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“Clear” sound from Greensound Technology's glass speakers

“Clear” sound from Greensound Technology's glass speakers
Serac Series
Serac Series
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Serac Series with Bravura subwoofer
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Serac Series with Bravura subwoofer
Floe Series with Forza subwoofer
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Floe Series with Forza subwoofer
Serac Series
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Serac Series
Serac Series
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Serac Series
Serac Series
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Serac Series
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As any cola-swilling child of the 90's will tell you, things are better when they're clear. Water? Definitely better clear. Conscience? Ditto. Speakers? Sure, why not? We've already had Harman Kadon's GLA-55 speakers featuring faceted cut-glass enclosures to expose the audio engine, but the glass speakers from Greensound Technology are even more striking. Looking like little more than a shaped pane of glass sitting atop a base, the speakers use the glass to project the sound and deliver "true 360 degree sound."

Unlike traditional speakers that project sound in one direction, a sound generator in the base of the Greensound speakers vibrates the glass to project the sound from both sides. Different areas of the glass are responsible for producing different frequency sounds - the curved area at the top produces high frequency sounds, the middle produces mid-range sounds, while low frequencies are produced by the area at the bottom near the base. The use of glass also provides the opportunity for some nice color changing lighting to be built into the base.

Serac Series

Greensound Technology offers two different lines of glass speakers in different configurations. The Serac Series consists of various combinations of the stand-alone Serac speaker and the boxy Bravura subwoofer. The Serac speaker measures 21.5" long x 43" wide x 65.5" high (54.6 x 109 x 166 cm) and weighs 246.18 lbs (111.6 kg). It has an output of 25-Watts, frequency range of 300 Hz to 15 kHz and can pump out sounds up to 90.6 dB. The Bravura ups the output to 150 Watts, extends the frequency range from 40 Hz to 400 Hz and pumps up the jam a couple of extra decibels to 91.8 dB.

Serac Series with Bravura subwoofer
Serac Series with Bravura subwoofer

Floe Series

The Floe Series are a little smaller than Serac but boast similar specs and add wireless capabilities into the mix. The Floe stand-alone speaker measures 18" long x 18" wide x 49" high (46 x 46 x 124 cm) and weighs in at 80 lbs (36 kg). Yet it still boasts an output of 25 Watts, frequency range of 300 Hz to 15 kHz and decibel level of 90.6 dB. The Forza subwoofer is much curvier than its Bravura stablemate and doesn't pack the same punch. It has an output of 25 Watts, frequency response of 60 Hz to 180 kHz and decibel level of 91.8. Like the stand-alone Floe speaker, the Forza is also wireless to a range of 100 ft (30 m).

Floe Series with Forza subwoofer
Floe Series with Forza subwoofer

No word from Greensound Technology regarding pricing, but the company says production is in full swing and both glass speaker lines are available now. Contact Greensound Technologies for more info.

Via technabob

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5 comments
5 comments
Charles Bosse
Interesting that the subwoofers go to over 100 kHz, more than an order of magnitude over the acual speaker units. Is this a typo, or are they making up for the somewhat lacking high range of the stereo units?
- No, not a typo. You're right though. It does raise questions about the performance of the actual speaker units when the subwoofer has a higher frequency response than they do. Ed.
John M
The speakers look great. Perhaps Plastic of some sort could be used to reduce the weight.
The glass would be impossible for the little lady to move & dust around,surely?. Certainly different . Cheers Kiwi
Vaughan Barton-Johnson
My uncle constructed glass speakers over 15 years ago. His own invention. Unfortunately he was taken by Alzheimer before they could be made commercial. He was a huge fan of opera music and the clarity of the sound produced by the glass was unmatched by anythig on the market at the time.
Greensound Europe
Unfortunately there is a typo in the article, the subwoofers go to about 400 Hz, not kHz. The human ear only hears sound up to about 20 kHz. The subwoofer to go with the Orbis speakers is now a lot smaller and is called the Circa. There is now a third model called the Luno with the Cube subwoofer, The products have just been launched for Europe at the IFA exhibition in Berlin.
editor
Thanks and our apologies - we\'ve corrected the typo. Ed.