Mini Computer Speakers (No 56k)

[snoogins]

Ok, so I don't really post here often, but I figured I'd share one of my recent projects. I also have more to share if anyone would like.
These are some small computer speakers that originally were for my girlfriend during her month away in Spain, but they didn't make it in time. Speakers are 1" Tang Band fullranges and the amp is a 12 watt JBL oem amp from ApexJR.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs001.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs002.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs003.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs004.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs005.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs006.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs010.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs011.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs012.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs013.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs015-1.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs016.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs018.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs023.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs025.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs027.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs028.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs029.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/spkrs035.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/cruiseparknewcamera533.jpg

[Ryan from Ohio]

why?

:) Looks good so far. Wood is thick enough ;)

[snoogins]

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/cruiseparknewcamera535.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/cruiseparknewcamera536.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/cruiseparknewcamera537.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/cruiseparknewcamera538.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0002.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0005.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0007.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0008.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0009.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0010.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0011.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0012.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0016.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0017.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0018.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0014.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/IMG_0118.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/IMG_0139.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/untitled2.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0699.jpg

[swimmerdude]

those look awesome.... a nice little set that you made there. So you have more projects?? Go ahead, post them up!

[Bwcad1]

dude that rocks im gonna go build me some

[snoogins]

those look awesome.... a nice little set that you made there. So you have more projects?? Go ahead, post them up!

Yeah, I have a few. Most of the show-off-able ones are ht projects, so I guess I'll leave them here.

Thanks for the comments, guys. Hopefully these'll be finished sometime soon, as many of my projects reach a certain point then stay there.... for a very long time... before finally being finished.

[brtnboarder3241]

dude very awesome..post more projects up.. very talented

[Chris from Washington]

Wow, those look great!!

good job!

[solacedagony]

Your wood working is super smooth, I love it!

Is that a DIY amp that you built? If so, can you post a link to the project?

[CaptainPioneer]

I need to learn how to woodwork like that... Plus it would be nice if i actually had the right equipment

[brent]

Wow, that looks incredible. Nice wood work!!

[colemanyoungerinalaska]

nice

[cargodz]

That is an awesome lil setup... Keep up the good work... and as many others have said... If you've got more designs, we'd love to see them ;)

[snoogins]

Finally got one up and running. Also managed to correctly wire the extra 3.5mm output and match the phase/polarity of the outputs. Deadeded the one enclosure, added felt, glued in wire, soldered, and added foam seal for the driver. A few @<hidden> diyaudio duggested stuffing them, but I'm going to see how they sound after a breakin period and then do some listening with/without the poly.

The volume levels are great though. They're kind of bright, but they can get quite loud without much distortion. I had a little lowend disortion originally, but I think once I sealed them up it went away. I may eventually come up with a crossover for the pair.

I have the back plexiglass panel off atm, so I can gauge how hot the heatsink gets over extended periods of play. I'll probably just drill some ventilation since the back won't really be seen.

They did manage to give me a lot more desk space, as well as inspire me to clean up all my crap.

Ew:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0-2.jpg

Yay!
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0017-1.jpg

[snoogins]

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0036.jpg

[jonnyb]

love it! they look fantastic!

[cargodz]

And I see now you got a monitor to match your new sound :)

[snoogins]

And I see now you got a monitor to match your new sound :)

A friend had it laying around broken for months, so I took it and replaced the burnt out cathodes. Now I'm just waiting on a dualhead graphics card and a power brick to run it.

[joeyc]

very nice work, what kind of driver is that? looks similar to the ones in my creative setup, but much bigger. Anyways, great work! Let us know how it sounds.

[snoogins]

very nice work, what kind of driver is that? looks similar to the ones in my creative setup, but much bigger. Anyways, great work! Let us know how it sounds.
It's a Tangband 1" Full Range (http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=264-860) from PE.
I like the sound. Satisfactory, and lots of fun to build. I'm still trying to find some polyfil for them... I know I have some around here somewhere.
On a side note I ordered the drivers for the second set. 3.5" Buyout neo's (http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=289-106) (debadged Aura NS3's) The second set will probably be going to my dad for a christmas or birthday gift or something. Hopefully the amp will be enough to power them, but the power is comparable to the t-amp's, and they've been reviewed to work well with them.

