Retro Wireless Speakers from Ikea Salad Bowls

Step 8: Connecting Both Sides Of The Sphere

Now that you have finished both sides of your new retro speaker spheres it's time to connect the sides together.

I decided to use a couple of brass draw-hasps to connect the two sides of the speakers together.  There are many ways you could do this part of the process and I leave it to you to be creative.


In order to do it the way I did, the tools you'll need are:
2 Brass Draw Hasps
A Roll of Self-Adhesive Black Sponge Rubber Weather Stripping
Some Binding Straps or Some Heavy Object (You'll see why below)
A Drawer Handle (Or something more creative)

First thing I did was stick the weather stripping to the ridge of the bowl.  (See Picture Below)

After both sides have their weather stripping applied I placed them on top of each other.  I made sure that I had them lined up correctly and that my tweeters were roughly symmetrical to each other.  I didn't have a good strap at the time so I used this big heavy speaker that I had in my studio to weigh the top half down upon the bottom (See Pic Below)

That way I could attach my hasps to the bowl and be positive that it was going to be a snug fit later.  After the hasps are in place you are one step away from being done.  You still need a way to hang these guys.

This is where I used the drawer handle.  I drilled a hole slightly off from the direct top of the speaker so that when I hung the them one side would be angled downward a little.  (See Pic below)

Okay, you are officially done!  Now you can enjoy your super cool retro modern wireless speakers.

Some Final Thoughts:  I have had a person recommend placing a thin piece of MDF between the two sides of the sphere.  This way none of the sound gets cancelled out by having the two speakers directly behind each other.  It should improve the sound quality.  

I can say with great confidence that this housing is a great improvement from the original in regards to sound quality.  If you have sound coming through, the moment you connect the two sides together you will instantly hear the difference.

I hope this was helpful and I welcome your comments.  I'd love to hear about alternative methods for things that perhaps I will implement in my own speakers.  Thanks for reading and be sure to check my blog every once in a while.  I do one creative thing every day so maybe today there is something new to inspire you.

Thanks!

http://www.TheB-Roll.com

Comments

[mushroomdude]

how do yuo think i could atach a cd player or a i pod to this settup i may want to make a retro backpack with this

[wobbler]

You could also put some speaker wadding inside which should improve the bass response. Also, if you are going to put a baffle in, why not put a baffle on each bowl and then attach a hinge so they could be opened out to point in one direction? That would also mean they could also be laid flat on a table if necessary. Great Instructible as it stands though, thanks for the ikea idea.