Plasma speaker

A plasma tweeter is a tweeter without membrane. The vibration is produced by a plasma flame.

Although he is often called Tesla tweeter, plasma tweeter was invented, neither of Nikola Tesla, built yet. He only uses often Tesla invented or embossed components, such as the resonant coil. This is a Tesla coil.

Principle of operation

Plasma tweeter

In ion plasma tweeter speaker or the physical property of air is used to expand when heated. This is produced by a high voltage amplifier between a brass anode and a brass cathode in a glass tube, a luminous plasma of air, the volume of which varies with the amplitude and frequency of the music.

Ion tweeter

There are also built ion tweeter who work with high frequency, the discharge is emitted from a tungsten tip directly to the ambient air. The ion tweeter itself is theoretically the ideal Hochtonschallwandler very close because its membrane ( air) works as well as mass- free and with him also no partial oscillations ( bending ) may occur, leading to the tonal discoloration normal membrane materials. Executed the tweeters is either omnidirectional ( Magnat, developed by physicist Siegfried Klein) or with a horn attachment for a higher sound pressure.

An ion tweeter works by a high-frequency oscillator is amplitude modulated. This is done also to the transmission frequency of a radio station " embed " a tone. However, the high frequency, which would radiate a radio channel via an antenna is placed at a plasma tweeters in the resonance coil. Due to the resonance coil the voltage to 10-20 kV is stepped up, the voltage stomach is at the end of the coil. Where one electrode is connected. Due to the high voltage at this electrode, the air is ionized to such an extent that a plasma flame is visible. This phenomenon of ionized gas is also called corona discharge.

The amplitude modulation is done with the musical signal. Therefore, the operating voltage of the oscillator by the rhythm of the music depends. Thus varies the energy which is emitted from the resonant coil of the electrode and proportional to vary the size of the flame.

By changing the volume of the flame creates a " vibration " and produces a sound ( in normal speakers would this purpose, the membrane vibrate ). Since the flame has almost no resistance, there is ideally no noise, no sound distortion caused by suspensions and no tarnishing of the vibrations ( pre-and post ).

A similar principle is also used for modulated Tesla transformers. Even with them, a tone can be generated.

Properties

The linear frequency response is measured from 2.500 Hz to 100 kHz ( go on the usual measurement microphones not; estimates go up to 800 kHz). In practice, however, it is difficult with currently available resources and to combine this woofer tweeter so that a homogeneous and nearly natural sound image. Here, the omnipolar version differs greatly from the bundled by a horn variant. In a speaker system for living rooms should have at least one identical directivity the midrange. The problem with this method is still sound conversion that larger quantities of nitrogen oxides are produced by the strong ionizing field, the form interacts with the atmospheric oxygen ozone. Through the use of catalysts in modern constructions, the distinct odor in older systems can now almost completely avoided. Health effects - even with prolonged use - are not to be expected.