Thanks Dave, that sounds very interesting! Unfortunately that driver doesn't seem to be available in Australia. Is there anything you'd suggest from here? Speaker Drivers | Wagner Online Electronic Stores
Thanks so much for looking into this further! Unfortunately these don't seem to be available in Australia either...
I was considering getting this Amp and this Bluetooth receiver. What do you think?
Here's some homework for you to narrow things down a bit.
Find a 3" or 3.5" that is available to you, and that has the following specs:
Fs (resonant frequency) try to find something around 100 Hz or less -- 70 or 80 if possible
Qts (total Q factor) should be between .35 and .50 Those are more likely to be suitable for vented or PR use.
These should work. BT receiver is fed with input signal, once it arrives at output (Left G Right) should pass through a stereo to mono summing circuit (that is yet to be found) and then this mono signal goes to mono amp input. Try seeking further advice at Source & Line (analog line level subforum).
There is also a matter of how you are to power 2 of the above modules. I understand that you are hoping to save money and there is no way of telling whether the product quality will be to your expectation. Dayton Audio is listed at Wagner. Check them out too.
Thanks again for your replies Dave and Lojzek, very much appreciated!
While looking at Tang Band speakers, I stumbled upon this one: Tang Band W3-1876S 3" Mini Subwoofer
It only needs a surprisingly small vented enclosure (0.85l) and I was wondering if it makes sense to pair it with one or two full range drivers in the same box (but in sealed compartments).
What do you think? What kind of specs would they need to match with the Tang Band?
I could imagine ordering the parts from the US if it brings a benefit!
While looking at Tang Band speakers, I stumbled upon this one: Tang Band W3-1876S 3" Mini Subwoofer
It only needs a surprisingly small vented enclosure (0.85l) and I was wondering if it makes sense to pair it with one or two full range drivers in the same box (but in sealed compartments).
What do you think? What kind of specs would they need to match with the Tang Band?
I could imagine ordering the parts from the US if it brings a benefit!
If you want to use a 2-way concept, it's much more promising for the SQ if you use a small fullrange speaker (~2") and a subwoofer driver. The advantage is you can probably get away without any passive EQing and cheap chinese sub/sat active crossovers or amps work great and they are cheaper than the passive EQing, for outdoors (free air eats bass like hell!) and indoors the sub driver can easily adjusted in volume, that's not that easy with one fullrange driver. And the small fullrange driver will provide a lot better dispersion. The driver pointing towards the ear is often an issue with such a portable speaker after all.
For a sub the Tang Band W5-1138SMF looks very promising but isn't exactly cheap but you can use other sub drivers instead, it's not very critical. A fit for the upper range would be the Visaton FRS 5 X, with just 10 bucks very cheap but excellent in SQ. TB got interesting small fullrange drivers too.
If that's too much cost wise, the suggested TB and Dayton FR drivers are good suggestions, I just wanted to pose a different approach to show an alternative.
For a sub the Tang Band W5-1138SMF looks very promising but isn't exactly cheap but you can use other sub drivers instead, it's not very critical. A fit for the upper range would be the Visaton FRS 5 X, with just 10 bucks very cheap but excellent in SQ. TB got interesting small fullrange drivers too.
If that's too much cost wise, the suggested TB and Dayton FR drivers are good suggestions, I just wanted to pose a different approach to show an alternative.
60W is pure overkill, sucks the batteries dry pretty quickly even on low volume, the efficiency of these amps isn't that great on low power and the max power won't ever be used at all, the driver gets to its maximum excursion at maybe 4-5W anyway. A PAM8403 board might probably be a better fit for his needs? There are low power boards with BT and battery management for just a few bucks.
Guten Morgen ICG, du bist früh wach! 
Thanks a lot for chiming in!
If possible I'd like to keep the speaker very portable, around 1-1.5l internal volume. That's why I was excited about the W3-1876S and its recommended vented enclosure size of 0.85l. What kind of fullrange drivers do you think would go with it?
