DIY soundboard speakers

[kokakolia]

Hi y'all! 

 

I have been endlessly watching bookshelf speaker reviews on YouTube. In a nutshell, just buy the Klipsch RP600m. Then I stumbled upon this video that raised my eyebrows so high that I have permanent wrinkles:

 

 

In summary, there are cheap $10 "exciter" speakers which produce sound by vibrating a material (i.e. just stick these on a surface and the surface becomes a speaker). This mad lad concluded that 1 inch polysterene foam board is a great material, no a wonderful material! And fortunately, you can buy boards of polystyrene for dirt cheap at your hardware store. The advantage of such a system compared to a typical set of speakers is that it's omnidirectional. Meaning, you don't have to face the speakers head-on at just the right angle to achieve the best sound. The drawback is that these speakers sound more like headphones, so you won't get that fun stereo separation. Another drawback is that these somehow lack bass so you'll want to add a subwoofer. 

 

Anyways, he recommends that you get 2 boards of polysterene, 2 boards of ceiling tile and 4 "exciter" speakers. Each pair of speakers will have one board where the driver is centered, and one board where the driver is at 3/5 height and 3/5 width. The goal is to nullify the unwanted frequency peaks with varying materials and driver positioning. Hopefully, I saved you 1 hour. 

 

I wanna try this. But I live in France, and it could cost me 200 euros easily in materials. And I'm a little skeptical that these would sound better than a proper pair of Q acoustics bookshelf speakers which would cost about 200 euros. I'm also turned off by the idea of hanging 4 ugly boards of foam material all over my appartment (well, my parent's appartement which is beautifully decorated). Has anybody tried this DIY project?

 

BONUS: You can buy a setup like this made out of gorgeous acoustic piano wood for around 10 000 euros:

 

It's just to say that audiophiles have tinkered with that technology as well. So it's... legit? 

 

EDIT: Nobody? I just bought myself an exciter speaker unit for 30 euros (they're so much more expensive in France than in the USA). It should arrive in 2 weeks. I'll be getting foam board when it arrives. I plan on hanging the board on my curtain rod. 

 

[Derkoli]

It's legit. It just isn't a technology that is used in "standard" speaker's for many reasons such as:

Hard to reduce distortion

Hard to make a big enough surface to get decent volume stiff enough to reduce distortion, cheaply that is.

Hard to keep the panel light enough that so that the exciter can control it properly, like how subwoofer's are given big amp's to keep them under control, and how tweeter's are small so the voice coil can move them fast enough, and with little distortion.

Hard to place in an enclosure, But open baffle speaker's do exist.

"Dynamic" speakers (voice coil, motor assembly, diaphragm etc.) are essentially as low distortion as you can get, without getting into expensive electrostatic or ribbon drivers. (these do exist, take martin logan that use electrostatic panels, and Burmester which use AMT's)

They are just complicated, You need the crossover, the exciter, you need to find the resonant frequency of the diaphragm/panel, and minimise the resonant frequency (you don't want a huge peak at 3khz lets say.

 

 

Exciter's are used and will most likely always be used. Take bass shaker's for example. Really helpful for bass when you don't want a subwoofer pumping super low frequencies into your neighbours, Really helpful in apartments or flats. Bass shaker's are also used for 4D cinema's alot, such as when there is an earthquake the seat's can be made to move at a certain frequency. Check out butt kicker's website for some other uses.

https://thebuttkicker.com/

(ButtKicker are essentially the most well known producers of bass shaker's, and the amp's that go with them)

Some bass shaker's can be uh, effective. Watch this to see a decently powerful one going ham:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ady5fjbbMgI

 

 

Anyway, back on topic.

Exciter's are pretty good for lets say a modern apartment, Where you wouldn't want massively large speakers, The exciter and its panel doesn't need alot of room to work, and are pretty simple when you think about it. Crossover, amp, exciter and the panel. That's all you need. Unfortunatley phase exists, so some frequencies will get cancelled at certain distances, Unless you can minimize the reflection's from the rear wall, or position the panel's far enough into the room that your brain just processes all the phase cancellation out. Standard dynamic speaker's with an enclosure do not have this issue.

 

 

 

TL;DR - They are legit, they are used more than you think, but not in "audiophile" speaker's.

