Johann Philipp Reis installed an electric loudspeaker in hisM908Q4ACE
telephone in 1861; it was capable of reproducing pure tones, but also could reproduce speech. Alexander Graham Bell patented his first electric loudspeaker (capable of reproducing intelligible speech) as part of his telephoneGS301A
in 1876, which was followed in 1877 by an improved version from Ernst Siemens. Nikola Tesla reportedly made a similar device in 1881, but he was not issued a patent.[1] During this time, Thomas Edison was issued a British patent for a system using compressedstk730-130
air as an amplifying mechanism for his early cylinder phonographs, but he ultimately settled for the familiar metal horn driven by a membrane attached to the stylus. In 1898, Horace Short patented a design for a loudspeaker driven by compressed air; he then sold the rightsST62T01C6
to Charles Parsons, who was issued several additional British patents before 1910. A few companies, including the Victor Talking Machine Company and Path??|, produced record players using compressed-air loudspeakers. However, these designs were significantly limited by their poor sound quality and theirP160G
inability to reproduce sound at low volume. Variants of the system were used for public address applications, and more recently, other variations have been used to test space-equipment resistance to the very loud sound and vibration levels that the launching of rockets produces.