Cigar Box Speaker Cabinets

I came up with this idea as a way to disguise my surround sound speakers. They looked out of place in our old fashioned house. I thought this would be a good way to make use of old cigar boxes.

I saw someone else did a similar Instructable, but theirs was more functional and less decorative.

Note that I am not an audiophile, so I cannot tell you if this drastically changes the sound of the speakers. I am sure there are changes that can be made to this to improve the acoustic performance. Also note that modifying your speakers in any way probably voids their warrantee. Mine are probably eight years old so I wasn’t too worried about ruining them.

Step 1 Tools & Materials

For this project you’ll need the following materials:

Surround speakers

Cigar boxes (same quantity as the number of speakers, and large enough to fit the speakers)

Midget louvers (approximately the same diameter as the speaker cones)

2 component epoxy

Low expansion foam (optional)

 

Tools:

electric drill

hole saw bit (same size and midget louvers)

other miscellaneous drill bits

Dremel tool with cut off wheel and router bit

clamps

scrap piece of wood

spray paint

sandpaper

I used a few other tools not listed here for optional steps.  The tools you will need may vary depending on the construction of the speakers you are using and how fancy you want to get with the mounting and wiring.

I already had the midget louvers for another project.  You can purchase these online from construction suppliers.  I got the cigar boxes on ebay for less than $5 per box.  If you are a cigar smoker, this will give you an excuse to go buy a bunch of cigars, or a use for your empty boxes.

Comments

[elguappo]

Great idea, especially to make them more interesting.
The main acoustic compromise you are making is with the tweeter.
With that small hole and the depth the tweeter is from the surface, it make the sound very 'beamy' and directive. Imagine a laser coming out of the tweeter hole.

On way to alleviate this would be with a larger hole rounded over on the front and maybe another small grill.

[mwwdesign]

Love it!

Really nice 'ible too.

From what I gather this shouldn't affect the sound quality, apart from maybe the distance the drivers are set back from the front surface.

You would benefit from putting some rubber feet on the boxes instead of sitting them flat on the desk/table surface - to help prevent it sounding boomy and transferring sound to the table.

Then again, if you don't notice any difference, who cares?

:)

[CrLz]

Nice idea.