DIY Bluetooth Speaker Under 5$

by bobes360

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Intro: DIY Bluetooth Speaker Under 5$

Today I'll show you how I made this awesome bluetooth speaker for total cost under 5$. It is easy project that you can make with minimal knowledge of electronics and woodworking.

Just for you to know : this is not very high quality speaker. It's mainly made from scrap and to be as cheap as possible. Therefore I didn't make any design and arithmetic on the box.

The reason for this build is that I have many speakers just lying around and when I found on ebay 3 amplifiers for just one dollar I decided to make one. And I liked it so much that at this moment I have already made three of them.

I mainly use it when I'm at home doing homework, housework etc. I take it to parties too (because it was so cheap I'm not so much worried about it) and I got very possitive feedback, because party without music is no party.

STEP 1: What You Need :

- first you need some speakers, I got mine from some old radio. They are both 3 W, 8 Ohms. For this build you need similar because of the amplifier I'm using.

- amplifier - I got 3 of those for 1 dollar : http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.X3w+amplifier+3pcs.TRS0&_nkw=3w+amplifier+3pcs&_sacat=0 - It's good to have more of them in case you manage to destroy some :).

- something to power it : there are many options for you : 1) use power brick, 2) use power bank, 3) use 9v batteries, 4) use AA batteries

- to make it work via bluetooth you need 1)bluetooth music receiver or wireless bluetooth music receiver (with battery inside) - to operate it with your phone or 2)bluetooth joystick - to operate your phone with this joystick

- some wood to make the casing

- some tools to woodworking

- soldering iron, solder, pliers, hot glue gun,

STEP 2: Wiring

Now when you have all the components you can start soldering. This step is really easy because you have all you need to know written on the amplifier. Solder male usb to the 5v +- (the picture above might help you). Solder male jack to the "R ground L" on the board as you see in the picture. I decided to solder female jack to those OUT pins on the board so I can connect any speaker I want ( but you can solder it directly if you want it permanent - second photo). I even made a little enclosure for amplifier. (don't mind first two pictures it's from another speaker).

Ways of powering are endless. Because you have usb there you can directly connect it to your charger or power bank. Or in order to power different speaker I opened car charger and added 9v battery connector with switch - and it works as well.

STEP 3: Enclosure

Now all what's left is to make the box. I used scrap wood to make the shape and screws to hold it together. I first all painted with black paint than I used this nice green spray paint used to make marks on ground. This effect was achieved by lightly spraying it and than shaking the can and let some drops to fall on the box. Because this paint is designed to be removed after some time I finished it with clear varnish. I'm also planning to add some hinges to open the top part. Those speaker covers are as well taken from old radio.

(sorry that I have no photos but I wasn't sure about the outcome so I didn't documented it)

STEP 4: Some Numbers

This build took me just a few hours to finish.

It costed me just a few bucks because most of the parts you have just lying around.

The smaller speaker on 9v battery can play around 8 hours.

This bigger speaker with my homemade power bank from old phone batteries (about 2000 mAh in total) can play more than 8 hours on one charge (haven't tested it yet).

STEP 5: Conclusion

When I made that speaker I was very pleased, but now I hear that it's now the best playing speaker. On the other hand - friends say that it's not so bad and to use it just to play background music - it's definitely enough.

So if you are looking for some cheap speaker that you can make at home and learn something more about electronics - this is the right project for you!

Hope you liked it and leave some feedback if you want - I like to read all of those nice comments :)

10 Comments

marderchen 7 years ago

cute circuit (build something like this years ago.. .. changed the speakers in phones , and using a old handy accu (with li-ion usb charging board.. )watch picture but now i know http://www.ebay.de/itm/5PCS-2-Channels-3W-Digital-power-PAM8403-Class-D-Audio-Amplifier-Board-USB-DC-5V-/182333036435?hash=item2a73e55793:g:vy8AAOSwo6lWQDzV is the same amplifier ic, cost little more, but the circuit improfes the soundquality..) i don't see a bluetooth module.. so its just a active speaker.. maybe adding this http://www.ebay.de/itm/Wireless-Bluetooth-4-1-AUX-3-5-Car-Phone-Audio-Amplifier-Verstarker-Modul-USB-TF-/142096106254?hash=item211596830e:g:i4kAAOSwdzVXvXN3 play also mp3 from USB stick/ sd card.. =^.^=

bobes360 7 years ago

Thanks for advice. But I don't see any improvement in the amplifier you sent me: can you explain me? And that Bluetooth board look really nice but I already ordered a Bluetooth "stick" (link in Instructable).

marderchen 7 years ago

the difference is simple.. the orange capacitors alow higher frequency spectrum.. (if just wand to recieve bluetooth audio without data mp3 storage therer is also amplifier and bluetooth on one board: http://www.ebay.de/itm/3W-3W-Wireless-Bluetooth-4-0-Audio-Receiver-Steady-Digital-Amplifier-Board-/272322746439?hash=item3f67b35847:g:JAAAAOSwRgJXmes6 ) =^.^=

bobes360 7 years ago

Didn't know that. Thank you. Might consider it in future projects. ☺

Lavoz24 7 years ago

I was looking around for a project to do with my nieces that isn't too easy nor too difficult. I'm going to do your speaker build with them but I'm going to add l.e.d.'s to the box and instead of using wood I'm going to experiment with different types of plastic enclosures (thickness, width, length, etc.) because I made a speaker box using acrylic to get more deep base resonance from it and it works great so I figure since the speakers are small maybe the dollar store has some we could use. Thank you so much for sharing and I voted for you.

bobes360 7 years ago

Thank you! You must be an awesome uncle! I haven't experimented with different materials for the box so I would love to hear what you are going to find out. Hope you post a picture of your finished work :)

bobes360 7 years ago

They are really nice but I don't know what exactly should I consider... Smaller speakers and smaller enclosure means less sound, less bass. It costed even more with the same amount of features. The thing I love the most about my speakers are the options of operating it and I don't see that on the one you send me. Would love to hear any suggestions on improving mine thought. Have a nice day.

Dvward6971 7 years ago

Always fun to build new fun projects, and it leads to newer ones. Thanks for sharing. Good jog

bobes360 7 years ago

Thank you for your nice comment.