 

 

 

 

[kokakolia]

@Derkoli Thanks a lot! That was informative. I’m kinda new to speakers. What do you mean by crossover? And what sort of amp would you recommend? I’m considering a cheapo Chinese amp for around 50€ to 100€. These things don’t require much power right? 

[Derkoli]

2 hours ago, kokakolia said:

@Derkoli Thanks a lot! That was informative. I’m kinda new to speakers. What do you mean by crossover? And what sort of amp would you recommend? I’m considering a cheapo Chinese amp for around 50€ to 100€. These things don’t require much power right? 

A crossover essentially "splits up" frequencies, so it might get music with 20 - 20,000hz in it, then send everything under 3khz to the low frequency driver (the larger one usually) then everything above 3khz to the high frequency driver (usually relatively small, around 25-35mm, but some companies such as wharfedale use larger ones, such as the Wharfedale diamond 220's)

 

 

And yes a cheapo chinese amplifier will work fine for this, Lepai is generally pretty decent for low budget's.

https://www.amazon.com/Lepy-LP-2020A-Digital-Amplifier-Stereo/dp/B00C2P61FO/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Lepai+2020&qid=1571660869&sr=8-3

[kokakolia]

So I just got my exciter speaker from Dayton Audio and bought a board of lightweight plywood for cheap. Thankfully I had some old amp lying around from an old speaker system. Darn! It’s better than I expected. For around 40 euro (this would literally cost about $20 in the US) you get an enjoyable experience! It’s not like a Bluetooth speaker where you get tinny highs and overblown bass. No. It sounds flat. Almost too flat. As if you imagine music in your head. It’s a very weird experience. There’s like no soundstage. It’s all in the head, like IEMs. Keep in mind that I just plugged my amp in and payed the board on the floor. I need to get longer wires and trim the corners of the board, then hang this on a coat rack or something.  I paid more for headphones and IEMs that sounded way worse than this haphazardly put together speaker. Moreover, these blow my $100 Bose Companion II speakers out of the water. I mean nobody has an excuse for terrible speakers. 
 

I have a huge grin and on my face and I would literally eat my shoe if you can find a better speaker under $50. 

[Derkoli]

On 10/23/2019 at 7:51 PM, kokakolia said:

So I just got my exciter speaker from Dayton Audio and bought a board of lightweight plywood for cheap. Thankfully I had some old amp lying around from an old speaker system. Darn! It’s better than I expected. For around 40 euro (this would literally cost about $20 in the US) you get an enjoyable experience! It’s not like a Bluetooth speaker where you get tinny highs and overblown bass. No. It sounds flat. Almost too flat. As if you imagine music in your head. It’s a very weird experience. There’s like no soundstage. It’s all in the head, like IEMs. Keep in mind that I just plugged my amp in and payed the board on the floor. I need to get longer wires and trim the corners of the board, then hang this on a coat rack or something.  I paid more for headphones and IEMs that sounded way worse than this haphazardly put together speaker. Moreover, these blow my $100 Bose Companion II speakers out of the water. I mean nobody has an excuse for terrible speakers. 
 

I have a huge grin and on my face and I would literally eat my shoe if you can find a better speaker under $50. 

Exciter speaker's are known to not have the best soundstage, but it sound's like you picked the right material if they are playing with a relatively flat frequency response

[kokakolia]

Just an update. IKEA just released the PERFECT piece of furniture to build an aesthetically pleasing (let’s not go that far) flat panel speaker with minimal effort. It’s called NIKKEBY and it costs 40€. It’s basically an end table and coat rack combined in one. IKEA must be running out of ideas... Anyways I’m super happy with the result! I eliminated the bass rumble I got from the board vibrating onto the wall and floor. And I gotta say DAYUM! That’s a really good speaker. The vocals are frighteningly realistic. But the sound ain’t exactly neutral. I would say that the mids are more forward than the bass and treble, but not annoyingly so... 

 

EDIT: I might get a smaller board. This setup is quite bulky. But you can always get a smaller board. 

 

 

[Derkoli]

10 minutes ago, kokakolia said:

Just an update. IKEA just released the PERFECT piece of furniture to build an aesthetically pleasing (let’s not go that far) flat panel speaker with minimal effort. It’s called NIKKEBY and it costs 40€. It’s basically an end table and coat rack combined in one. IKEA must be running out of ideas... Anyways I’m super happy with the result! I eliminated the bass rumble I got from the board vibrating onto the wall and floor. And I gotta say DAYUM! That’s a really good speaker. The vocals are frighteningly realistic. But the sound ain’t exactly neutral. I would say that the mids are more forward than the bass and treble, but not annoyingly so... 

