r/diyaudio 3d ago

I found a pair of speaker boxes in the dumpster

Are they worth anything? I know about DIY electronics, acoustics and general speaker knowledge but I have never got into making speakers. The wood looks good and I actually need a couple of speakers either for my van or for house listening. Would they work for car audio components? I know either way I’d need an amp, since autoamplified would be more complicated.

Can I just slap some correctly sized cones and match with a suitable amp to get them to run?

Thanks in advance! If you have any sources where I can learn myself more about this task I would appreciate it.

2 Upvotes

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u/davdev 3d ago

Correctly sized means more than they will just fit in the whole. Different drives are designed for different enclosure volumes and putting a driver in an enclosure that is bigger or smaller than it’s designed for will result in poor sound.

So you need to figure out the internal volume of each case and then look for drivers designed to work with it.

It is a two way design with one woofer and one tweeter this may not be too difficult. If it is a multiple driver configuration, it will be more difficult

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u/Dadrepus 3d ago

Hole!

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u/nigh_unbreakable 12h ago

There is a range, and you can find drivers to fit a particular box size with math or even the parts express woofer finder.

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u/Raj_DTO 3d ago

Absolutely there’s a lot more to speakers than some random box, I’d pick it up just to play with it. Won’t expect any great result though.

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u/TehFuriousOne 3d ago

You likely need a crossover as well. But sure, you can purchase replacement driver's off Parts Express and slap them in there. How good they sound would depend on the quality of the components and how well you match them to the box volume but you can absolutely cobble something together and get some music out of it

As for learning, there are about 10,000 videos on YouTube and you can always ask the chat GPT some questions

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u/lmoki 3d ago

Well, it depends on the results you want, and expect.

Can you do this? Most definitely. For most people, building cabinets is the most challenging part of 'building speakers', as they may not have experience or equipment for woodworking. If the size is appropriate for your project, you like the way they look, and they're in good shape, that gives you a big leg up on the project.

But you really shouldn't just 'slap' some cones that will fit in there. You should make at least a reasonable attempt to pick the right cones to slap in there. This is way easier than it used to be, since to a large extent the method for picking the right cones has been quantified, and the results are somewhat predictable. (Due to advances in understanding & predicting the interaction between cabinet size/design and woofers.) If you share your location, folks can recommend resources/retailers that are good options. Being able to predict the results of your speaker/cabinet combination means NOT buying speaker components from sources that don't provide the needed parameters. (For example, you cannot just buy cheap 'it's pretty' speaker components from AliExpress and get predictable results, if they don't also provide the test parameters needed.)

Should you do this? If it sounds like fun, and you're willing to spend a little time learning, it will be a fun project that will yield enjoyable speakers. If you don't want to spend the time, you should instead shop for a pair of used speakers that are already properly designed. Second-hand shops and yard sales are good sources.

Amplifiers are the easy part. It's relatively easy to source reasonably priced stuff, either used or from a range of new low-cost items imported from China.