Hi Guys,
I have a Bose soundlink mini that has died. I want to take the speakers out of it and put them into an old retro radio.
I have raspberry pi and iqaudio Dac+amp with two speaker channels.
From what I have read the soundlink mini has two active left and right speakers and 2 passive bass radiators.
My questions are the following:
1) They are active speakers, however if i disconnect the drivers from all the circuitry, am I able to plug the drivers directly into left and right on my mini amp? Ive read you cant plug active speakers into an amp, but these are just the drivers dettached from the bose.
2) As i only have 2 channels, im not sure where to put the bass radiators. Can i plug both of these into each of the L and R channels and expect them to just play the lower ranges, or will it just defeat the object of not having a dedicated sub channel on the amp?
I understand the speakers probably wont be that great without all the bose magic, but as long as it sounds half decent id be happy. The radio itself used to have a 4w 8Ohm single speaker on its own, and it was terrible. I could just upgrade that speaker, but it would waste my 2 channel amp as I can only put it in one channel.
The other option is i buy two small (2.5" or 3") full range speakers and put them side by side in the small enclosure.
Any opinions appreciated.
Regards
Lee
I have a Bose soundlink mini that has died. I want to take the speakers out of it and put them into an old retro radio.
I have raspberry pi and iqaudio Dac+amp with two speaker channels.
From what I have read the soundlink mini has two active left and right speakers and 2 passive bass radiators.
My questions are the following:
1) They are active speakers, however if i disconnect the drivers from all the circuitry, am I able to plug the drivers directly into left and right on my mini amp? Ive read you cant plug active speakers into an amp, but these are just the drivers dettached from the bose.
2) As i only have 2 channels, im not sure where to put the bass radiators. Can i plug both of these into each of the L and R channels and expect them to just play the lower ranges, or will it just defeat the object of not having a dedicated sub channel on the amp?
I understand the speakers probably wont be that great without all the bose magic, but as long as it sounds half decent id be happy. The radio itself used to have a 4w 8Ohm single speaker on its own, and it was terrible. I could just upgrade that speaker, but it would waste my 2 channel amp as I can only put it in one channel.
The other option is i buy two small (2.5" or 3") full range speakers and put them side by side in the small enclosure.
Any opinions appreciated.
Regards
Lee
Hi Lee,
You are going to find that many diyers shy away from Bose. If I read what you have, here's the beans. The active drivers are the ones connected to the amp and the passive drivers are not, they use the sound from in the cabinet to extend the bass, similar to a reflex port. You have to ensure the cabinet you put the drivers into is the same as the Bose cabinet in order to work properly. On top of that, Bose usually uses an eq network to make lesser drivers sound better so if you transfer it over, that has to be included. Even more, the sound that Bose produces is not what many people like as it electronically accentuates certain frequencies while reducing others.
What this is all leading to is that you may well want to consider new drivers.
You are going to find that many diyers shy away from Bose. If I read what you have, here's the beans. The active drivers are the ones connected to the amp and the passive drivers are not, they use the sound from in the cabinet to extend the bass, similar to a reflex port. You have to ensure the cabinet you put the drivers into is the same as the Bose cabinet in order to work properly. On top of that, Bose usually uses an eq network to make lesser drivers sound better so if you transfer it over, that has to be included. Even more, the sound that Bose produces is not what many people like as it electronically accentuates certain frequencies while reducing others.
What this is all leading to is that you may well want to consider new drivers.
You will need a passive cross over at least if you are going to get anything worth listening to out of it.
There is no need for passive crossover because drivers are "fullrange", but EQ is necessary for some bass output.
2) You can't connect Bass radiators to an amplifier because they are not intended to be. They are so-called passive radiators (ABR - Auxiliary Bass Radiator) and they are similar in their action to bass-reflex tube in a vented box (you can't connect bass-reflex tube to an amplifier 😉).
Connect one fullrange driver to the left and other one to the right amp output. Just mount both bass radiators in the box. Internal volume of the loudspeaker box must be the same as the internal volume of the Bose, minus volume occupied by electronics and other staff. You can insert that small box inside the (bigger?) enclosure of the retro radio, but all drivers and bass radiators must face outwards.
1) Yes.
2) You can't connect Bass radiators to an amplifier because they are not intended to be. They are so-called passive radiators (ABR - Auxiliary Bass Radiator) and they are similar in their action to bass-reflex tube in a vented box (you can't connect bass-reflex tube to an amplifier 😉).
Connect one fullrange driver to the left and other one to the right amp output. Just mount both bass radiators in the box. Internal volume of the loudspeaker box must be the same as the internal volume of the Bose, minus volume occupied by electronics and other staff. You can insert that small box inside the (bigger?) enclosure of the retro radio, but all drivers and bass radiators must face outwards.
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I have been given a chance to modify one of those home theater sets,
think it was Acoustimass 5, and the fullrangers are really of good quality,
only the 5" woofers in the sub were lacking deep bass, but that is totally
understandable having in mind their built.
Hi Lee,
I am curious to see the EQ profile of the unit. Do you know which part of the device failed? Will you plane to measure TS parameters of the full-range drivers?
I am curious to see the EQ profile of the unit. Do you know which part of the device failed? Will you plane to measure TS parameters of the full-range drivers?
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