 

EDIT: I might get a smaller board. This setup is quite bulky. But you can always get a smaller board. 

 

 

Haha, if you made the board vertical and turnt the IKEA stand around, it would like a funky MartinLogan!

 

[kokakolia]

@DerkoliI can’t believe I made a redneck ghetto of this!!! 
 

Also, putting the board in a vertical position makes total sense. I just hate having space...

[BillyNomates]

Sorry, I know this is an old post but I have been playing with DML speakers for a while.

 

I used 5mm plywood cut to 1220mm x 310mm using two Dayton Audio DAEX32EP-4 Thruster 32mm.

I mounted these using the 2/5th, 3/5th rule and they sound great.

bass response starts from 35hz and starts to tail off after 13khz (but that could be my ears).

 

See the attached picture

[kokakolia]

@BillyNomatesCool setup! It even goes with your decor. I'm so glad you posted. I want this type of setup to become a thing.

 

I haven't powered my plywood speaker up since I scored a good deal on Klipsch Rp-600m speakers bundled with a Yamaha RN 402 amp.

 

To be honest, it took a surprising amount of trial and error and money to set my board speaker up. I must have spent 200€ easily between the Raspberry Pi (for streaming Spotify, it was a pain in the rear to setup), materials and Nekkeby IKEA furniture. In retrospect, you can buy a nice Class D amp with Bluetooth (and Optical for your TV!) for 200€ (Tangent Ampster BT) and then spend another 90€ on some great speakers (Davis Acoustics Mia 20). But where's the fun in that

 

Anyhow, nothing beats the mids on a board speaker. The more expensive Klipsch pale in comparison (in the mids). But the Klipsch just sound more alive, with much cleaner and deeper bass. Maybe I should add a subwoofer

 

Like I said, perhaps it's better for most people to bite the bullet and spend 300€ on a decent bookshelf speaker setup... 

[The Flying Sloth]

Sharp corners are the enemy of good frequency response in exciter powered speakers.
I must admit that I haven't played around with mine in quite a while but changing the density of the speaker material, shape and layering material of different densities can be really fun. Grab a passive crossover and the old sub out of your shed and you've got a really cool speaker setup.

For my personal rig I use some basic studio monitors but I built all the speakers in my bedroom surround system (bookshelf style stuff) and honestly wouldn't have it any other way.

Sloth

[BillyNomates]

The Flying Sloth, yes you are correct.

The sharp corners allow standing waves to be set up, hence mine are slightly rounded.

The plywood I used is 5mm thick. possibly 8mm would be better at loud volumes.

I did have a play with two Dayton Audio DAEX32EP-4 Thruster 32mm per sheet but they can overpower the sheet and the bass just drowns out at high volume. lol

One driver per speaker actually works out better.

As for the covering, I used white Fablon (sticky backed plastic) and on the corners gently cut vertial lines then used a hair dryer to slightly warm the fablon so it bent correctly around each corner.

the end result is quite nice and these are splash proof too. can be easily wiped down

[BillyNomates]

I have different stands now that look better but I do have some mechanical colleagues building a metal base for each speaker that these sheets will just slot in to.

The lockdown here in the UK has slowed that process down for now. grr

 

Now if we could just get LinusTech tips to have a play. he he

[kokakolia]

12 minutes ago, BillyNomates said:

The Flying Sloth, yes you are correct.

The sharp corners allow standing waves to be set up, hence mine are slightly rounded.

The plywood I used is 5mm thick. possibly 8mm would be better at loud volumes.

I did have a play with two Dayton Audio DAEX32EP-4 Thruster 32mm per sheet but they can overpower the sheet and the bass just drowns out at high volume. lol

One driver per speaker actually works out better.

As for the covering, I used white Fablon (sticky backed plastic) and on the corners gently cut vertial lines then used a hair dryer to slightly warm the fablon so it bent correctly around each corner.

the end result is quite nice and these are splash proof too. can be easily wiped down

That's interesting to know. I just don't have the motivation or tools to do all of that.

