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not why Wendell is (potentially) inviting him

68.1.131.10

In Reply to: RE: Magnepan is quite successful as it is. Leave well enough alone. . . posted by Alan G. on October 14, 2011 at 16:28:42

Wendell wants to demonstrate to 'us' (through a representative) that which they have in the oven. One of the outstanding things about Magnepan is that they do involve individuals outside of their product development circle in the testing of their designs. They don't just puff themselves up and shout about what fantastic things they've done. Instead, they humbly seek confirmation that what they think is an improvement is actually perceived as such - they even conduct blind listening evaluations.

Our little community stands to learn from such a visit. I think Josh would make a splendid ambassador because he will understand the technical aspects of what he will witness and he has the verbal skill to communicate that information to us. I also believe he has the character to be honest about his opinion - with Magnepan and with us.

I really don't think Magnepan is desperately seeking direction from part timers. Then again, Josh isn't exactly a part timer; he's a professional.

"Information is not knowledge.
Knowledge is not wisdom.
Wisdom is not truth.
Truth is not beauty.
Beauty is not love.
Love is not music.
Music is THE BEST." FZ

Follow Ups:

RE: not why Wendell is (potentially) inviting him - josh358 20:10:34 10/14/11 (0)
Mostly retired professional (zzzzzzzzzz . . . ) :-)
RE: not why Wendell is (potentially) inviting him - Satie 19:23:25 10/14/11 (12)
We all need to contribute our wonderful ideas to make the next effort as good as it can be. We really need to come up with the features for the $100K super maggie.

Perhaps reinforced cast concrete frames poured at the owners home? Or a frame of heavy gauge steel damped with rubber and set up on an air bed for ease of movement in moving from a rooze setup back to normal.

Perhaps this is the time to build the plasma line source?
- RE: not why Wendell is (potentially) inviting him - pictureguy 09:16:39 10/18/11 (0)
  Replace mylar with Graphene.
  Too much is never enough
- RE: not why Wendell is (potentially) inviting him - josh358 20:12:46 10/14/11 (10)
  Not to mention the $100,000 super mini maggie. Who was it who demonstrated that plasma speaker that used killowatts and filled the room with a lethal level of ozone? They could make a desktop version.
  - Didn't that project land Nelson Pass in the hospital? [NT] - wazoo 21:14:41 10/14/11 (9)
    .
    
    "Information is not knowledge.
    Knowledge is not wisdom.
    Wisdom is not truth.
    Truth is not beauty.
    Beauty is not love.
    Love is not music.
    Music is THE BEST." FZ
    - RE: Didn't that project land Nelson Pass in the hospital? [NT] - josh358 10:09:29 10/15/11 (0)
      Heh, didn't know that. That's a great story.
    - Yep - Dawnrazor 05:07:56 10/15/11 (7)
      Here is what he said about it:
      
      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."
      
      No one here remembers the bending of our minds
      
      http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/1841-pass-plasma-sp (Open in New Window)
      - RE: Yep - mmlrot1 05:55:15 10/15/11 (6)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Yep posted by Dawnrazor on October 15, 2011 at 05:07:56
        
        The Hill Plasma is king, but requires helium to prevent ozone. The Hill Plasma is the only
        plasma loudspeaker ever built that went down to 700 hz. To this day this plasma driver
        has never been equaled. There are other plasmas out there, but they only go down to 5000 hz, and do not require helium to prevent ozone. The sound is phenomenal, but refilling the
        tanks with helium is very expensive, not to mention the weight of the helium tanks and
        maintenance required for the plasma drivers. All the other drivers are true ribbons (Apogee)
        
        Is this your system, mmlrot1? - c1ferrari 15:54:45 10/16/11 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Yep posted by mmlrot1 on October 15, 2011 at 05:55:15
        
        Or would you know how I can contact him or her?
        I can accept e-mail from members if you prefer.
        
        Thanks :-)
        Vbr,
        
        Sam
        
        RE: Yep - josh358 10:08:47 10/15/11 (4)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Yep posted by mmlrot1 on October 15, 2011 at 05:55:15
        
        Apparently, Hill says he could develop a full-range plasma if he had the resources.
        
        truth and distortion - wazoo 11:49:22 10/15/11 (3)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Yep posted by josh358 on October 15, 2011 at 10:08:47
        
        It is true that the process by which Hill's Plasmatronic generates the plasma field does not directly produce ozone. However, the interaction of that plasma field with the surrounding air will produce ozone. I imagine there is a point at which the energy it takes to produce bass frequencies will also result in dangerous ozone levels. Then again, I'm certainly no expert. Plasma is the ultimate 360 degree transducer as well as the ultimate low mass transducer. I sure would love to hear a pair.
        
        "Information is not knowledge.
        Knowledge is not wisdom.
        Wisdom is not truth.
        Truth is not beauty.
        Beauty is not love.
        Love is not music.
        Music is THE BEST." FZ
        
        RE: truth and distortion - josh358 12:23:08 10/15/11 (2)
        
        In Reply to: RE: truth and distortion posted by wazoo on October 15, 2011 at 11:49:22
        
        I wonder if it would be possible to filter and remove the ozone? After all, laser printers have ozone filters in them . . .
        
        RE: truth and distortion - mmlrot1 13:52:12 10/15/11 (1)
        
        In Reply to: RE: truth and distortion posted by josh358 on October 15, 2011 at 12:23:08
        
        Allan Hills first plasma loudspeaker (prototype that was never sold) went considerably
        lower in frequency, around 400 hz. Required considerably more power and also much
        more helium. This was just too impractical (cost would have been much higher.
        A speaker like this would be impossible to market today (way too many safety concerns; extremely
        high temperature of electrodes, high voltage, not to mention the danger to the eyes; like
        looking at a welding torch. The good old days are gone!
        
        RE: truth and distortion - josh358 15:46:26 10/15/11 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: truth and distortion posted by mmlrot1 on October 15, 2011 at 13:52:12
        
        I like the lava lamp!
        
        As cool as plasma technology is, I tend to think that the future belongs to true pistonic motion, feedback, and DSP. In principle, anyway, it should be possible to make a driver with inaudible distortion. I think also that we'll see matrices of drivers which are capable of reproducing the original sound field, perhaps integrated with a video display. Plasma technology doesn't lend itself to that.

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