizing nichrome wire strung in a flat

array a bit like a window screen, but with more

space between the wires, and charged to a variable

DC potential of about 10 KV.

This screen developed a layer of ionized air, and was

enclosed between two stators, much like an electrostatic

speaker, except that instead of a charged plastic diaphragm,

you had a charged semi-flat layer of gas, and you could

push-pull it with high AC voltages on the stators.

It worked fairly well, and gave new meaning to the word

"transparency".

It also had several flaws, one of which did result in a

trip to the local emergency room with breathing problems

similar to those sometimes experienced by arc welders and

caused by extended exposure to ozone.

The Wall Street Journal printed my comment:

"It was the perfect high end audio product: Exotic, inefficient,

expensive, unavailable, and toxic."

[Dusty Chalk]

"...It took several kilowatts to get any sound out of it...It drew so much power at the display at CES that every time there was a loud passage or a transient, the AC line would drop. The tension arms on the tape deck would go slack, the sound would stop, the power would go back up, and it would start again; then the power would go, and it went into an oscillatory loop which included every element of the chain, including the AC line and the tensioning arms on the tape deck. We had a lot of fun doing that—a good demonstration of how much power it required. Fabulous device, but it put out ozone, and after some extensive exposure to the ozone I found myself lacking oxygen in my bloodstream...It was a year before I could go near a copy machine..."

Yeezh.

[faust3d]

Don't you want one in your system?

[Dusty Chalk]

No. I have too much cat hair and other shit in the air where I live, the thing would look ancient in a week.

[crappyjones123]

a speaker that takes your breath away...literally

awesome stuff. truly in pass style.

[faust3d]

Shackman ESL-98 MHT, The new Shackman electrostatic Speaker, Der neue Shackman ESLAB 1000, Shackman Electrostatic Loudspeakers Panels Elektrostatische Lautsprecher Speakers DIY High-End Audiophile ESL-Loudspeakers

[spritzer]

When I saw the first pic I thought "those look an awful lot like the Shackman drivers..."

[faust3d]

Great stuff, if only I had a garage and new how to DIY

[guzziguy]

The garage I can't help you with but nobody starts out knowing how to do DIY. There are many paths to it, but probably nothing beats just doing it and learning from your mistakes. There are lots of resources on the web and probably there are local adult ed classes that will help.

Note that I can't do DIY either, but I'm starting by making my first mistakes on the Discrete Single Ended JFET Amp group build.

[spritzer]

It's all about doing and burning/blowing up things while your at it.

[faust3d]

I do try at times to make something, if it's a simple fix I can do it but at complicated things I just fail, mostly due to my piss pure soldering skilzzz and luck of concentration I guess

[Grahame]

Oh, That kind of speaker porn.

Amazing Audio: 40 Speakers & Sweet System Designs | Design + Ideas on WU

[Dusty Chalk]

Baby got subwoofer?

[faust3d]

[Dusty Chalk]

I had to ask.

[crappyjones123]

please tell me that that is a very very good photoshop job.

[Dusty Chalk]

It's a tactile bass transducer attached to a silicon sleeve.

And it's real. I just need to see if it comes in green.

[Fitz]

How deep is the, uh, "bass port?"

[crappyjones123]

thanks for making me spit my soda all over my screen fitz. asshole.

[Grahame]

thanks for making me spit my soda all over my screen fitz. bass port.

FTFY

[manaox2]

FTFY

[Dusty Chalk]

How deep is the, uh, "bass port?"

It's a nautilus-style transmission line. Boom-shaka-laka-laka boom-shaka-laka-laka boom-shaka-laka-laka boom!

[digger945]

I had to ask.

You mean assk?

How deep is the, uh, "bass port?"

Improper depth could lead to flatulent reproduction.