We know that MartinLogan speakers provide awesome sound in a nice stable home environment, but they require big panels. What do you do if you want that cool electrostatic audio technology in your car? Their engineers have been working on this, and it turns out the answer has been right in front of our eyes all along – make the windshield into a speaker. A series of thin coatings will allow the windows to work as electrostatic speakers for a car audio system that looks as good as it sounds.
Here’s MartinLogan’s press release…
Lawrence, KS – April 1, 2012 – MartinLogan, the world’s leader in electrostatic speaker technology, today announced plans to launch electrostatic speakers for mobile applications such as cars, trucks, and boats. This new platform of innovative products includes a recently developed application of MartinLogan’s legendary electrostatic audiophile-grade speaker technology designed specifically for mobile applications-VaporSound™.
“We took a look at our overall business and realized there was a whole market of products missing from the lineup – mobile audio speakers,” said Justin Bright, Director of Marketing. “And to think I’ve been driving to work everyday without the sonic benefits of electrostatic speaker technology!”
Engineers at MartinLogan have worked for over 30 years to perfect the process of traditional electrostatic speaker design and manufacturing. Since the company’s inception in 1983, MartinLogan products have garnered critical acclaim from discerning consumers and won a myriad of awards from industry pundits for their stalwart commitment to manufacturing the most richly detailed, revealing, and emotionally engaging loudspeaker experience in the world. The company’s innovations have resulted in amazing technologies for home theater and stereo listening such as the Curvilinear Line Source (CLS) XStat Electrostatic Transducer.
Limitations have always existed when engineering the housing for the thin film diaphragm essential to the electrostatic principle. Until know, every electrostatic speaker design in the company’s lineup has required the use of rigid semi-transparent perforated steel “stators” between which the conductive ‘electrostatic’ thin-film diaphragm (the part that makes sound) is sandwiched. While ideal for home use, the material constraints of the manufacturing process have never translated well into applications outside of the living room.
MartinLogan engineers have developed an innovative new patent-pending process of vapor deposition that enthusiastically impregnates a uniformly conductive surface onto a specially manufactured and completely transparent thin-film diaphragm. This diaphragm is laminated between two additional conductive and transparent thin-film ‘stators’ that replace the rigid steel stators found in a traditional MartinLogan speaker. Measuring only 20 microns thick, the end result looks like little more than a traditional automotive window tinting material but offers the blinding speed, vanishingly low distortion, and audiophile-grade high-resolution sound reproduction capability of MartinLogan’s award-winning home speakers.
This technology, called VaporSound™, makes it possible to coat glass surfaces inside of automobiles and create an enveloping sound environment (whether 2-channel or high-resolution multi-channel recordings), with no visible drivers or unsightly speakers in the car.
For more details visit http://martinlogan.com/vaporsound.
UPDATE: Yes, as you may have guessed, this was an April Fools’ joke from MartinLogan – we were impressed by how much work they put into it and hope you enjoyed it too!
This is great news. Finally speakers that fit my car, but I’m going to have to wait until you come up with the solution where I can roll my windows down.
Nice article. Great April Fools.