DIY bluetooth speaker

[SentinelAeon]

Well i said im willing to spend up to 30 dollars for 1 speaker, surely there is something in this price range ?

 

[audioguru]

You want an inexpensive, small, loud speaker with good bass. But an inexpensive, small speaker is not loud and does not have good bass.

 

[SentinelAeon]

Well its about compromises obviously but i still think u should help me and 30 dollars is quite a lot of money

 

[audioguru]

30 dollars was a lot of money 60 years ago, not today. A good-sounding little speaker system costs $200.00 today, plus tax.

 

[SentinelAeon]

Yes but coming from a visaton speaker that does 120-20.000Hz, surely i can find something sub 30 dollars that will be better. I mean this speaker that i built actualy has good bass, well i think it has good one and friends do also. U have to somehow understand that i am not an audiofil, or rather i am when im playing the piano but not when im out drinking and listening to silly songs. I just need a little bugger that goes to like 90 or 80Hz and moves. And speakers i built so far are plenty loud

 

[audioguru]

Google shows many speaker enclosures designs using the Visaton FRS 8M that you are using. Some have an enclosure larger than yours for better bass.
Here is a small one that uses a gap on the bottom for its tuned port:

 

[SentinelAeon]

Interesting. Maybe i will play with the design a bit, though size is the most important thing, i cary it in my backpack together with 6 beers every friday and its really not nice carying such full backpack.


Btw i did a little comparioson with JBL extreme 2 yesterday and my bass completely blew it away. Obviously sound quality is better at JBL, well probably. But i put some Prodigy songs on and people were in ave. They couldnt stop being amazed. A bad thing is that well, the woofer speaker is 9W and obviously i am putting a LOT more into it (amp says its 25W at 8 ohms, since speaker is 4 ohms god knows how much im putting into). So i think i might have damaged the woofer cause yesterday at the end of night, it was making strange noises like its damaged. But anyway it cost me nothing and was worth just to see that i can indeed get good bass.

Ok about speakers, how about this. I find some nice cheap speakers with data and u comment on them ?

 

[SentinelAeon]

Infact, i just went around and bought a cheap speaker. It says its between 60-20.000Hz. Its so cheap its fine, if it isnt good i can always sell it for same amount or even more:

3 Inch 8ohm 20w Full Range Speaker Rubber Tweeter Midrange Woofer Low Frequ U8p8 for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 3 Inch 8ohm 20w Full Range Speaker Rubber Tweeter Midrange Woofer Low Frequ U8p8 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[SentinelAeon]

Interesting. It seems my speaker wasnt damaged but instead 1 of the wires got detached. So as soon as i cranked the speaker loud, the wire was moving and that was disconecting the speaker. I hope its that, i really want to have this speaker until i get new speakers

 

[audioguru]

The ebay 3" speaker has NO audio spec's. ANY speaker produces 60Hz, even a tweeter that produces no bass. The missing spec's will say +/-3dB which is fairly good or it will say +/-30dB which is horrible. Poor quality speakers have no spec's that say how bad they are.
Simply tap the cone to hear its resonance frequency. It will have low output below that frequency. An enclosure increases the resonance frequency.

Google never heard of the Sodial Speaker Company.
The "rubber" surround on the speaker shows cheap foam rubber (that tears easily) in the photos. Real rubber is smooth and shiny.

I played two Prodigy songs on my cheap 3" computer speakers and the noises played fine.

 

[SentinelAeon]

Just to let you know, i fixed my speaker. It is indeed what i said. When i was soldering wires to speaker, i got it to hot and the silver wire that goes into the speaker unsoldered. So everytime there was bass that moved the speaker, the wire was disconecting. It is now fixed and i am indeed amazed by the amount of bass produced by this speaker. I noticed that if i put volume to 100%, the woofer will be cutting off, like it will stop playing for mili seconds. So i added a 1.5 ohm resistor in series and now it doesnt cut when volume is at 100%. 100% volume is not usable anyway because my full range speaker will make strange noises. You said that at 100% it has 10% distortion anyway so i will just listen to it at 90% or less volume. I am super super super happy with the bass of this speaker. We had it on a bench and my friends said they can feel the bass on the bench. My friend even said if i could make a bluetooth speaker that can also be used to give a person a massage lol.

 

[audioguru]

You should start a Bluetooth Speaker Company. Then have them made "over there" and you get no work but lots of profit.

 

[SentinelAeon]

Hahaha now ur making fun of me But i like creating new stuff, learning new things, etc. It just seems awesome to me that i can take different parts that were meant for trash and make something so fun out of it. Right now the bigggest problem i have is finding the right material for the case. Wood is to heavy and to thick and i have no idea where to get the thin plastic for a decent price

 

[audioguru]

The enclosure for a speaker must be rigid. Thick wood is good. Cast metal is good. Curved plastic can be rigid. Thin flat plastic is not rigid.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

Wood is to heavy and to thick and i have no idea where to get the thin plastic for a decent price

How about PVC soffit board?
It is foamed PVC with a hard surface skin. You can get it around 9mm (3/8") thick, in various widths.
You can bond it with PVC pipe / conduit cement.

(It may be called something else in other countries - it's the stuff used on the underside of house roof overhangs).
eg.

UPVC Soffit Boards | Eurocell

Eurocell's Soffit Boards for Aesthetic Exteriors offer a perfect solution for a sleek and finished appearance. Our soffit boards are designed for both functionality and style, enhancing the beauty of your home's exterior.

www.eurocell.co.uk

 

[SentinelAeon]

Hmm, might be the option. What about cardboard ? It would be hard to make it very strong but otherwise it would be really easy to work with

 

[rjenkinsgb]

I can't see cardboard being that good..

Another option is PVC water pipe or drain pipe.
As AG mentioned earlier, a circular section is much stronger than flat panels. Possibly a 3" or 4" "tee" fitting? That could have the main speaker in the branch and a passive either end.
eg.
https://www.plasticpipeshop.co.uk/75mm-Plain-90-Degree-PVC-Tee_p_1241.html

4 Inch (100mm) PVC Vent Pipe T Piece | Manrose (44920 / MONV302)

www.tlc-direct.co.uk

Line one with glued-in foam or fibre wadding to damp resonances.

You could build an outer box of some other material to make it look more conventional & house the battery and electronics.

 

[SentinelAeon]

I actualy had a plan to make 1 speaker from PVC pipe.

 

[Mickster]

I actualy had a plan to make 1 speaker from PVC pipe.

Guess what these are made from....
**broken link removed**

 

[audioguru]

Notice that the Bass Tubes do not use a tiny little woofer? Then they are awkward to carry.
The smallest woofer is 6.5" and it has a fairly high sensitivity of 100dB/W and the largest is 12" with a high sensitivity of 106dB/W. Is the sensitivity measured when the bazooka is in a corner?
All of them have a good rated frequency response of +/-3dB from 35Hz to 250Hz.
They even make one that matches the looks of a Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) bottle.