You're right, Tang Band is not cheap but I haven't found an alternative for such a small sub woofer. It's a shame that they are not directly available down here.
Grüße in die Heimat!
Thanks a lot for chiming in!
If possible I'd like to keep the speaker very portable, around 1-1.5l internal volume. That's why I was excited about the W3-1876S and its recommended vented enclosure size of 0.85l. What kind of fullrange drivers do you think would go with it?
You're right, Tang Band is not cheap but I haven't found an alternative for such a small sub woofer. It's a shame that they are not directly available down here.
Grüße in die Heimat!
The W3-1876S (3" mini-sub) seems to work fine in a sealed .85 liter box. It will give a nice rolloff with Qtc ~ .61, F3 = 79, F6 = 55, F10 = 39 Hz. Adding a vent wouldn't be practical, because it would be too long to fit.
ICG has made a good suggestion of using a 2" full range with that mini sub. A bit of attenuation may be needed to match the sensitivity of the mini sub.
Guten Morgen ICG, du bist früh wach!
Thanks a lot for chiming in!
If possible I'd like to keep the speaker very portable, around 1-1.5l internal volume. That's why I was excited about the W3-1876S and its recommended vented enclosure size of 0.85l. What kind of fullrange drivers do you think would go with it?
You're right, Tang Band is not cheap but I haven't found an alternative for such a small sub woofer. It's a shame that they are not directly available down here.
Grüße in die Heimat!
Hallo, grüß bitte die Koalas von mir!
The W3-1876S is a nice driver, the Tang Band W2-852SH would be a good partner and the basket got a similar look too, even if it's square instead of round.
A different option is the already mentioned Visaton FRS 5 X, sounds very good, I've used it already, you can't beat the bang for the buck at about 10€ but it's a bit difficult to mount it.
It its also available with a waterproof PET cone, you can get it in 4 or 8 Ohm. The model name is FRS 5 XWP.
Yet another very exciting 2" FR is the Tectonic EBM46-4 (Balanced-Mode Radiator) which can go really low for this size and got 3mm xmax, you could xo it quite low. I've listened to it briefly, it sounds great. Not cheap though.
Yes, a port isn't practical. A passive radiator is a good alternative though, I'd buy a very cheap mini-sub or fullrange driver (4"), remove the magnet and fill the cone up to the needed resonance frequency with silicone or (nicer to look at) with epoxy.
A good fit would be a 2.1 amplifier which got already an active low pass filter, the sub volume can be adjusted to the room or free air. It's also cheaper, lighter and take up less space than the passive parts.
I'm always open to alternative options. Your suggested amplifier board is actually very interesting but according to Wondom, it starts working at 15V which makes it heavier because of the need of more battery cells. Its exciting highlight is the built in DSP though which would solve a lot of problems and provides the maximum flexibility to make changes on the speaker. It also got BT 5.0 and apt-X HD which can provide the highest sound quality over BT so far.
Hi, few years back I bought Wondom jab2 and jab3 system with associated battery pack. Charging was not possible while both amps were connected as single 2.1 system. The family provided DSP, batterypack with charging, bluetooth and amplification but not all at the same time without swapping cables. Maybe they have redesigned the system, maybe not, just something to be aware of. Their support responded fast so no other complains other than "you get what you pay for" reminder
I do something similar with vintage bakelite radio cases. All run at 5V, form a phone charger or powerbank.
I use these elements:
BT Module: LQSC Bluetooth Decoder Board for AUX Input Diy Modified Speaker o MP3 Stereo o Receiver Module|Digital-to-Analog Converter| - AliExpress
This module is very quiet, with just a quiet beep on connection. Will play from the aux in when no BT signal present.
Amplifier: AM05 Lqsc Pam8406 Digital Power Amplifier Board 5W+5W Dual Channel Stereo Class D Audio Power Amplifier Board|Amplifier| - AliExpress
This can apparently run as either a Class D or Class AB.
I use either FaitalPro 3FE or 4FE, or Visaton FR10/4 speakers.
