4 ms·

I'm going to say something out of the blue - Building speakers. Building speakers look complex from the outside, but are pretty rewarding once you know the bas

by neya 8y ago

I'm going to say something out of the blue - Building speakers. Building speakers look complex from the outside, but are pretty rewarding once you know the basics (Thiele parameters, enclosure design and tuning). You can put together your own speaker with just a couple of parts from eBay or anywhere else on the internet really and sometimes can end up with really high quality boxes that can outperform much more expensive commercial ones available in the market. Speaker design is one of those things that the more time you put into it, learning, studying, testing, the better rewarded you'd feel. To add to the mix there's also amplifiers - Class A, B, C, D and even tube amps and each combination of amplifier and crossover sounds totally different. Each speaker box I design, I feel is like good food. Different flavors, different combinations, different possibilities. You will never feel bored and never feel you've hit an end. You're always discovering something new.

faitswulff 8y ago
Would the barrier to entry for making working speakers be significantly higher if the aux port goes away entirely?
- grk 8y ago
  You can use something like hifiberry or justboom to embed a spotify / airplay compatible amplifier into your speakers: https://www.justboom.co/product/justboom-amp-zero-phat/ https://www.justboom.co/product/justboom-amp-zero-phat/
- tgsovlerkhgsel 8y ago
  If it went away entirely, as in also from laptops, desktops and Raspberry Pis, without adapters being available, maybe. But you're not going to be driving a speaker with a phone anyways. You'll need an amplifier, and if the aux port goes away, the amp will likely have whatever-alternative-input-there-is.
- neya 8y ago
  If Aux port goes away, it's still going to be Bluetooth or Wifi and of course there are plenty of plug and play chips out there on the market that should do the job pretty easily. So, to answer your question, no, the barrier wouldn't be that high at all :)
nicoburns 8y ago
Oo, this is something I'm pretty interested in getting into (I love good sound systems, and enjoy building physical things). Do you have any pointers on where to find information on how to design speakers / pick sensible component combinations?
- neya 8y ago
  Sure. Books: There are many technical books, some are so complex in their wordings that you'd feel like giving up even before you start. The best book I've found that's short and sweet (but requires a little bit of math background) is this one: https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Building-Testing-Speaker-Projects-ebook/dp/B00BB7MI88?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_dp https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Building-Testing-Speaker-Pr... Courses: Coursera has an Audio Engineering course which the professor explains in really crisp detail. It's from University of Rochester. The course title is: "Fundamentals of Audio and Music Engineering: Part 1 Musical Sound & Electronics" Link: https://www.coursera.org/learn/audio-engineering https://www.coursera.org/learn/audio-engineering I audited the course and didn't pay any money. There's not much difference unless you want a certificate (and of course want to support Coursera too). YouTube: I like Kirby meets audio. He does some really nice stuff with speaker boxes. He mostly sells kits for his speakers, but I don't recommend them. They are from parts express mostly. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOuow_HIYmeaIqi42zVs3qg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOuow_HIYmeaIqi42zVs3qg I LOVE John. He reviews most of the cheap amplifiers from China and teaches you what's wrong with them electronically and how to fix them. HE's very knowledgeable as well. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8SPQG7er2RJhz4E8xvFEtw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8SPQG7er2RJhz4E8xvFEtw Where to buy parts: If you're buying speakers, AliExpress usually sells good quality speakers for cheap. You may also want to search for the same model (sometimes under different brand names) on eBay as eBay can be cheap sometimes as well. Contrary to popular belief, most speakers are actually made in China. Simply because China possesses most of earth's natural magnetic ore required for making speakers. That and Neodymium too. For example, look at the quality of this Aluminium cast speaker: https://www.instagram.com/p/BjZN5XKggOt/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BjZN5XKggOt/. It's definitely hundreds of notches higher quality than what you can buy commercially from say, Sony or Philips in the consumer market. And it also costs really less. Nanjing in China has most of these speaker factories and I visited a few last year. If you are able to make a trip to China like I did, it's best to form a personal relationship with someone there and you can order directly through them. The price difference between AliExpress/eBay and these factories direct can be as huge as $50-100 depending on the model and size of the speaker. For amplifiers, I recommend eBay or AliExpress. Both carry decent models. If you'd like to build your own, hands down the best model to get started with and easiest to hack one in a weekend is TDA 7297 by ST MicroElectronics. The good thing is, you can even power it with your USB! And the sound quality is REALLY good. It's the same IC used by a lot of companies (Creative for example) and resold to you for $700 (Creative actually has a model that uses this IC for this price, I can't remember which one). Many companies like Bose also use similar models from ST as well. That's when you realize stuff you buy from the consumer market is actually something you could have built yourself too, with a little more effort :) Some other popular amplifier models (plug and play) are chips based on TPA 3116D2. They come in different configurations 2.1, 4 channels or good ole' stereo. Pick the ones you like. Finally, don't be intimidated by all the complex terminology, sometimes you can just start with what you like or find combinations on the internet that are popular. Here's my earliest build: It's a mix of art + audio (attempt to): https://www.instagram.com/p/Bet9CA-FxHs/ https://www.instagram.com/p/Bet9CA-FxHs/. But even after so many years, I'm still proud of it :) Hope this helps :)
shanecleveland 8y ago
I'm glad you mentioned this. I've recently gotten into analog stereo. I've fixed up a few receivers, which has involved deciphering schematics, testing circuitry and soldering. Very rewarding when it works! I've rehabbed some speakers and turntables, too. I'm a long way from understanding much of anything in depth, but it is a nice off-screen, hands-on hobby. Thanks for the book recommendations below.
Bakary 8y ago
I recommend reading the book The Invisibility Cloak by Ge Fei

by neya 8y ago

faitswulff 8y ago

Would the barrier to entry for making working speakers be significantly higher if the aux port goes away entirely?

