The Ultimate Dream Speaker

In this month's TAS CES is covered. One of the products that stuck out for me most was the Lansche Audio Corona zero mass plasma tweeter(pdf). I have found documentation on these devices that goes as far back as 1999, but I believe this is the first 'production' speaker with a form of plasma tweeter. I'm completely overwhelmed by such a breakthrough technology in this industry.

Additionally, I've been very intrigued by the Magico line of speakers. The Mini has gotten more than its fair share of debate, but TAS also makes mention of the Model 6 semi-flagship as the best sounding speaker CES had to offer. The insanity of the Ultimate and its use of drivers priced at 5 figures, the 650lbs per side Model 6 utilizing carbon sandwich cones and the upstart disruptiveness of the Mini have put Magico at the forefront of speaker development in my eyes. I would love for Alon Wolf to design the plasma tweeter into one of his cabinets.

The last component that seems a technological breakthrough in the world of sound reproduction is the Wilson-Bensche Torus infrasonic generator. I'm not sure of the likelihood of such a design, or bastardization thereof, being integrated into a speaker, but if possible I believe the use of such a woofer in coordination with the plasma tweeter in one of Alon's designs would create the ultimate in unconventional breakthrough speaker design. Now, if only we could get these three to work something out.

Interesting read. According to the article linked the tweeter built in the 1950's was unable to reproduce frequencies below ~5khz without significant distortion. A conventional McIntosh tweeter was far cleaner than the plasma tweeter. I imagine significant improvements have been in the last 50 years, but I wonder if they're still experiencing trouble creating the lowest frequencies the tweeter handles.

The marketing PDF for the Lansche notes the smoothness of the tweeter well beyond 30khz and makes many assertions to its lack of distortion at all frequencies. I'd like to see some modern tests of the Corona, but I'd also like to just listen to it.

whart, I don't think those speakers are big enough. Thanks for the link. Also, I didn't know Avantgarde made a shorty sub. I've only seen one about twice as tall.

What's your opinion on the Torus? The push pull design is interesting in marketing, and Wilson-Bensche make a lot of assertions regarding their radical deviation from the conventional subwoofer and reductions in distortion. They don't mess around with small drivers either, so throw shouldn't be an issue for high dB LFE. I just wonder how low the low frequency goes. And how does it compare to the bass fan?

I worked on that title for a few minutes.