Bluetooth speaker, Isetta?

[Mikesdak]

Hello everyone,

I've recently been bitten by the speaker DIY bug, again, after a brief foray in the 90s.... My son is a teenager now, and into speakers. First project is to replace the DC130A woofers in my bookshelf speakers, old ones have bad surrounds.

I'm contemplating doing a small powered Bluetooth speaker with good sound quality, for listening to streamed audio books and Spotify tunes from iPhones and such. I don't currently have ability or time to really design and test speakers, so looking for a proven design. Looking around, I see Paul Carmody's Isetta design, but the midrange drivers are NLA. I don't know if there's a good substitute without modification of the crossover though.

Curious about other thoughts or designs which might work well? Thanks in advance,

[djg]

PE has various kits for bluetooth boomboxes of various sizes and fidelity. With or without cabinets.

https://www.parts-express.com/speake...subwoofer-kits

[djg]

I built this using the 30 watt "ammo box" kit, substituting my own cabinet for an ammo box. Fair fidelity due to the small full range speakers. In hindsight, a kit with more watts and bigger speakers, 2.1 perhaps, would be a better choice.

https://techtalk.parts-express.com/f...luetooth-build

[djg]

Tom Zarbo has some really nice homebrew diy small items. He has a youtube channel.

[Mikesdak]

Dlg,

Thanks! Those are great starting points,

[djg]

If you look at the PE kits assy manuals, they show parts lists to help you with your own efforts.

[Mikesdak]

That should be helpful, to give an idea of the components. I'm thinking rechargeable batteries would be nice.

[djg]

The amp stack in my BT radio build has 3 rechargeable 18650s. Take a look at the components on the PE site. The module is quite elegant.

https://www.parts-express.com/Portab...nents-300-7301

[Mikesdak]

I like that idea, can include as many batteries as needed to satisfy power requirements.

[Wolf]

My OSFA design is another BT project out there. Agreed Tom Zarbo has quite a few.

Wolf

[3rutu5]

how small is small?

[3rutu5]

https://youtu.be/a43LXqRwQC8

here is a bit of fun, just blow away the cheap amp\combo for a Dayton Audio one

[Mikesdak]

3rutu5,

I'm thinking the size of the Isetta or a bit smaller. The question gets down to how much bass needed, and if ported. Looks like the Tang band woofer needs a long port tube, which strongly influences the enclosure.

I've been been reading and learning a bunch about this. My current thought is to build a small amp (PE TPS3116D2) in a separate project box to power bookshelf speakers, and then work that into an eventual portable speaker build.....Then I got hung up on power supply, thinking of using a laptop power supply, and thought further about batteries, and then thought about how to properly change them.... Etc
I appreciate the thoughts. Thanks for the OSFA design, Wolf, I'll need to check that out in detail.

[3rutu5]

Ah ok, I think my first one was isetta sized, but then I've gone smaller and smaller. The KAB boards for the amps are pretty good or the Sure.JAB ones which are exactly the same, at least fhen you get a straight forward power supply through the battery units.

[Wolf]

You are welcome, Mike. I don't know that it was heavily viewed upon release, so it is likely lesser known than some others. I still think it can do the job rather well.