I use these elements:
BT Module: LQSC Bluetooth Decoder Board for AUX Input Diy Modified Speaker o MP3 Stereo o Receiver Module|Digital-to-Analog Converter| - AliExpress
This module is very quiet, with just a quiet beep on connection. Will play from the aux in when no BT signal present.
Amplifier: AM05 Lqsc Pam8406 Digital Power Amplifier Board 5W+5W Dual Channel Stereo Class D Audio Power Amplifier Board|Amplifier| - AliExpress
This can apparently run as either a Class D or Class AB.
I use either FaitalPro 3FE or 4FE, or Visaton FR10/4 speakers.
Thanks a lot to everyone trying to help me, I really appreciate it!
Thanks for your opinion! I'd like to build this not because I want a cheap speaker, but also because I would like to do more diy projects after sitting in an office all day. Still, I want this project to be a success and the speaker to sound good, but obviously I am a complete beginner. So if you guys are telling me that what I'm trying to do doesn't really make sense or I'm in over my head here, than I might just go the JBL route.
So just to double check and re-iterate, is a 1-1.5l 2-way speaker possible with the following parts?
What would make more sense, passive or active crossover? Are there any small active crossovers that are easy(ish) to install?
It would be good to have seperate control over the drivers, as the Sub seems to be less sensitive.
Would I need two seperate amps with an active crossover?
Mach ich!Hallo, grüß bitte die Koalas von mir!
Thanks for your opinion! I'd like to build this not because I want a cheap speaker, but also because I would like to do more diy projects after sitting in an office all day. Still, I want this project to be a success and the speaker to sound good, but obviously I am a complete beginner. So if you guys are telling me that what I'm trying to do doesn't really make sense or I'm in over my head here, than I might just go the JBL route.
So just to double check and re-iterate, is a 1-1.5l 2-way speaker possible with the following parts?
- W3-1876S (either sealed or with a PR)
- in combination with a 2" FR driver (sealed)
- Amp and crossover
- Bluetooth Module (maybe the one Yatsushiro suggested)
- Battery pack
What would make more sense, passive or active crossover? Are there any small active crossovers that are easy(ish) to install?
It would be good to have seperate control over the drivers, as the Sub seems to be less sensitive.
Would I need two seperate amps with an active crossover?
Yes, it's possible if you use a passiv radiator. Tuned to 46Hz in 0,8l you get a
slow slope, no hunch and f3 of 50Hz, perceived going much deeper. If you need more punch, tune to ~53Hz, ~0,7dB hunch and still -3dB @50Hz, faster drop off but much better outside. I'd chose the latter one.
The small FR driver likely needs ~0,2l or you could use it as a dipole (open back or just baffle)
There are different active crossover boards from china you could use or amps with one built in. Which to use? That depends strongly on your battery solution.
You need two mono amps for it or a stereo amp and use one ch for the sub and one for the FR. If you decide for a 2.1 amp, you need a mono sum (just a few resistors and some wires) and leave 1 of the stereo ch idle. An external BT module would be nice because you are more flexible and it's easier to mount it and use the buttons.
All in all you'll realisticly need ~1,5l but that also depends on how you build the box and mount the drivers etc.
It looks to me that people are usually led to believe a tiny boombox project, just like the one we are dealing with, is going to care of itself performing beautifully simply by stuffing the box with a couple of smallish electronic boards, a micro driver or two, cheap class-d amps, a small battery and rock like a grown-up loudspeaker. I would be a little cautious about such expectations.
Why don't you start humbly? A simple fullrange unit, electronic bits as small as possible and a very simple schematic of the whole device. Forget the crossover. After you build this and after you conclude it was of sufficient sound quality, move on to a higher level of modifying it by adding a bass driver, perhaps dsp x/o filter, more of the amp and battery power, etc.
You are right, it's a good thing you are pointing to the basics and remind it's probably a beginner build (nothing negative in that). It's a good idea to start simple and since almost all BT-capable devices nowadays got access to an EQ app, it can be built much, much easier and does not necessarily need passive EQ oder active filters for a fullrange.