Just assume it's in the 0.1-0.13µF range. All superpiezos I have measured are in that range and it's basically 0.115µF -+15%, so pretty accurate.
assumtions
Hi Saturnus,
Thanks for that gusstimate but sadly I am not too sure these are even decent replicas that would fall within that range as they still sound a bit average with a 47ohm resistor in series. Is there a method for testing as I am keen to do the best with what I can get locally for now.
Can I also ask you to confirm if I have understood what you suggested about resistors. I am feeling I get the Halfnator wiring but a little confused about having two woofers and two piezo hooked up to one channel of my Amp6
Please see attached image (formatting online was not working for me sorry)
Thanks!
Krishna
Hi Saturnus,
Thanks for that gusstimate but sadly I am not too sure these are even decent replicas that would fall within that range as they still sound a bit average with a 47ohm resistor in series. Is there a method for testing as I am keen to do the best with what I can get locally for now.
Can I also ask you to confirm if I have understood what you suggested about resistors. I am feeling I get the Halfnator wiring but a little confused about having two woofers and two piezo hooked up to one channel of my Amp6
Please see attached image (formatting online was not working for me sorry)
Thanks!
Krishna
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About the capacitance. Not to worry, even craptacular superpiezos have the same capacitance as the very good ones. There's basically little to no difference.
You can do the tricks about mechanical dampening of the horn though but there's only so much that can be done really. Indoors it will basically not sound too well no matter what. Outdoors it is much better.
The best way is to assemble the fronts with the woofers and tweeter on them. Turn the woofer so the speaker terminal faces the piezo and turn the piezo so the speaker terminal faces the woofer. Now you can solder the resistor directly from plus on the piezo to plus on the woofer, and solder a wire (or alternatively a coil as described earlier) from minus on the piezo to minus on the woofer. That should mean they are crossed at this point. Now simply connect the amp plus to plus on the woofer and the amp minus to minus on the piezo. Rinse and repeat for all woofer/piezo pairs. Run separate cables to the amp for each woofer/piezo pair, so you parallel them directly on the amp speaker terminals.
You can do the tricks about mechanical dampening of the horn though but there's only so much that can be done really. Indoors it will basically not sound too well no matter what. Outdoors it is much better.
The best way is to assemble the fronts with the woofers and tweeter on them. Turn the woofer so the speaker terminal faces the piezo and turn the piezo so the speaker terminal faces the woofer. Now you can solder the resistor directly from plus on the piezo to plus on the woofer, and solder a wire (or alternatively a coil as described earlier) from minus on the piezo to minus on the woofer. That should mean they are crossed at this point. Now simply connect the amp plus to plus on the woofer and the amp minus to minus on the piezo. Rinse and repeat for all woofer/piezo pairs. Run separate cables to the amp for each woofer/piezo pair, so you parallel them directly on the amp speaker terminals.
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Hi again, i wrote earlier about my boominator mini which was playing at different volumes for left and right channel, and i was told that it was most likely an amplifier problem. I went ahead and bought a brand new Muse amp and hooked it up, and theres still major issues with the connection, if i bend the wires just right i can get both speakers to play evenly, but mostly im getting a lot of static noises in between the music, especially when i play with the volume pot on the amp.
Could it be something as simple as the jackstick im using to connect my computer is busted? Or could it be the battery for some reason? I'm pretty sure i havent taken proper care of it at all, but i assumed that would only affect the batterylife.
The only other thing i can think of would be that the speaker cables themselves have been bent or strained too much and that their connection is shitty as a result.
I honestly have no idea, but I'm able to get both sides to play at various times, and the sound that comes out (the sound that is actually music and not static) sounds fine, so assuming (hoping) that the problem is not inside the speaker cabinet.
Could it be something as simple as the jackstick im using to connect my computer is busted? Or could it be the battery for some reason? I'm pretty sure i havent taken proper care of it at all, but i assumed that would only affect the batterylife.
The only other thing i can think of would be that the speaker cables themselves have been bent or strained too much and that their connection is shitty as a result.
I honestly have no idea, but I'm able to get both sides to play at various times, and the sound that comes out (the sound that is actually music and not static) sounds fine, so assuming (hoping) that the problem is not inside the speaker cabinet.
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As Saturnus already suggested a few pages back, the problem is probably related to your volume potentiometer, not the amp.
That is the most likely. In fact, it's part of the normal procedure for error checking so I already assumed you had done that.
Normally you first try to see if the source is the problem by using 2 different sources, eg. a computer and phone. Then you see if the source cable is the problem by using another cable. Then you try switching output on the amp to see if the problem moves channel.
If you have distortion when you're try to play loud or when bass kicks in, it's a power supply problem. If you have distortion on loud passages in the music regardless of level then the gain is too high or the source output is too high.
From your description of the problem I figured it was the pot as I had already assumed you had ruled out the above. If that was not the problem then it's likely the input jack on the amp, and you'd probably need a new amp.
The reason for doing it in this order is because it rules out the problems that are easy to fix first. For example it's relatively easy to change the pot in the amp. It's another matter to change the input jack if it's soldered to the board.
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Thanks a bunch for the elaborate answer. The reason I hadn't checked all those things was because I don't have cables and such laying around. I did have another battery though, which apparently isnt as fried as the first one i tried. (I think I may have overcharged them a lot on several occasions), and now it sounds a lot better, so thanks a lot for taking the time to reply 🙂
So basically, you could now end up with 2 working amps. That's fine. It just means you can bring a spare for example to Roskilde so if some drunken retard messes something up you can just switch out the amp. Or you can sell it to a neighbour camp if they have the same problem.
