Speaker made from a fossil watch container (for an ipod)

Well i had an old speaker from a tape/radio so i thought i'd free it from its turquoise confinement and put it into somthing stylish!

Supplies:
FOSSIL WATCH CONTAINER
EXACTO KNIFE
SCISSORS
RULER
A SPEAKER
OLD PAIR OF HEADPHONES
HOT GLUE GUN AND DUH THE GLUE STICKS
A LITTLE CARDBOARD
SOLDER (SO U CAN CONNECT THE WIRES)

Step 1: Get a fossil watch

ok i know they're over-priced and from the buckle and is not at all the instructable state-of-mind because of the expense but i already had one around the house and i thought it was a neat container for a speaker .......... anyway onward toward the directions

I first drew a line around the speaker on the back-side of the lid. After that i poked a hole in the lid (large enough to fit a needle nose plyers) and i pulled it in a circular direction until it connected to the other side... i then bent the side edges inward toward the inside of the tin....... i did it with my thumb be careful not to cut yourself it is sharp (i didn't but just a warning, i dont wanna hear any sob storys)

Comments

[Brookibear]

if you use headphones how do you make them into a speaker

[purpulhaze]

I too have one of this tins as well and have been thinking about doing such a project. Though I have a few different plans...Instead of cutting a hole in the top I decided to cut a pattern of wholes. I'm also adding an LM386 amp circuit, toggle switch, LED and 3.5mm audio jack.

[purpulhaze]

Finished! LM386 & a few other components, power LED, pot for volume control and 3.5mm jack.

[Capt. Fat]

I did the exact same thing with the speaker, soldering the wire and it won't work. I have a single 3 watt speaker and i figur it needs power. any suggestions on how to power it??

[purpulhaze]

You can build a pretty simple amp with an LM386 chip and a few components or you could find some cheap small computer speakers and try and match the voltage with batteries.

[T0C]

Use an amp. The power output of your device is just to low to power a 3W speaker. If you want to power a single 3W speaker you should use at least a 1.5-2W amp. Now i'm using the TDA1015 amp it's got a power output of about 1-4W (depending on the voltage input.) it's power consumption is sort of low and the quality is HIGH, If that amp is too much use the TA7368P i'ts power output is about 0.9-1.1W ,depending on the schematic, the consumption is good but on some bassi songs you would need more power(there's a way with capacitors but that's not the point now.). And finaly if all of those aren't good use the good ol' LM386 the power consumption is low as the output and quality. For further info send me a message or E-mail me at: [e-mail]

[Mirc_El]

Hello, what did you use for the speaker's protective grill?
I put some speakers in a CD case, and now I don't know what to use to protect them, since it's designed to be portable. Thanks!

[bigmike95]

hey i made 1 like this but it has a 5 volt amp in it . i power it with a 9 volts battery

[Yerboogieman]

dont you mean speaker box?

[jamnoopers]

i know why, but its funny how you nano has to sit upside down. you should make a dock with a hole in the bottom for the plug instead.

[lemonie]

"i soldered the leads from the headphone jack to the speaker" How did you connect the stereo output from the headphone jack to the mono-speaker? Also what's the impedence of that speaker?

[wes_711]

i'm not quite sure what u mean but i'll explain what i did......... u know where the head phone cord splits into two separate parts ........... well in each single strand there are 2 wires .....i soldered one wires to the left "terminal" and the other wire to the right "terminal" on the speaker........ which left the other single strand .... (which i cut off) .......... on certain songs you do not hear certain parts .......... it would be like listening to your ipod with one earbud in.......

[lemonie]

You've put the two 'ground' wires on one terminal and both left and right on the other? The comment upon "do not hear certain parts" sounds a bit like one of the L/R channels is not functioning, or perhaps they're interfering with each other?

[mark101]

Sounds like you have the left and right signal as the source. If you play a mono sound from the MP3 device, the external speaker will likely be silent. This means when the left channel is different from the right channel(normal in sterio) you have a difference in voltage= sound , and vice versa when the right channel is different from the left relative voltage= sound.

AND yes I think this is bad for your MP3 device as the Left and Right outputs are not meant to be the relative ground(return source) for each other, not to mention music will sound weird.
I think it is interesting to listen to music this way, as it becomes "new" never heard before. But to do it safely(for the amplifier not to break) you have to use some electronics.

[mark101]

yeah this might be bad for your MP3 player if you use a low impedence/resistance speaker. Bad as in BREAK.

[lemonie]

I want to know how you connected stereo to mono. Also what's printed on the back of the speaker in Ohms. I'd guess at 8 or 16?

[wes_711]

i cant look on the back of the speaker it's glued to the cardboard

[toogers]

smooth move, ex-lax. (jk)

[dorxincandeland]

Clicked and "+"'d for "(for an ipod)" so is that a lego dock? why does it have to be upside down?

[wes_711]

the headphone jack is at the bottom of ipod nanos ....... not true on ipod vidoes

[evy-wevy]

ha ha...there it is....nicely done, i wasn;t expecting the grillz....I have like 5 of those laying around, i'll use one!