How do you make a speaker from scratch?

[mecctro]

Ya basically I'd like to know if anyone has any info on how to make a speaker -->(bass)

Cost in not an issue its just finding te infromation to successfully make a speaker.

Yes I can go to a shope to make things, laser welding, bending and just about anything else as long as its not too extreme.

Its just I really want to make a powerful speaker that works and is possible to complete without any major kinks

[howard]

> Ya basically I'd like to know if anyone has
> any info on how to make a speaker
> -->(bass)

> Cost in not an issue its just finding te
> infromation to successfully make a speaker.

> Yes I can go to a shope to make things,
> laser welding, bending and just about
> anything else as long as its not too
> extreme.

> Its just I really want to make a powerful
> speaker that works and is possible to
> complete without any major kinks

See if this link has anything to help you
<A HREF="http://www.dancetech.com/aa_dt_new/pa/PA.cfm">http://www.dancetech.com/aa_dt_new/pa/PA.cfm</A>
Howard

[oldmongrel]

> Ya basically I'd like to know if anyone has
> any info on how to make a speaker
> -->(bass)

> Cost in not an issue its just finding te
> infromation to successfully make a speaker.

> Yes I can go to a shope to make things,
> laser welding, bending and just about
> anything else as long as its not too
> extreme.

> Its just I really want to make a powerful
> speaker that works and is possible to
> complete without any major kinks

You want to manufacture your own woofers? Make voice coils/formers, spiders, surrounds, baskets, magnets, cones, etc? Let us know if you succeed!

John

[markhayenga]

First, google 'femm' and download femm 4.0. It is a finite element analysis program for magnetics. Walk through the demo for magnetics problems to get a hang of it. This program will help you design the motor structure, figure out what materials to use, plot B curves, etc. The motor is where you have the most design flexibility since you can machine all the parts yourself.

For baskets, find someone in the industry and see if you can buy one of the common baskets off them (like the MTX style). Also, try to use standard parts (like off the shelf coils, spiders, cones, surrounds, etc). This stuff is much harder to DIY. You might even think about designing your motor around a standard coil. I don't know who you would contact about this stuff, maybe Darren could help you out.

Good luck, I am currently attempting the same project :)

[speakergeek]

Provided Link: http://www.speakergeeks.com


Building speakers from scratch is not trivial and requires special equipment (to magnetize the alnico blanks). I assume you are talking about a low freq cone driver. If this is a one-off design, you could cannibalize the magnet / basket / voice coils from other speakers. Take a look at Peavy drivers which have a field replaceable magnet / voice coil assembly.

About 20 years ago a friend and I built a subwoofer with a cone diameter of approx 3 feet from scratch. We built the magnet assembly as an electromagnet because there were no permanent magnets that we could use off the shelf. Plus you need special equipment to assemble strong magnets. Normally these are assembled first and then magnetized with high powered equipment.

Our subwoofer motor pieces were machined metal parts - 2 magnet cores wound with wire and a third cylindrical piece that acted as the voice coil pole. These were sandwiched between 2 bars and bolted together to form the magnet structure. To power the electromagnet we built a heavy duty DC power supply. The voice coil former was a 16 Oz. aluminum beer can and was edge wound with special high-temp flat magnet wire and high-temp epoxy which we baked in the oven. There was no spider, but the cone and coil assembly were mounted on a steel rod/bearing that centered the voice coil in the gap. The whole thing was bolted into place in a massive cabinet by bolting the magnet assembly to the back of the cabinet and the cone rode in a circular cutout on the front that acted as a piston / cylinder (no spider or basket).

It worked, but was not musical - transient response was poor due to our cone design (flat sheet of foam) and although the motor assembly was massive, we miscalculated just how much force you need to drive a cone that large and how stiff and light-weight the cone needs to be.

My buddy now is the owner of an ODM that supplies custom designs to well known US brand name consumer electronics companies. He does all of his manufacturing in China now and lets them deal with the headaches.

here is a link to a supplier of raw speaker parts (in China). I have no idea what is like to obtain sample parts for your design. Best of luck to you, and let us know how your adventure turns out.

<A HREF="http://www.alibaba.com/member/rzsdasn/selllead.html">http://www.alibaba.com/member/rzsdasn/selllead.html</A>