Help a noob make a bluetooth speaker

D

Dbreez

Audiophyte
Easy guys and girls,

So at my workplace they found an old broken record player, and I had an idea to see if I could turn it into an oversized portable bluetooth speaker as a lil lockdown project.

The record player --
So basically my plan was to cut the front section off of the player (the part closest in the photo), and use that to create the speaker.

As I don't have a whole lot of equipment or knowledge to put the thing together, I was planning on using one of the WONDOM amp boards (https://store.sure-electronics.com/product/AA-JA32151v2), as they have a separate battery board and another board with an aux input.

Obviously this still leaves me needing a speaker driver.. I am a music producer and DJ that plays Drum n Bass [Dance Music], so I'm after something with a semi decent low end response [aware size of speaker will be a factor], and I want it to be loud.

Any help or advice or just general 'dont do it, the enclosure will sound poop' appreciated.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
I don't know a whole lot about the DiY route with this stuff, but I would keep in mind that good sound with a lot of power isn't going to come from 16 watts.

This is probably a 'cheap baseline' for comparision...

At $150 or so, you are getting 80 watts of power per channel and 13 hours (rated) of playtime with a fully integrated unit. I would think that you aren't going to be able to DiY something that sounds any better for less money. I do like the concept of the retro conversion, but I'm just not sure you will get the power out of it that you are looking for. This is something I would consider as a fun/throwaway idea. It works, or it doesn't, but you have fun doing it either way. Getting all the knobs to work with the volume and pairing and newer requirements would be interesting for sure.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Personally I wouldn't want to be reminded of such record players from my childhood :) and that style does nothing for me aesthetically either. The box/driver combo will determine much of the sound quality and not sure how cutting that thing up would be a good start. I'd rather just build something that performed well and make it nice looking from scratch...then again I have absolutely no use for a bluetooth speaker....have plenty of better choices on hand.
 
Kingnoob

Kingnoob

Audioholic Samurai
That’s not going to work ... this will
Or just buy a Bluetooth speaker, are they really that good ?
 
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slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
Easy guys and girls,

So at my workplace they found an old broken record player, and I had an idea to see if I could turn it into an oversized portable bluetooth speaker as a lil lockdown project.

The record player --
So basically my plan was to cut the front section off of the player (the part closest in the photo), and use that to create the speaker.

As I don't have a whole lot of equipment or knowledge to put the thing together, I was planning on using one of the WONDOM amp boards (https://store.sure-electronics.com/product/AA-JA32151v2), as they have a separate battery board and another board with an aux input.

Obviously this still leaves me needing a speaker driver.. I am a music producer and DJ that plays Drum n Bass [Dance Music], so I'm after something with a semi decent low end response [aware size of speaker will be a factor], and I want it to be loud.

Any help or advice or just general 'dont do it, the enclosure will sound poop' appreciated.
If it were me, I would use this kit for sure! I actually recently built up this kit for the wife, and I have been very pleased with the results

It does not dig too deep with a ton of bass response, but what you do get is fairly high quality audio, considering the limitations of such a device. Note that this is not exactly a small/light BT speaker, I would call it a mid-size option. And, it is actually 2 discreet channels, so you would need to figure out how to account for that. Also, the kit uses the same drivers and is based on the excellent MK bookshelf speakers, a link to the AH review is also below (I think AH may have given the speakers the budget speakers of the year a while back)

If for some reason you don't want the full kit, then take a look at Parts Express where you can purchase the individual parts and pieces, but the kit is likely a better overall value.


 
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