BlueTooth & Radio Speaker Box (Dev Project)

[Crumbz]

hey guys!

so i decided after looking at all the parts i have laying around that i wanted to do something with them that would be useful or at least somewhat entertaining. And after much deliberation and thought i decided that i would like to try for a bluetooth & FM radio spekaer box.

the idea is to make a box out of Styrofoam board and add speakers and other stuff to it,.

The list of the things that are going to go into it are:

- 2  20mm speakers

- 1  TB 2" mini subwoofer

- 1  bluetooth A2DP reciever

- 1  FM Radio reciver

- 1  3.5mm Audio Input Jack

- 1  3.7v Lithium Ion Battery Pack (maybe)

I am not very skilled in some aspects of electronic hardware and may need some help with voltage and proper wiring techniques.

All ideas/input is welcome!

[1TONpete]

I like where you are going with this.
I have put some thought into a similar project. I was thinking about making a ps3 controller with a built in bluetooth headset and amp and speakers. headless headset i was calling it.
So anyways , I got a few pointers for you.
1) Foam bad idea. Horrible for sound. Heavy cardboard would be better, and along the same lines box design will heavily affect sound quality. If you get a good design out of cardboard, i can help you make a fiberglass of acrylic (clear) speaker box. Also if you carve something cool out of foam I could mold it for you.
2) sound processing : you need to separate the frequencies with a passive crossover. You can either purchase a pre-made crossover or build one cheap. Being the size of it , you will probably need to make it. Maybe hyper or fookz can help with the proper diode or resistor or w/e. you will need something to block bass from your 20mm and something to block highs and too low, lows from the 2". Check the specks on the 2 " but I recommend you cut the 2" off at 120hz and start the 20mm off at  100 hz. check the low end of the 2" specks.
3)you will need at least 1 amp to run this maybe 2. I don't know how loud you want it but since you know what speakers you are using try to find something that will power all 3 speakers alone w/o a second amp.

[Crumbz]

k. well i guess ill just use the foam as a basic idea for the design. ill PM you pics denali when im done the design of the box to see what you think of it.

Also i was thinking of adding a second mini sub. Would it be better to have  the 2 20mm speakers running on one amp while the 2 subs run on another amp?

also what would be a good place to start looking for the kind of amps i would need? I know Radio Shack (It's called "The Source" here in Canada) dosent have any amps of any kind.

and ill go and try to pick up the heavy cardboard tommorow.

Also here are the specs of that TB 2" Mini Sub:

1 - http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/1230_04/w2-1625sa.htm (i think this one is good)

2 - http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/1230_04/w2-1767s.htm

[1TONpete]

As far as the amp, you could gut a pair of pc speakers (most guys upgrade thier speakers and have at least one set of factory pc speakers around.  Most are powered by a dc9v adapter. So you can remove the ac/dc adapter and wire in a 9v to power the amp. I did this with a psp case mod and put in my own speakers/amp . You will be best off running your sub in mono on its own amp. and run the 20mm in stereo on there own amp.
this speaker is the better of the 2.
http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/1230_04/w2-1625sa.htm
You might want to find 1 with a lil lower frequency response.
this is off the link posted above. I will highlight things to look for. high#'s will be in red, if something needs a low # it will be in green. Yellow is for matching to your amp. orange will be look for this in other products.

SURROUND MTL    Santoprene
NOMINAL IMPEDANCE    8 W(this says "W" but i think its supposed to be ohms)
DCR IMPEDANCE    6.6 W (this says "W" but i think its supposed to be ohms)
SENSITIVITY 1W/1m    80 dB 80 is about as low as i would go here.
FREQUENCY RESPONSE    90-500 Hz 90 is a lil high for sub , but it will hit. you wont probably find a small sub that can produce sound in that traditional sub zone 30-100hz. 
FREE AIR RESONANCE    90 Hz
RATED POWER INPUT    20 W
MAXIMUM POWER INPUT    40 W these power #'s seem to be ok

[Crumbz]

UPDATE:

So ill be getting the speakers for the amp tommorow, and i still hav to dig up that battery and bluetooth A2DP reciever.

But here are some pics of the concept case design so far with the two normal spekaers installed.





of course the cord wont be there when im done but for now ill be testing the acoustics with a wired input.

again any input from anyone is welcome!

[FOOKz™]

You might find that if you add an air intake in the back of your box the sound quality will be better.

[Crumbz]

there actually is an air intake hole at the bottom. But i added that bottom piece to it so you cant see it but its there.

[1TONpete]

Is the circle on the side for the sub?  is your port opposite to that? you should put a baffle in between.
see pic....
you can move them back and forth to tune your box. These will help make it so it hits hard on the right frequency. You want a lil deeper real low boom, separate the baffles a lil, and move them further away from the speaker. if you want it to kick on the higher lows, you bring the baffles closer together and closer to the speaker. experiment when you got your sub.

[Crumbz]

k. the order for the Tang Band 3" sub is placed and will be here on tuesday at the latest. still no luck finding a pair of old computer speakers but i will keep looking.