MartinLogan Odyssey user manual Electrostatic Loudspeaker History

Rice and Kellogg had narrowed the field of “contestants” down to the cone and the electrostat.

ELECTROSTATIC LOUDSPEAKER HISTORY

In the late 1800s, any loudspeaker was considered exotic. Today, most of us take the wonders of sound reproduction for granted.

It was 1880 before Thomas Edison had invented the first phonograph. This was a horn-loaded diaphragm that was excited by a playback stylus. In 1898, Sir Oliver Lodge invented a cone loudspeaker, which he referred to as a “bellowing telephone”, that was very similar to the conventional cone loudspeaker drivers that we know today. However, Lodge had no intention for his device to reproduce music because in 1898 there was no way to amplify an electrical signal! As a result, his speaker had nothing to offer over the acoustical gramophones of the period. It was not until 1906 that Dr. Lee DeForrest invented the triode vacuum tube. Before this, an electrical signal could not be amplified. The loudspeaker, as we know it today, should have ensued then, but it did not. Amazingly, it was almost twenty years before this would occur.

In 1921, the electrically cut phonograph record became a reality. This method of recording was far superior to the mechanically cut record and possessed almost 30 dB of dynamic range. The acoustical gramo-

phone couldn’t begin to reproduce all of the information on this new disc. As a result, further developments in loud- speakers were needed to cope with this amazing new recording medium.

By 1923, Bell Telephone Laboratories made the decision to develop a complete musical playback system consisting of an electronic phonograph and a loudspeaker to take advantage of the new recording medium. Bell Labs assigned the project to 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 that Bell Labs had been 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”.

Bell Laboratory’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 shocked 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 at Bell Labs 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 Bell management to go with the cone. For the next thirty years, the electrostatic design lay dormant.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, 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 1940s, 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.

18 Electrostatic Loudspeaker History