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So, I'd like to present the forum with my second design - The Mariposas. These were conceptualized to be an ultra small, computer speaker set for my daughter. Her favorite movie is Barbie Mariposa and her favorite insect is a butterfly, so it just fits.
When I finished the design, I spent a little time moving them around into different spaces, and they seem to work just about everywhere. In addition to computer monitors, I could see these being used as bookshelf speakers, surround speakers, or even built-in to a soundbar type thing for TV audio.
The concept behind the design was to start with something simple and small (the PE "Micro" knock-down cabinets) and stuff them with the largest and most inexpensive speakers that would fit. So, being curious about the $6 HiWave speaker and noting that it would fit (just barely), I decided to go for it. Just note that the price of these HiWave's have been upped to almost $10 now.
The tweet would have to be something that would fit in the leftover space, which really isn't much. The ND16FA fit the bill, and it fit.
Being honest, I didn't actually buy the PE cabinets - I just copied the design and size and made it from some leftover 1/2" MDF that I had laying around. You can't really imagine just how small these things are without actually holding them in your hand. They're tiny cabinets, but it works for the intended usage (computer speakers).
I'm not going into much detail about how to build these cabinets. To be honest, it's probably well worth anyone's time to just buy the cabinets from PE and build them. I will, however, detail the baffle:
The enclosure is completely sealed, and I placed in 5 large handfulls of ploy-fill (acousti-stuff should work as well). Basically, this is about 2 ounces of poly-fill, and it's stuffed to the max. In fact, the poly will actually push the woofer out if you don't have the screws holding it in. So, stuff it until it's full, and then add about twice as much again.
Here's how the speakers look in their "unfinished" state:
When I finished the design, I spent a little time moving them around into different spaces, and they seem to work just about everywhere. In addition to computer monitors, I could see these being used as bookshelf speakers, surround speakers, or even built-in to a soundbar type thing for TV audio.
The concept behind the design was to start with something simple and small (the PE "Micro" knock-down cabinets) and stuff them with the largest and most inexpensive speakers that would fit. So, being curious about the $6 HiWave speaker and noting that it would fit (just barely), I decided to go for it. Just note that the price of these HiWave's have been upped to almost $10 now.
The tweet would have to be something that would fit in the leftover space, which really isn't much. The ND16FA fit the bill, and it fit.
Being honest, I didn't actually buy the PE cabinets - I just copied the design and size and made it from some leftover 1/2" MDF that I had laying around. You can't really imagine just how small these things are without actually holding them in your hand. They're tiny cabinets, but it works for the intended usage (computer speakers).
I'm not going into much detail about how to build these cabinets. To be honest, it's probably well worth anyone's time to just buy the cabinets from PE and build them. I will, however, detail the baffle:
- The tweeter is a 1.25" hole that's centered 1.25" from each corner. Note that the tweeters are offset, so make sure to build one speaker with the tweet on the left, and one speaker with it on the right.
- The woofer is centered on the baffle (2.25" from each side, and located 2.625" from the bottom edge). That's 2 5/8" in case you're wondering.
- The woofer flange is 4.25" by 3/16" deep. The cutout hole is 3.25".
- The woofer needs to have the back of the baffle chamferred around the screw holes in order to allow for better airflow around the back of the woofer. See the pic for details.
The enclosure is completely sealed, and I placed in 5 large handfulls of ploy-fill (acousti-stuff should work as well). Basically, this is about 2 ounces of poly-fill, and it's stuffed to the max. In fact, the poly will actually push the woofer out if you don't have the screws holding it in. So, stuff it until it's full, and then add about twice as much again.
Here's how the speakers look in their "unfinished" state:
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