First DIY Experience

[Nathan P]

I was bored today, and my music teacher had given me a pair of computer speakers. Huh, what a concidence, I had just taken apart an earlier pair :P (Frankenstien laugh) So, I decided to make myself a music box! Literally. I had the subwoofer and enclosure left over from the previous pair. So, I made some cutouts, did some soldering, and well, the results were better than I expected. The new speakers actually sound better than the old sattelites that came with the set, I can actually hear some trebel now. (the old ones were terribly weak) Anyway here's some pics. It's not hifi lol, but it was fun.

[Nathan P]

It has been sealed since the pictures, I was running it and I could feel the air shooting out of the cracks between the rims of the drivers and the wood. I may seal up the reflex port, as the crossover is set to really pound the bass, and it gets really loose sounding. I may make a better one from scratch, as I kind of like the idea of a box for my 'pod Not for main listening of course, I just put cds on then, but on the road and such it's nice.

[JonMarsh]

Your speaker drivers look like the kind of small midwoofers that were often used as "full range" drivers in products like the Bose 901's back in the 70's.

Sounds like you're having fun... be careful, it can become addictive and expensive.

[Nathan P]

Yeah, they do actually have more bass response than I thought they would. They look similar to the drivers in the pair of Harmon Kardon computer speakers I have, but the Harmons have smaller surrounds and a slightly larger cone. They sounded pretty decent from the get go, so I'm hesitant to tear them open.

[WillyD]

Cool dude. Messing around with cheap stuff is fun.

[Nathan P]

Actually, I took it to school to show the teacher that gave me the speakers I used to make it, and in the process everyone saw it. A few of the kids heard it and they thought it sounded really good. Everyone thought it was a sweet idea. So, I'm thinking of finding some good, not too expensive drivers and an amplifier system to design my own from the ground up, and if it sounds like this with cheapy old drivers, than with some cheap, but good quality drivers, it should sound great. I shouldn't need more than an 8" or so woofer, as it's mainly for music in smaller rooms, so a small enclosure with maybe 4 2.5" mids, one woofer and , what, two tweeters or so would sound pretty good. I was thinking there would be a good market for something like this locally, and maybe through forums and stuff. I know I can do it cheaper than the ones JBL and Bose are selling.

[WillyD]

Actually, I took it to school to show the teacher that gave me the speakers I used to make it, and in the process everyone saw it. A few of the kids heard it and they thought it sounded really good. Everyone thought it was a sweet idea. So, I'm thinking of finding some good, not too expensive drivers and an amplifier system to design my own from the ground up, and if it sounds like this with cheapy old drivers, than with some cheap, but good quality drivers, it should sound great. I shouldn't need more than an 8" or so woofer, as it's mainly for music in smaller rooms, so a small enclosure with maybe 4 2.5" mids, one woofer and , what, two tweeters or so would sound pretty good. I was thinking there would be a good market for something like this locally, and maybe through forums and stuff. I know I can do it cheaper than the ones JBL and Bose are selling.

Something like a sonic-t amp would be a neat amp to use, IMO.