Making portable speakers - My quest to learn basic electronic engineering
11 replies, posted
I'm 16 now, getting around the age as to I should start figuring out what I want to do with my future. Electronic, robotic, and nearly all other forms of engineering appeal to me. What better way to figure out which I want to do then do a bit of them all?
So, to both fulfill a need (I really want a set of portable, battery-powered speakers), and learn a bit of electronic engineering, I decided I would make a set of portable speakers nearly from scratch. The only part I won't be making will be the speakers themselves, which I pulled out of an old set I found in my basement.
[img]http://filesmelt.com/dl/speakers.png[/img]
Now, what I do and don't know about electronic engineering.
[b]Do:[/b]
• Soldering
• What different pieces (resistors, capacitors, etc) do
[b]Don't:[/b]
• Just about everything else
I've tried searching on Google to help me with my quest, but with the first 3 pages being filled with "MAKE YOUR OWN SPEAKERS FROM A PAPER PLATE", I gave up.
Now I turn to you Facepunch. Do any of you have any resources at your disposal you can link me to? Or even, any of you willing to help me out? I have a nearby RadioShack that sells just about anything I could imagine myself needing, and I'll be updating this thread with my progress.
I have no real time frame for finishing this project, I'll be taking as long as it takes to get what I want. Any help you guys are able to offer would be great.
you'll need to build a audio amplifier.
Just solder a 3.5mm headphones port cable to it and you are done. Just those are really quiet. I did it when I was 10, just I didn't solder. Pure Duct Tape.
It was quiet because you were driving speakers directly from a line level source without an amplifier.
[quote]you'll need to build a audio amplifier. [/quote]
This. There are plenty of designs around the internet.
You'd need to build something like this:
[URL=http://img822.imageshack.us/i/img0038cof.jpg/][IMG]http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/3100/img0038cof.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
It's a TDA7052a opamp. I have it rigged to combine both left and right channels into a monaural stream. You can make a much simpler circuit by removing the diodes and VRM, but I added them as an idiot feature so if the power polarity was reversed, it wouldn't fry.
The LM386 opamp requires less support logic, but it has terrible sound quality. It'd probably be a better choice for beginners because there are a bunch of tutorials on Youtube on how to make a LM386 opamp.
There should be a forum about this. I'm trying to create a PWM to control a small DC motor but I have no 555 timers handy and I really don't want to buy anything. Every time you get a project in your mind and think it's a simple thing to create, you get to a plateau because it's just so damn difficult.
Go figure, controlling a DC motor isn't as simple as connecting it to a potenciometer.
Since I want to do a stereo setup, should I make 2 amplifiers?
[QUOTE=DigiTech;26060630]Since I want to do a stereo setup, should I make 2 amplifiers?[/QUOTE]
Depends on the hardware used.
Some opamp chips are "stereo", while some are not
Could just make one and use this: [img]http://www.1topstore.com/images/products_images/unfurl/35mm-stereo-headphone-y-splitter-adapter-cable-58.jpg[/img]
[editline]14th November 2010[/editline]
Just cut the wires.
[QUOTE=>VLN<;26061602]Could just make one and use this: [img_thumb]http://www.1topstore.com/images/products_images/unfurl/35mm-stereo-headphone-y-splitter-adapter-cable-58.jpg[/img_thumb]
[editline]14th November 2010[/editline
Just cut the wires.[/QUOTE]
Would be too quiet. Making a battery-powered and portable amp would be a much better choice.
[QUOTE=DigiTech;26060630]Since I want to do a stereo setup, should I make 2 amplifiers?[/QUOTE]
You [i]can[/i] use dual opamps, but it's more economical to use a single stereo opamp. Less parts are required, and you're less likely to run into strange problems.
[QUOTE=Tools;26063182]Would be too quiet. Making a battery-powered and portable amp would be a much better choice.[/QUOTE]
My bad. I misread the situation.
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