Naturally, you'd also want to bring spares of all the cables used. 😉
Naturally, you'd also want to bring spares of all the cables used. 😉
Nah I tested the other amp aswell, and it did indeed have a problem with the volume pot, so i had to replace that anyway. I just didn't think i had to replace the batteries too.
Btw, I was hoping to install a voltmeter on the fullsize boominator I'm building, so ill know when to turn off the solar cells and such (Since i dont plan on fitting in a regulator), and when to not charge phones to save battery, but I'm not sure i understand what it should be reading when the battery is 'empty' and when it's full? So what is the max and minimum voltage i should be getting on the meter? I havent been able to find it anywhere else in the thread since it's such a trivial question i guess.
EDIT: But weirdly enough I'm getting distortion at all levels on the new amp when I'm playing from my macbook, but not from my phone, which strikes me as odd since it's the amp is the same model as my old one where i didn't have that problem. It's mainly, if not only, the bass that is distorted. It's fine when volume below 40% on the computer, and max on the amp, but anything above distorts it horribly.
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If it's an SLA battery.
less than 10.5 => the battery is completely empty. Try to avoid this as it can permanently damage the battery
10.5V to 11.0V => the battery is below the safe zone. 10% or less remaining. Recharge as soon as possible.
11.0V to 12.0V => about 50% of safely usable charge remaining
12.0V to 13.0V => about 90% of usable charge remaining
13.0V to 13.5V => upper safe limit zone when not using a charge regulator
above 13.5V => check if you are using a correct charger as voltages in this range can permanently damage your battery if a charge regulator isn't used
less than 10.5 => the battery is completely empty. Try to avoid this as it can permanently damage the battery
10.5V to 11.0V => the battery is below the safe zone. 10% or less remaining. Recharge as soon as possible.
11.0V to 12.0V => about 50% of safely usable charge remaining
12.0V to 13.0V => about 90% of usable charge remaining
13.0V to 13.5V => upper safe limit zone when not using a charge regulator
above 13.5V => check if you are using a correct charger as voltages in this range can permanently damage your battery if a charge regulator isn't used
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Thanks again! Any idea of whether theres something wrong with my new amp? I made a short edit of my previous post but I'm not sure you saw it.
I described this exact problem above. It's the output signal that is too power on the macbook for the amp input gain. Only fix is to either turn down the volume on the amp or the macbook. The output on your phone however is much much lower, so you'll want the high gain setting.
Yeah i realise that you described it above, but as i said, I never had this problem with my old amp, which is the exact same model, which is why i was confused and figured that the new amp might have issues aswell.
Muse changed the input gain at some point due to people complaining it was too low when used with low output phones/mp3players.
Ugh, that sounds horrible. I used to play from my phone outside with a preamp, and form my computer at home, but now, because now the gain is still too low to play at max capacity from my phone, but too high to play at any volume above 20% from my computer (it's nowhere near half as loud as from my phone if i want it with no distortion). And I'm assuming aswell that if i bought the E3 Preamp for my phone, which previously worked perfectly in getting my phone up to the same volume level as my laptop, itll now give me the same distortion as when I'm playing from my laptop. Guess I'm getting a different amp.
I wouldn't rule out that it's your batteries that are the cause of this new problem unless you have measured them to be ok. If you have overcharged them at some point and/or allowed them to fall beneath 10.5V even once without recharging them immediately thereafter (within a day or two) then the batteries are likely permanently damaged and can easily give a false voltage reading when unloaded which will drop instantly when loaded.
Lead batteries are cheap to buy but if not taken care off they can be very expensive in the long run as they'll need constant replacing. LiFePO4 batteries on the other hand are a few times more expensive to buy but you only have to buy them once as they will (if there is a proper BMS built-in) probably last longer than your entire life time when used for such infrequent use as this.
Lead batteries are cheap to buy but if not taken care off they can be very expensive in the long run as they'll need constant replacing. LiFePO4 batteries on the other hand are a few times more expensive to buy but you only have to buy them once as they will (if there is a proper BMS built-in) probably last longer than your entire life time when used for such infrequent use as this.
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Hm, alright, I'm gonna buy a new battery and a proper charger sometime soon and test it out before getting another amp. The batteries are definitely permanently damaged, i just had no idea it could cause all those problems!
I love how you described your "Vintner's Bias"or "I made it, it rocks bias" . I have that all the time for my builds. To be a complete jerk to myself, I keep small sound systems around to test against. I get humbled very quickly by profession engineers. Small computer 2.1 systems by Boston are great for that. I always buy them when I see them used. All of them are 12v dc. And they sound amazing! (a tad bit power hungry). I've been at this for a while, reading this thread... completely humbled by how much more I have to learn. I think thats why I like it.
I'm planning to build a 'Boominator Micro' for indoor use using 2 2 inch speakers and a 4 inch woofer.
I already have the drivers but I haven't got any specifications, they come from a 2.1 PC speaker system. I need to 'guess' the needed bass reflex tuning for my woofer. It doesn't have to sound hi-fi, but it has to 'party' (just like the boominator) 😉
What do you guys consider as the lowest frequency that's needed to 'hear' the bass properly? I thought I read the Boominator's bass reflex port was tuned to 80 Hz, can someone confirm this? Is it a good idea to use the same tuning frequency on a much smaller device? (about 9 liters box volume)
I already have the drivers but I haven't got any specifications, they come from a 2.1 PC speaker system. I need to 'guess' the needed bass reflex tuning for my woofer. It doesn't have to sound hi-fi, but it has to 'party' (just like the boominator) 😉
What do you guys consider as the lowest frequency that's needed to 'hear' the bass properly? I thought I read the Boominator's bass reflex port was tuned to 80 Hz, can someone confirm this? Is it a good idea to use the same tuning frequency on a much smaller device? (about 9 liters box volume)