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21
musical playback system consisting of an electronic
phonograph and a loudspeaker to take advantage
of the new recording medium – the project of two
young engineers, C. W. Rice and E. W. Kellogg.
Rice and Kellogg had a well equipped laboratory
at their disposal. This lab possessed a vacuum
tube amplifier with an unheard of 200 watts,
a large selection of the new electrically cut
phonograph records and a variety of loudspeaker
prototypes collecting over the
past decade. Among these
were Lodge’s cone, a speaker
that used compressed air, a
corona discharge (plasma)
speaker, and an electrostatic
speaker.
After a short time, Rice and
Kellogg had narrowed the
field of “contestants” down to
the cone and the electrostat. The outcome would
dictate the way that future generations would refer
to loudspeakers as being either “conventional”
or “exotic”.
Rice and Kellogg’s electrostat was something
to behold. This enormous bipolar speaker was
as big as a door. The diaphragm, which was
beginning to rot, was made of a pig intestine that
was covered with fine gold leaf to conduct the
audio signal.
When Rice and Kellogg began playing the new
electrically cut records through the electrostat,
they were stunned and impressed. The electrostat
performed splendidly. They had never heard
instrumental timbres reproduced with such realism.
This system sounded like real music rather than
the honking, squawking rendition of the acoustic
gramophone. Immediately, they knew they were
on to something big. The acoustic gramophone
was destined to become obsolete.
Due to Rice and Kellogg’s enthusiasm, they
devoted a considerable amount of time
researching the electrostatic design. However,
they soon encountered the same difficulties that
even present designers face; planar speakers
require a very large surface area to reproduce
the lower frequencies of the audio spectrum.
Because the management considered large
speakers unacceptable, Rice and Kellogg’s
work on electrostatics would never be put to use
for a commercial product.
Reluctantly, they advised the
management to go with the
cone. For the next 30 years,
the electrostatic design lay
dormant.
During the Great Depression
of the 1930’s, consumer
audio almost died. The
new electrically amplified
loudspeaker never gained acceptance, as
most people continued to use their old Victrola-
style acoustic gramophones. Prior to the end of
World War II, consumer audio saw little, if any,
progress. However, during the late 1940’s,
audio experienced a great rebirth. Suddenly there
was tremendous interest in audio products, and
with that, a great demand for improved audio
components. No sooner had the cone become
established than it was challenged by products
developed during this new rebirth.
In 1947, Arthur Janszen, a young Naval engineer,
took part in a research project for the Navy.
The Navy was interested in developing a better
instrument for testing microphone arrays. The test
instrument needed an extremely accurate speaker,
but Janszen found that the cone speakers of the
period were too nonlinear in phase and amplitude
response to meet his criteria. Janszen believed
that electrostats were inherently more linear than
cones, so he built a model using a thin plastic
Rice and Kellogg
had narrowed the
field of “contestants”
down to the cone
and the electrostat.
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