Hill Plasmatronics speakers - a recent find

 

Although I was driving a vented van around Minneapolis and could have filled it with many hundreds of records because there are some great places to shop for vinyl in the area, my real purpose was to pick up some speakers I was buying.

For anyone who knows about Hill Plasmatronics and maybe had a chance to hear them back in the day, they need no introduction. Pretty rare (52 pairs were made from '78 to '83 at a cost of $7k to $10k), they're esoteric to say the least.

I've had a few "audio epiphanies," and these are at the top of the list. I first heard a pair first at Opus One in Pittsburgh, and it was an experience I've never forgotten.

I recently learned of this pair from Tony Salsich, who worked for Alan Hill for 12 years and knows the product as well as anyone. Between Tony and local guy Joe Galanti who worked for the Hill dealer in Chicago back in the day and set up several pairs for their customers, I have a couple of good people to call on with questions, along with a local technician to work on them if the need arises.

They are not for the faint of heart, but I look forward to getting them going. These were owned by Mark at Audio Perfection in Minneapolis, who at the time was a Hill dealer and had them on display for a little while before storing them ever since. A pair in this condition is unusual.

There's a website with a wealth of information at https://hillplasmatronics.com/

It's worth noting that, contrary to misunderstandings and misinformation propagated back in the day, the speaker does not produce ozone.

And if it's not obvious, the Spouse Acceptance Factor on these is rather low.

All of that said, either I've gone crazy or I hit the audio jackpot. Maybe some of both, but I prefer to think of myself as winning the audio lottery.

Congratulations to mr. Brian Walsh for the find (and thanks for sharing the above great story 🙏): rediscovering such a truly esoteric, long forgotten one-of-a-kind audio masterpiece is a rare event, these days🥂🎶🥂🥇