The High Fidelity Plasma Speaker
Abstract
A plasma speaker is a device that uses ionized gas as the driving source of sound production, rather than the traditional magnetic coil and membrane setup found on a standard speaker. Similar to how lightning produces sound, or even a small static shock, a plasma speaker uses a modulating electric arc between two electrodes to produce sound. An electric circuit is built that allows the variance of the high voltage electric potential to be controlled by a 3.5 mm standard audio headphone jack, allowing sound energy to be transferred from the plasma to the air by means of pulse width modulation. For my summer project I have built two different models of plasma speakers and am working on a third. The speaker benefits from having a nearly massless driver, and I hypothesize that it should show a response rate faster than that of a traditional speaker and a decreased impulse response while having the drawbacks of inefficiency and a low maximum decibel output. The speakers are currently being optimized with magnetic stabilization of the plasma and will be tested soon for impulse response, frequency generation, efficiency, and audio coloration.
Bridges for SUCCESS Grant at Salisbury University under Ph.D. Matthew Bailey.- Publication:
-
APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- October 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014APS..DPPJP8021M