I had salvaged a speaker from a portable speaker that had been broken for a while. What better way to bring it back to life than with this tutorial ?

Supplies

Very low cost :

any size speaker
modeling clay (air drying make it easiest, white may be better if you wish to paint the design)
imagination & elbow grease

Step 1: Get Familiar With Modeling Clay

This step calls on your childhood memories! Feel free to ask your children to participate.

Try out different shapes and start over; little by little, you will become familiar with the material.

I personally started without any knowledge, so don't worry.

Step 2: First Idea, Merge the Speaker

The first attempt was to create the perfect interface for the speaker by making an impression of it in modeling clay.

Step 3: Second Idea, Make a Cavity to Enhance Speaker Resonance

Subsequent attempts sought to create a sound chamber volume at the rear of the speaker, while maintaining an organic shape that is uncommon in traditional speakers. The goal is to achieve powerful, natural sound in a compact volume. During the whole process, I tried to live test the shape to get an idea of how the volume was adapted to the speaker.

Step 4: Enhance the Shape

Once you have decided on the general shape, start working on the final design. I opted for a fish shape. I like the idea of replacing its vocal cords with a speaker.

For the body, roll out the modeling clay to form a hollow cone.
Insert the speaker to seal the entrance to the cone. Make sure there is a good seal between the speaker and the volume you are creating to improve the sound box effect.

Step 5: Details

Add all the details one by one, the eyes, teeth, and fins, according to your imagination.

Step 6: Final Build, Drying & Testing

The modeling clay used dries in 24 hours. After this time, it is possible to test the speaker that has been made. To do this, I use a homemade amplifier made with a laser cutter based on an operational amplifier (type LM386) that runs on batteries.

How about playing fish sounds like these ?

https://nautil.us/a-library-for-fish-sounds-1239697/

Feel free to paint your design and don't forget to share it with us !

Thanks for reading :)

As always, if you enjoyed reading this article or felt inspired, please consider offering me with a coffee 😊

Introduction: Sculpt Your Speaker ! (Recycled)