Kid friendly project

[503Timber]

I have a pair of 2" drivers and a pair of planar (?) tweeters from a set of Monsoon computer speakers. I'd like to build a speaker with my daughter, for my daughter. I'll run a TA2020 chip amp to them.....she can hook up her ipod or cd player for a source.

There are no markings on the drivers or tweeters. What I'm planning is a little box for the 2" speaker with the planar mounted on top. I can't imagine as the box size for a 2" speaker is that important?

Keeping in mind she is 8 and I want it to be mostly hands on for her......how would you run these? Can it be as simple as a single resistor in line with each speaker? We're not shooting for audiophile sound here. I want very simple and something we can run to Ratshack and get.

Thanks in advance for the ideas!

[kevinkr]

At the minimum a capacitor in series with the planar tweeter, and honestly probably a small inductor in series with that 2" woofer. Ratshack doesn't exactly offer a lot of parts, good or otherwise for making speaker X-O these days. I would expect the results not to be very good with this seat of the pants approach..

Why not take a look at some of the inexpensive Tangband full range drivers at Madisound and elsewhere - given the extreme simplicity you seek this would probably yield much better results. Who knows you might make an audiophile of her..

[sofaspud]

I think I'd look for something like a pair of wooden cigar boxes, Hello Kitty pencil boxes, etc. Simplest xover is just a capacitor on the tweeter. Then you and she can focus on the three b's - baffle, bracing, and binding posts.

[503Timber]

Originally Posted by sofaspud

I think I'd look for something like a pair of wooden cigar boxes, Hello Kitty pencil boxes, etc. Simplest xover is just a capacitor on the tweeter. Then you and she can focus on the three b's - baffle, bracing, and binding posts.

Thanks sofa.......any idea what size cap for the tweeter? I think I have the perfect thing for boxes

[nigelwright7557]

Originally Posted by 503Timber

I'd like to build a speaker with my daughter, for my daughter. !

Safety first, warn her about electronics and electrics that bite !

When I was 10 I had a go at fixing our black and white TV.
I swapped out valves until it started working again.
I dread to think what would have happened if I touched the tube !

My brother at 6 wired up a plug with a wire from live to neutral then plugged it in, he was very white faced at the bang !

[godfrey]

Originally Posted by 503Timber

...any idea what size cap for the tweeter?

Weren't there caps in the computer speakers you swiped the drivers from? Otherwise I'd take a wild guess and say 4.7uF

[pedroskova]

The monsoon drivers, by reputation, are quite good and were designed to go quite low. One possibility would be to wind your own inductor using RS magnet wire for a calculated 1kHz xover. Or, like sofaspud mentioned, you could take advantage of the 2" 's bandwidth and just use a cap on the tweeter to blend. I think the first might sound better (or not) if you do have actual monsoon drivers ... and it would only cost ~ 3 bucks in magnet wire. I've actually done this for 4kHz lash ups in a pinch, and it worked fine.

[scott17]

Not shooting for audiophile sound?

OK, she's 8, why would you want to ruin her concept of good sound by building a crappy set of speakers? Just my opinion.

There are plenty of designs for a small set of speakers that are NOT crappy.

No intent on disrespect whatsoever, just build a great set of speakers. No reason not to.

[503Timber]

Originally Posted by scitizen17

Not shooting for audiophile sound?

OK, she's 8, why would you want to ruin her concept of good sound by building a crappy set of speakers? Just my opinion.

There are plenty of designs for a small set of speakers that are NOT crappy.

No intent on disrespect whatsoever, just build a great set of speakers. No reason not to.

Well she is 8.....and so are her little snot nosed friends. Last thing I want is a finger in a pair of Fostex. .........and I have the parts.

[tinitus]

your planar tweeters will be much louder than a 2"