goals:
light, cheap, portable, battery powered option, loud, bass, dirt cheap,
light, cheap, portable, battery powered option, loud, bass, dirt cheap,
After looking at all the portable speakers out there from little un-powered Sony to the monster Cambridge sound pack... Nothing seemed to fit my needs - or my budget... 2 and 3" speakers are cool and the shinny cones and domes sure do make it look even cooler - but i wanted SOUND and even more so BASS
So after going through my bins o' electronics and scrap at my work i found the following tons of old Compaq speakers from the Deskpro line (some have rubber surrounds) 2 4" speakers from a pair of Harmon Karmon desktop speakers and a 3 channel set from cyber acoustics I voided a few warranties but I’m ok with that hummm
Now for an enclosure... wood takes the portable away right off the start plastic is cool - but DIY people like me don’t have that ability But we can find plastic cases from old gear, or maybe new gear?
I felt most of what I had would vibrate too much and cause distortion and noise Also I was limited in how I could place the speakers, amp and battery pack And I wasn’t willing to spend money... well not a lot So I decided to make my own case out of cardboard...and as it turns out lots of hot glue...
Cardboard is a tough material - we ship our most precious items in cardboard where I work we receive a good number of computers each month - that means there are plenty of boxes - some are double corrugated some are single in various thicknesses and strengths - after playing a bit I found the right stuff for the enclosure and the internal bits - and where ever bracing is required I would try to remember to run the corrugations against each other
For the full range Compaq’s enclose size was not to tough.. they work and sound ok in anything and even just sitting out by them selves - no real bass but I got that covered - the mounting was easy was well - cut hole - place speaker - apply huge amounts of hot glue... done - it will never move unless you cut it out. The space is sealed and ended up helping with the lower mid area
The original plan was to use the sub that was with the cyber acoustic set... but during fitting and installation - I felt the urge to poke a hole through the cone with a screw driver... it was a crushing blow to the progress of the project
A backup plan was needed - the 2 4" Harmon’s would do - at first I thought 1 would do it. But during listening test the bass was poor - the enclosure was too big I tried a few things and found no solutions - except for one
Add the 2nd speaker and ta-da - the wiring dropped the load from X to X and the enclosure size was a better fit - the box roared to life in testing
- moving a good amount of air and hitting low notes with some bit of accuracy I played with sealed and ported designs finding the ported design helped with the super low end - easing the distortion and flutter
at this point the bass holds till around 50 Hz then get muddy and distorted...
a filter would help this but no time or urge to fix = from a distance its acceptable
the cyber acoustic amp is rated at 9volts and has a little brick
- i plan to use a 8 aa battery pack and push 12 to it
- I know this will shorting the life but... that’s ok
- I don’t know about longevity yet - but it'll last long enough i'm sure
The duck tape is duel purpose - 1 it gives it that hard core industrial look
and 2 it water proofs it - so a few drops or maybe a light splash will be ok
I hope
I think this puts most portable to shame - the ipod deals included
- maybe not the high end Bose or Cambridge - but then again this cost me less then $15 bucks
Its loud and acceptably accurate for what it is
not to mention the bass response is 10x that of what even 4 2.5" cones can reproduce
The handle makes it ultra portable and hey it just looks freakin cool
warning - scolling ahead -
here is the kinda timeline - how too - picture part
images are 600 by somthing so you can see the quality :)
feel free to contact me at shh.quiet AT gmail DOTT COM
here is the kinda timeline - how too - picture part
images are 600 by somthing so you can see the quality :)
feel free to contact me at shh.quiet AT gmail DOTT COM