grk 8y ago
You can use something like hifiberry or justboom to embed a spotify / airplay compatible amplifier into your speakers: https://www.justboom.co/product/justboom-amp-zero-phat/ https://www.justboom.co/product/justboom-amp-zero-phat/
tgsovlerkhgsel 8y ago
If it went away entirely, as in also from laptops, desktops and Raspberry Pis, without adapters being available, maybe. But you're not going to be driving a speaker with a phone anyways. You'll need an amplifier, and if the aux port goes away, the amp will likely have whatever-alternative-input-there-is.
neya 8y ago
If Aux port goes away, it's still going to be Bluetooth or Wifi and of course there are plenty of plug and play chips out there on the market that should do the job pretty easily. So, to answer your question, no, the barrier wouldn't be that high at all :)

nicoburns 8y ago

Oo, this is something I'm pretty interested in getting into (I love good sound systems, and enjoy building physical things). Do you have any pointers on where to find information on how to design speakers / pick sensible component combinations?

neya 8y ago
Sure. Books: There are many technical books, some are so complex in their wordings that you'd feel like giving up even before you start. The best book I've found that's short and sweet (but requires a little bit of math background) is this one: https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Building-Testing-Speaker-Projects-ebook/dp/B00BB7MI88?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_dp https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Building-Testing-Speaker-Pr... Courses: Coursera has an Audio Engineering course which the professor explains in really crisp detail. It's from University of Rochester. The course title is: "Fundamentals of Audio and Music Engineering: Part 1 Musical Sound & Electronics" Link: https://www.coursera.org/learn/audio-engineering https://www.coursera.org/learn/audio-engineering I audited the course and didn't pay any money. There's not much difference unless you want a certificate (and of course want to support Coursera too). YouTube: I like Kirby meets audio. He does some really nice stuff with speaker boxes. He mostly sells kits for his speakers, but I don't recommend them. They are from parts express mostly. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOuow_HIYmeaIqi42zVs3qg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOuow_HIYmeaIqi42zVs3qg I LOVE John. He reviews most of the cheap amplifiers from China and teaches you what's wrong with them electronically and how to fix them. HE's very knowledgeable as well. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8SPQG7er2RJhz4E8xvFEtw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8SPQG7er2RJhz4E8xvFEtw Where to buy parts: If you're buying speakers, AliExpress usually sells good quality speakers for cheap. You may also want to search for the same model (sometimes under different brand names) on eBay as eBay can be cheap sometimes as well. Contrary to popular belief, most speakers are actually made in China. Simply because China possesses most of earth's natural magnetic ore required for making speakers. That and Neodymium too. For example, look at the quality of this Aluminium cast speaker: https://www.instagram.com/p/BjZN5XKggOt/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BjZN5XKggOt/. It's definitely hundreds of notches higher quality than what you can buy commercially from say, Sony or Philips in the consumer market. And it also costs really less. Nanjing in China has most of these speaker factories and I visited a few last year. If you are able to make a trip to China like I did, it's best to form a personal relationship with someone there and you can order directly through them. The price difference between AliExpress/eBay and these factories direct can be as huge as $50-100 depending on the model and size of the speaker. For amplifiers, I recommend eBay or AliExpress. Both carry decent models. If you'd like to build your own, hands down the best model to get started with and easiest to hack one in a weekend is TDA 7297 by ST MicroElectronics. The good thing is, you can even power it with your USB! And the sound quality is REALLY good. It's the same IC used by a lot of companies (Creative for example) and resold to you for $700 (Creative actually has a model that uses this IC for this price, I can't remember which one). Many companies like Bose also use similar models from ST as well. That's when you realize stuff you buy from the consumer market is actually something you could have built yourself too, with a little more effort :) Some other popular amplifier models (plug and play) are chips based on TPA 3116D2. They come in different configurations 2.1, 4 channels or good ole' stereo. Pick the ones you like. Finally, don't be intimidated by all the complex terminology, sometimes you can just start with what you like or find combinations on the internet that are popular. Here's my earliest build: It's a mix of art + audio (attempt to): https://www.instagram.com/p/Bet9CA-FxHs/ https://www.instagram.com/p/Bet9CA-FxHs/. But even after so many years, I'm still proud of it :) Hope this helps :)

shanecleveland 8y ago

I'm glad you mentioned this. I've recently gotten into analog stereo. I've fixed up a few receivers, which has involved deciphering schematics, testing circuitry and soldering. Very rewarding when it works! I've rehabbed some speakers and turntables, too. I'm a long way from understanding much of anything in depth, but it is a nice off-screen, hands-on hobby. Thanks for the book recommendations below.

Bakary 8y ago

I recommend reading the book The Invisibility Cloak by Ge Fei