speakers

67 Articles

Solar-powered MP3 Playing Speaker

March 31, 2011 by 5 Comments

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[Valentin] bought a small battery-powered cube speaker with a built-in amp some time ago, but didn’t have much patience for replacing or recharging the batteries. It sat on the shelf for awhile until he decided to revive an old MP3 player he had sitting around.

He gutted a pair of solar garden lamps, retaining the solar panels, the built-in charging circuits, as well as the included rechargeable batteries. The MP3 player was disassembled, and its components were built into the speaker enclosure. The player’s buttons were relocated to the outer shell of the speaker box with a few pieces of wire, allowing him to easily control his music without having to build in a method for opening the case. Both the speaker and the MP3 player are powered by the batteries salvaged from the solar lamps, which is why he opted to mount both of the solar panels on the the side of the speaker enclosure rather than just one.

We like it even though the speaker looks a bit rough at the moment, especially where the MP3 player’s buttons were transplanted. After a few minutes of touch-up work however, it’ll look great.

If you’re interested in some more solar hacks, check out this solar-powered junkbot, these solar toys for kids, and this solar-powered WiFi repeater we featured in the past.

Don’t Buy An Amp, Build One To Suit

March 21, 2011 by 22 Comments

In need of an amplifier for his home entertainment system [Afroman] decided to build an amp rather than buying one. If nothing else, doing it himself allowed for a form factor that can’t just go out and buy.

He designed the project on two separate boards, one for the power supply and the other for the amplifier circuit. Both are of his own design, and although he doesn’t share the schematic, we know he’s based his work on a National Semiconductor reference design for the LM4780 audio amplifier chip. There’s a few other clues, like his mention of the toroidal transformer seen at the left in the image above and hi-res photos of the unpopulated board that has component values printed in the silk screen.

The final design allows him to get great performance out of his speakers with a very clean look. You’ll need to be logged to the forum linked above to view all of the images, but we’ve embedded three more of them after the break to whet your appetite.

Oh, and cost? This gets up there, just sneaking past the $500 mark.

Continue reading “Don’t Buy An Amp, Build One To Suit” →

These Apple-inspired Speakers Would Make Steve Jobs Envious

March 7, 2011 by 14 Comments

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Reader [Brett] sent in the build log of his beautiful set of Apple-inspired computer speakers for us to look over. Having seen our recent post on DIY speakers, he thought he would throw his hat into the ring as well, and we’re glad he did.

He wanted a nice set of speakers to complement his iMac, but couldn’t find anything he liked that would provide the sound quality he was looking for while closely matching the design of the computer. The speakers are constructed out of MDF with CNC milled acrylic front and back panels. Hand-built crossovers reside inside the speaker boxes, which provides for a clean, polished look. He originally planned on building a pair of subwoofers into his desk, but ultimately settled on building a single subwoofer to sit on the floor.

The finished product is simply stunning, and we would have a hard time believing they were a DIY project if we didn’t see them come together piece by piece. Do you think you can match [Brett’s] handiwork?  If so, feel free to share your speaker builds in the comments.

Audio Two-fer – Sneaker Speakers And DIY Mid-Fi Woofers

March 4, 2011 by 16 Comments

speakers

Nike Air Force 1 shoes are probably some of the most well-recognized sneakers around the world, aside from the always timeless Chuck Taylor All Stars. So when [Alex Nash] was asked to create some art using something ordinary with a goal of turning it into something special,  he immediately grabbed a pair and got to work.

His vision was to build a set of PC speakers by embedding a small amplifier and speakers into a pair of Air Force 1s. As you can see from the pictures on his site, they look awesome. He doesn’t say how good they sound, but we’re betting they perform better than that old pair that came with your last computer.

When [Stacy] was in college, she didn’t have a ton of room or money for a nice audio setup, so she decided to build a pair of speakers rather than buying them. She admits that these “Mid-Fi” woofers won’t be the centerpiece of your Hi-Fi setup, but they still sound pretty darn good for $50 DIY speakers. She compares them to units you would find in the store for $300+, and they sound so good she continues to use them as a compliment to the rest of her Hi-Fi setup now that she has a place of her own.

Unreal Speaker Build

October 27, 2010 by 50 Comments

These speakers are hand made and almost one of a kind. [Lluís Pujolàs] didn’t come up with the original design, but he sure did an amazing job of crafting them, including an eleven page build log (translated). They’re called the Odyssey 2, after the original design. The shell-shaped cavity on the bottom was built as a wooden skeleton first, then covered over for the finished shape. But the mid and high range enclosures were turned on a lathe from wood glued-ups. A serious machine shop is necessary to do this kind of woodworking. The bases are poured concrete, impregnated with lead beads to help with vibration isolation. At 330 pounds each it’s understandable that he tested them on wheels before parking them in their final position as seen above.

[Thanks Neorazz]

Daft Punk Table With IPod Dock

September 18, 2010 by 35 Comments

This beautifully crafted Daft Punk table with iPod dock was built by [Dustin Evans]. The table itself was built with the help of a friend in one day with electronics added a bit later. It features an 8×8 grid of boxes with red LEDs mounted inside. The picture above is not quite the finished product, a diffuser will be added later to augment the scattering of light already provided by cutting the tip off of each LED. On the underside you’ll find a power supply and a set of speakers. The system is controlled by an Arduino which resides in the same drawer as the dock. See the final product in the clip after the break.

Continue reading “Daft Punk Table With IPod Dock” →

Airport Express Speaker Mashup

August 27, 2010 by 12 Comments

[Wei] salvaged the internals from an Airport Express that had a blown power supply. From there he built this streaming music box. The case is from an IKEA clock with the face removed. He added some decorative fabric around a grill to make an acoustically transparent front panel. Inside you’ll find the Airport guts connected to a USB charger (replaces the dead PSU) and a set of powered stereo speakers. This simple mashup looks good and frees up space in your junk-parts box.