This ain't new. Plasma tweeters have been around since the '80s. May be the first time one has been extended down to 200Hz though. So you could have a plasma mid, AND tweeter. If you had a REALLY big arc, you could have a plasma woofer I s'pose. Now that'd be something i'd wanna see.

Are they Mac compatible?

Last time I checked, people were saying that the only plausible there could be a lightsaber would be if they used plasma for the blade.

So in theory, could you make a lightsaber out of this, and then make your lightsaber a portable iPod speaker?

How cool would that be, keeping the peace in the galaxy while rockin out to your tunes...

What's with the song selection?! :P
I have to imagine two of those as midrange speakers would get distracting during movie night, but that would be pretty damn awesome.

I think they'd make really cool computer speakers, but I don't know about using them anywhere else. Eventhough ceiling to floor plasma arcs on each side of the TV might give my home theater system that Dr. Frankenstein look I've always wanted.

I thought I saw a DIY guide for these at some point:

[www.plasmatweeter.de]

If anybody is interested.

cool I'm guessing modern materials and power supplies and the like has made this tech a lot more doable than it was in the past....I would love to build one

@Buford T. Justice: Read the first sentence my friend.

I hear they are very power efficient x)

Want.
Want much.

Only worried about one little thing - I though I could hear a very slight clicking noise in the background, like a distant dolphin.
Sort of like the crackle of electricity...

The music in the first one is the Thompson Twins "hold me now"

What happens if you touch it?

Just what I always wanted, speakers that could injure anyone stupid enough to fuck with my stuff. ^^

I read somewhere that these create a lot of ozone in a room.

The main problem with these is that they produce ozone, which isn't very good for you.

Not nearly as cool as the Tesla coil playing super mario. Still neat-o, except for the whole Ionic Breeze aspect. Oh well.

WOW - new technology so you can hear the highs and lows of AM radio. Almost sound as good as the speakers in my parents old chevy citation.

why the heck aren't these things in clubs!!! I want to see these at a rave.

but what happens if you or something else touches/crosses the beam??? I really want to know!

Speakers this cool, and all this dud could think to play is the Thompson Twins?

Weak.

@jak0b:

Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.

. . . Total protonic reversal.

@Airport_Whiskey:
... try "Burnin' Down the House" by Talking Heads

"My house
Sout of the ordinary
Thats might
Dont want to hurt nobody
Some things sure can sweep me off my feet
Burning down the house

No visible means of support and you have not seen nuthin yet
Everythings stuck together
I dont know what you expect starring into the tv set
Fighting fire with fire"

Don't plasma me, bro!!!

looks like the lock-onto-shit-and-kill-everything purple power beam from Raiden II.

(pew pew).

Frequency response of 200 to 12khz would mean that you still need a conventional tweeter and woofer. And that frequency response would make crossing it over to either very difficult.
Acapella has been using plasma tweeters for quite some time but they are very very expensive. Think, $100,000 to $350,000!
[www.acapella.de]

Instructable, anyone?

I wonder if you could simulate a talking burning bush with this technology.

@ANoel:

A far, far better choice.

@Smoove-J: Agreed.
Those are the shit.

@blomster:
nothing is mac compatible

Cool- For about 29 seconds. Then zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

WARNING LABEL: Do Not Touch The Plasma Stream As It May Burn Off Your Finger In A Permanent Manner - And We Will Not Be Held Liable For Stupid Idiots That Don't Know Any Better !!

would have been better with an AC/DC Track [oh shoot - there's a pun in there]_

@uberfu: as long as it only burns off the tip, before the first knuckle, leaving enough to cut off the remaing char, then you could just use pig bladder dust to regrow it/them.

I don't know -- I hear a hum...

can i touch that shizzle?

talk to me when the headphones are available.

@slmndr:
That'll be the last time anyone talks to you again.

@Dook_In_The_Urinal:
If right and left are each one of the electrodes, they'll be the "Scanners Special Edition" headphones. (patent pending)

@deadatbirth440: HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!
You're right!

@RSTStop780: Light saber... Hmm, you could play Thompson Twins why slicing and dicing!

So what are the advantage of these? I mean, besides the coolness factor?

Looks like they require 10x the energy to produce sub-standard sound.

THE BAD THING SINCE NO ONE CAN READ THE COMMENTS, it makes OZONE.

All we need to close up the ozone hole is this, play Heavy Death metal really loud.

Makes Ozone. Well, if it is anything like what a laser printer puts out when the ozone filter goes bad, it will make all the rubber around it deteriorate fast.

I foresee the future: MUSICAL STORMS! or to be more accurate: STORM-RAVES!

@Airport_Whiskey: I personally would've gone for some KMFDM, something that you'd want to see + hear via plasma. Or anything else badass and electronic instead of 80's/Alice Deejay, COME ON! It practically screams NIN...

I'm thinking a 6 foot arc = SubWoofer (and a call from the power company asking you to stop it)
But I also see a 3fer here also . A combination Plasma light show / Speaker /Bug Zapper (don't go to the light -- it's so beautiful zzzzzzzzzz)

How about surrounding this with a glass cylinder to protect from meddling fingers. This would probably reduce the sound, buy playing around with different types of glass could help find the right balance between safety and sound.