I'm excited to start on this second set.

[snoogins]

Part Deux!

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0038.jpg

[cargodz]

I see an upgrade comin :D

[solacedagony]

You going to add those as bottom end to the widebanders or just use them by themselves? Really neat project! I gotta learn how to use Speaker Workshop or something so I can design a decent crossover and try out one of these super cheap projects.

[snoogins]

These will be for a second set, probably winding up as a gift for someone. The drivers are close to Aura NS3's, which many people run without tweeters or crossovers.

This build will probably be a little more challenging, as I have to rear-mount the drivers. Otherwise I would have to notch the mounting hole to accomodate the terminals and angle the cutout to allow airflow. I'm thinking about making a round front baffle to attach to the cubes to make things like wiring, lining, and stuffing easier. But unless I can finda relatively cheap place to have custom rings cut (they're too small for me to feel comfortable doing) I'll have to just mount the drivers inside the enclosures, then wire them up, line/stuff the boxes, and then put the back on. Then I'll have to sand/finish the enclosure with the driver masked. Hopefully I can do it without damaging, painting the speaker.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0039.jpg

[snoogins]

Well the precut baffles came in today. And for 15 bucks, I think I may do this regularly. I hate doing such small router cutouts. Didn't really expect them to be painted, but I can probably sand it down for the butt joints.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0041.jpg

[solacedagony]

Very pretty!

Who did the routering for you?

[snoogins]

theinfamousfrootloops on ebay. Puts up auctions for custom rings.

[snoogins]

Got a lot done with these today.

Wood:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/DSC00547.jpg

Construction:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/DSC00548.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/DSC00549.jpg

Baffle mockup (with masked drivers):

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/DSC00551.jpg

Mounted from rear:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/DSC00552.jpg

After the backs were done I rounded over the back 4 sides, then lined the inside with dampnener, glued in felt, and glue in the power wires. I'll be ready to glue on the baffles and finish the roundovers tomorrow.

[snoogins]

This set is going much faster than the first. Today I soldered in the wires, glued on the baffles, and did all of the roundovers and a good bit of the sanding.

Soldering earlier this morning:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/124_5840.jpg


And progress as of 10 mins ago:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/0092.jpg

[snoogins]

I decided to skip sending these to the shop to get primed, since that was usually the step that took the most time to get done, so I picked up some filler primer and went to work. The blue painter's tape wasn't staying in place enough to protect the drivers, so I switched to the green 3m automotive masking tape. Wehn taking it off today to check the coverage, I noticed that the glue stuck to the surround basically anywhere it was attached. I'm going to try some thinner or alcohol or acryli-clean to try and clean them up, as well as any unmasked spots.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/IMG_0113.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/IMG_0116.jpg

[solacedagony]

Watch the cleaners on the surround. Some of them might eat it :(

[snoogins]

Watch the cleaners on the surround. Some of them might eat it :(

I use Acryli-Clean (from PPG) when cleaning anything that I'm worried about discoloring/damaging. It even works better than alcohol on bare metal.

They cleaned up really well, actually (almost done in this pic). They're now at the shop waiting for paint.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/IMG_0123.jpg

I also picked up a new toy from Radioshack the other day. It's a discontinued wireless audio receiever/amplifier. It uses your household ac to transmit stereo signals. I'm dumping the wirleless components and using it as a $15 25wx2 amp. Pretty good deal if you can find one. They originally retailed for $150. :p

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/IMG_0132.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c21/hempness/IMG_0133.jpg

The transformer alone is worth like 20 bucks. :) I plan on making a smaller case for it and ditching the 4-knob panel for a single volume pot.

[solacedagony]

Nice man, I love the DIY spirit :)