Rare Plasmatronics helium-driven speakers on eBay

by Joshua Topolsky posted Jun 25th 2007 at 3:12AM

As you know, helium (He on the periodic table of the elements) has many fine uses, such as: filling up your birthday balloons, making your voice higher, and creating totally pristine treble on your $4200 Plasmatronics speakers (available right now on eBay). Sure, you could just keep on using the stuff for celebrations or hilarious gags, but wouldn't it be more of a gas to drop four-large on a pair of these 1970's behemoths? "Buy it now" before your chance to own a piece of helium-powered audiophile history passes you by.

[Thanks, Ryan W]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Tags: audiophile, helium, plasmatronics, speakers

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Sylvain @ Jun 25th 2007 3:33AM

Or you can build one yourself:

http://www.plasmatweeter.de/eng_plasma.htm

Neutral

Mark E @ Jun 25th 2007 3:41AM

now what if i want a 7.1 surround set up?
do enough of these exist?

Neutral

paralipsis @ Jun 25th 2007 4:39AM

I found this line from the ebay ad quite amusing...

"Noticable O2 (ozone) is produced during operation.. Some people claim they are sensitive to O2 in the room,others find it fresh smelling or dont notice it"

I think these speakers might be for me. I have a few O2 producing indoor plants that don't seem to cause me any great inconvenience or discomfort.

Neutral

Greg @ Jun 25th 2007 5:12AM

Ozone is actually O3 and is toxic in sufficient quantities. Enjoy.

Neutral

paralipsis @ Jun 25th 2007 5:38AM

Yes. I am aware of what ozone is. I was just deriving some amusement from the (multiple) typos.

Neutral

DT @ Jun 25th 2007 8:24AM

Ozone is actually quite toxic in even small amounts. Buy these and make sure your room is very well ventilated.

Neutral

popeye @ Jun 25th 2007 10:35AM

Having heard these back in the day, I found the high end to be overly 'gassy'...

Neutral

WhackJob @ Jun 25th 2007 11:47AM

This guy has had them on ebay several times before.
I remember hearing them back in the 80's.
To brite for my taste.

Neutral

Dan @ Jun 25th 2007 12:05PM

Great... Engadget still has the work iPod and/or Apple in each subject's comments. Thank you for that.

Neutral

007baf @ Jun 25th 2007 12:10PM

Very interesting. I like the idea of having enough for surround sound, with recommended ventiliation!

Here's the E-Bay listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/HILL-PLASMATRONICS-pr-RARE-FULL-RANGE-PLASMA-SYSTEM_W0QQitemZ150135097641QQihZ005QQcategoryZ50597QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Neutral

peshue @ Jun 25th 2007 12:18PM

No kidding, I don't recall the ipod being speakers. No matter how high I turned up the volume there wasn't any sound till I plugged something in.

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