Learn why people trust wikiHow
How to Make Your Own Speakers
Author Info
Last Updated: February 28, 2020 References Approved
Speakers produce sound by converting electrical energy into sound energy using
magnets to "push" air using the cone of the speaker to push the air in and out at a
certain frequency. While entire books have been devoted to this phenomenon, you only
need a rudimentary knowledge of sound design to make your own simple speakers.
Whether you want to spend weeks developing the next great sound system or just want
to understand speakers a little better, read on to learn how to make your own speakers.
Method
1 Building a Basic Speaker
Find copper wire, packing tape, and a strong magnet. While there is a
1 lot of calibrating that goes into high end speakers, the basic technology is
actually pretty simple. An electrical current is run through a wire that is
attached to a magnet. This current makes the magnet vibrate, and those
vibrations are picked up by our ears as sound.[1]
To hear the sound well you should also get a small plastic tupperware or
cup. This will amplify the sound much like yelling into a cone amplifies
your voice.
Wrap the copper wire around the magnet several times to make a
2 coil. You want to wrap the wire 6-7 times starting from the middle. Make
sure you leave several feet of wire unwrapped on either side of the magnet.
Tape this coil onto the bottom of your tupperware, but without the magnet.[2]
Use a bottlecap or other round object to make another, larger coil.
3 Using both ends of the leftover copper wire, make an even large coil and
tape this on top of the smaller one. Like before, you will leave roughly a foot of
leftover wire on each side of the coil -- this is how you will attach your
"speaker" to your music source.
Place the magnet on top of the two coils. You want it to sit comfortable
4 within both coils, but don't worry too much about touching every inch of
wire.
Attach both copper wires to a music source. The most common
5 attachment is an 1/8th inch cable or "Auxiliary" cord (the input on most
headphones). Wrap one end of the wire around the top of the metal input and
the other around the bottom.
Gator clips, which are small clamps that transmit electricity, can make
attaching your copper wire to a music source easier.
Tinker with your speakers to get better sound. Try using a stronger
6 magnet, keeping your coils tighter, using different "amplifiers," and playing
different music sources at different volumes.[3]
Method
2 Building High-End Speakers
Understand the components of a speaker. While the basics of speaker
1 technology have not really changed since 1924,[4] audio technicians have
been perfecting the design, electronics, and sound of speakers ever since.
That said, all speakers contain a few basic components:
Driver: Transforms an electrical signal into sound. Drivers come in many
shapes and sizes, but all share the same function -- they make noise.
Many speakers have multiple drivers to handle many frequencies. For
example, "woofers" are large drivers that work well for low-frequency
sounds like bass, while "tweeters" handle high frequencies.
Crossovers: These small relays take complex electrical signals and
break them up into smaller parts to send to different drivers, isolating
bass, treble, and mid-range frequencies.
Cabinet: This is the shell of a speaker where the electronics are housed.
In order to eliminate noisy "resonance" or to get greater volume they are
produced in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials.[5]
Buy a speaker kit. While you can certainly buy all of the parts separately,
2 it is incredibly difficult to build good speakers without years of studying the
principles of sound and electricity. However, the budding DIY speaker
enthusiast has another option -- buying pre-designed speaker kits with
drivers, crossovers, and cabinets included. When searching for a good
speaker kit, you should consider:
Is the cabinet is included? Many speaker kits only contain blueprints for
the cabinet -- you will have to buy, cut, and fasten the wood together
yourself.
Is the crossover pre-connected? Depending on your comfort level with
electronics, you may want to purchase a kit where the crossover is
already assembled, or you can attach and solder the pieces yourself.
How high-quality to you want your sound? Most audio professionals
consult the Loudspeaker Design Cookbook or LDSB, for advice on
choosing drivers and crossovers, and you can expect to pay more for
better quality components.
How powerful, or loud, do your speakers need to be. In general, this is
determined by the size of you drivers.[6]
Solder the crossover together following the provided crossover
3 pattern. You will need a soldering iron, hot glue, and a pattern to make
sure your crossover works correctly. All speaker kits come with a chart
illustrating how to attach everything, and sample patterns can be found with a
quick internet search if you are working from scratch. This prevents your
speakers from shorting or burning out.[7]
Make sure you completely understand how to read wiring diagrams before
continuing.
Once your parts are attached, secure them to a small board with a hot
glue gun or zip ties.
Finish by attaching your crossover cables to the drivers with speaker wire.
Cut, stain, and assemble your cabinet according to your blueprint. If
4 your cabinet is not provided for you, you will need to buy the wood and
cut it to fit your drivers. Most speakers are rectangular, but talented
carpenters can play with other shapes, from polygons to spheres, to get better
sound. While all cabinets are different, there are a few guiding principles to
their design:
Use material that is at least 1.5" thick.[8]
Always measure your wood so that it fits together perfectly -- any sound
that leaks out of the speakers will greatly diminish their quality. Fit the
speakers together before adhering them.
Wood glue is the preferred adhesive, but you can also use a drill and
screws or biscuit clips as well.
The paint or stain you chose for your cabinet will not affect the sound, but
decorate your cabinet before installing components to protect your
electronics.[9]
Be sure you are comfortable with carpentry equipment before building
original speaker cabinets.
Install your drivers and crossover. If you followed your blueprints
5 correctly the drivers should fit snugly into the holes you cut on the front of
the cabinet. Adhere the crossover board to the cabinet so that the cables to
the driver are not stretched or stressed.
The drivers are usually screwed into a plastic molding on the outside of
the cabinet.
Use wood glue or adhesive to securely fasten the crossover to the
cabinet.
Fill the rest of your speaker with "acoustic stuffing." This specially
6 designed fabric is meant to dampen sound inside the speaker so that you
don't hear weird vibrations or echos. While not necessary, it can help the
sound considerably.
Community Q&A
Question
What is the resistance of a basic speaker?
Community Answer
There is no standard resistance. Most speakers are either 4, 8 or 16 ohms
resistance.
Question
Can I take any magnet?
Community Answer
Round magnets will be the best to use, but you can try to make it work with a
different shaped magnet.
Question
What is the channel of the speaker?
Joe hamel
Community Answer
A channel is a pair of connections. On a speaker, this refers to a set of
positive (+) and negative (-) inputs. On a single voice coil, you will only have
one positive and one negative, so you only have one channel. On a dual
voice coil speaker, you have two positives and two negatives, so without
bridging, you have two channels.