 

Cutting plywood is a nightmare. It chips on the edges so easily. How did you round your edges? 

 

Do the rounded edges and Fablon make a noticeable difference? I would love to hear your setup... But I live in France so it's complicated.

 

If there was a company out there that made boards specifically for exciters, I would buy them in a heartbeat. Perhaps a skateboard deck would work. But I want something at least 4x the size. A surf board? 

[BillyNomates]

I marked the corners out with a lid from a frying pan (yes it sounds weird) but the large radius gave me a nice rounded corner.

I then used a jig saw and cut them just by following the line (slowly so it doesn't splinter) .

The 5mm thickness is easy to cut.

 

I will post a link to youtube once I have made a video showing these. 

Just need to find some music that is royalty free so YouTube doesn't take it down.

 

Any idea's for at least 720p video that has good audio on youtube I can play ?

[BillyNomates]

I have uploaded a video for you to hear.

 

Sound Test

[kokakolia]

49 minutes ago, BillyNomates said:

I have uploaded a video for you to hear.

 

Sound Test

Thanks bud! 

[BillyNomates]

No probs. Any time.

I do think DML speakers are underrated. More people should be playing with these

[Dr0y]

4 hours ago, kokakolia said:

Cutting plywood is a nightmare. It chips on the edges so easily.

Put tape and cut through it, it helps a lot with wood chipping.  Also using a blade with more teeth helps too.  

[The Flying Sloth]

3 hours ago, Dr0y said:

Put tape and cut through it, it helps a lot with wood chipping.  Also using a blade with more teeth helps too.  

That or a router, rounding edges and blunting corners is basically what routers are designed to do. 

 

[AnonSchlingel]

Hey guys, it's been a while since someone posted something here (again).

As kokakolia, I to did stumble about the "World’s Best Speakers!" video and since my speakers recently started degrading, I decided to build a panel speaker too.

 

I have close to no real usable knowledge about speakers (for e.g. I don't know whats more important Ω or W).

So I've got some problems to get the right Exciter Speaker, since the Dayton speakers aren't really available in Germany and some alternatives can get a little expensive (I'm a student ^^')

So here is what I've found that came kinda close to the Daytons from the video:

 

Resonanz-Lautsprecher Lautsprecher Thunder von Allem Vibrationslautsprecher Vibration Starke Basslautsprecher Alle Frequenz Resonanz 50mm 2Inchl(4 Ω 25 w)

https://www.amazon.de/Resonanz-Lautsprecher-Lautsprecher-Vibrationslautsprecher-Vibration-Basslautsprecher/dp/B07N664XZF/ref=sr_1_16?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=20J4AKB2IDHMF&dchild=1&keywords=exciter+lautsprecher&qid=1623198235&sprefix=excit%2Caps%2C190&sr=8-16

 

AIYIMA Audio Portable Speakers 25W/20W 4 Ohm/8 Ohm 44/50MM Full Range Vibration Speaker Altavoz Portatil Resonance Bass Speaker

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32617592866.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.533144e6lSznKO&algo_pvid=0823148a-8795-4f45-8c1d-1b336cc265d5&algo_expid=0823148a-8795-4f45-8c1d-1b336cc265d5-2&btsid=2100bb4c16231960233396274e1533&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

 

AIYIMA 2.5 Inch Vibration Speaker 4 ohm 40W Bass Shock Driver Full Range Resonance Vibration Speaker DIY Home Theater

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002511132620.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.533144e6lSznKO&algo_pvid=0823148a-8795-4f45-8c1d-1b336cc265d5&algo_expid=0823148a-8795-4f45-8c1d-1b336cc265d5-3&btsid=2100bb4c16231960233396274e1533&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

 

I tend to favor the last one since it is 40W, but again, idk if that's really important.

Are they any good?

 

[kokakolia]

@AnonSchlingel

 

You have many DIY audio shops in Germany which sell quality audio components. One brand stands out: VISATON. Speaker hobbiests seem to love that brand. 

 

You can easily find VISATON Exciter drivers around 20€~60€ online. Unfortunately, I have no experience with those. Perhaps you can call an DIY audio shop and get some answers. 

 

Here are some links:

 

https://www.lautsprechershop.de/chassis/visaton_wandler_fr.htm

 

https://www.reichelt.com/fr/en/exciters-c4594.html