# Plasma Speakers???
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-speakers/471543
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [November 6, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-speakers/471543 "2008-11-06T22:22:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-speakers/471543/1 "2008-11-06T22:22:06Z")
They’re apparently real, and judging from [this Instructable](http://www.instructables.com/id/Build_A_Plasma_Speaker/), look wicked as **hell**. I can’t imagine that it’d be good for any electronic gear to be close to them, and you’d probably want to put some kind of enclosure around them to keep small children and animals from trying to touch the streams. Still, I keep staring at the corners in my living room and thinking that it’d just be fucking awesome to have giant plasma speakers in them. (Not that I could afford the electric bill for that, I’m sure.)
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### Author:  [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-speakers/471543/2 "2008-11-06T22:45:42Z")
Awesome! (in several senses of the word)
Brian
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### Author:  [@Some\_FNG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_FNG)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-speakers/471543/3 "2008-11-06T22:53:25Z")
A set-up of these in surround sound would be pretty neat to have, but then I’d have three dead cats too. Somebody _will_ release a commercially viable plasma speaker soon.
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### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-speakers/471543/4 "2008-11-06T22:54:29Z")
They are real, and real expensive. As a[commercial product](http://www.ib-lansche.de/eng39105.html/03c1989a330e74a3a/03c1989a330e76248/index.html), they sell for about $56,000 a pair.
Not particularly new either - people have been messing with the idea for 30 or so years. One primary difficulty is in matching plasma tweeters to conventional woofers and midrange drivers. Then there’s the whole high voltage and high frequency RF generation to drive the arc, and more often than not, ozone. Earlier designs, such as the [Plasmatronic](http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/25/plasmatronics-helium-driven-speakers/), also suffered from needing a steady supply of compressed helium.
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### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-speakers/471543/5 "2008-11-07T00:01:15Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#):
>
> They are real, and real expensive. As a[commercial product](http://www.ib-lansche.de/eng39105.html/03c1989a330e74a3a/03c1989a330e76248/index.html), they sell for about $56,000 a pair.
Can I just say that if I’m going to be plunking down that kind of bank, I want my speakers to **not** look from a distance that they’re made out of particle board.
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### Author:  [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-speakers/471543/6 "2008-11-07T00:02:01Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#):
>
> They are real, and real expensive. As a[commercial product](http://www.ib-lansche.de/eng39105.html/03c1989a330e74a3a/03c1989a330e76248/index.html), they sell for about $56,000 a pair.
I was about to get pissed at **Tuckerfan** for even posting this, but at 56 K a pair, I’ll live without them. (even with burlwood enclosures)
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### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-speakers/471543/7 "2008-11-08T01:22:36Z")
> [@Omegaman](#):
>
> I was about to get pissed at **Tuckerfan** for even posting this, but at 56 K a pair, I’ll live without them. (even with burlwood enclosures)
You’d better not click [this link](http://www.rotosub.com/), then.
> [@](#):
>
> a rotating, servo activated subwoofer.
> using a concept not unlike a turbo fan, the Rotosub used servo controlled fan blades to compress and rarefy the air in a space, the fan is spinning all the time and the blades change pitch to produce the pressure wave.
Apparently, when you stand next to these, you can _really_ feel the air moving. One of their demos is said to be that of a helicopter taking off.
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-speakers/471543/8 "2008-11-08T01:57:44Z")
All I have to say is: Hill Plasmatronics Type V.
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### Author:  [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plasma-speakers/471543/9 "2008-11-08T14:54:58Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#):
>
> You’d better not click [this link](http://www.rotosub.com/), then.Apparently, when you stand next to these, you can _really_ feel the air moving. One of their demos is said to be that of a helicopter taking off.
Leave it to a machinist to find the really cool stuff.😉