Beautiful hand-made wooden computer speakers

SuperMario__Galaxy

#1 – 10:39 AM December 31, 2008

Pass.

Art

#2 – 11:31 AM December 31, 2008

Beautifully done!
Very "Donald Deskey" in attitude and geometry.
Great post. Thanks.

OM

#3 – 2:24 PM December 31, 2008

...The boxes look great, but it's the guts that still turn me off. When I worked for Dell as a test engineer, I had the misfortune of having to test and certify those "Cartman Hardon" speakers. You'd probably not be surprised how many tests those damn cheap speakers failed with regards to reliability and sound quality, only to have the test results themselves listed as "FAIL!" because it would upset some marketing maggot's kickback from getting the speakers approved.

As for what I use at home, every single speaker is Altec Lansing.

ROSSINDETROIT

#4 – 4:46 PM December 31, 2008

Here's a link to a speaker conversion of another sort. This was part of a group sourced development project to find uses in home audio speakers for high quality pro audio horns, compression drivers and custom crossovers. I was in charge of finding an application in upgrading a common vintage speaker.
They're ugly, as low cost was an important consideration, but the sound is outstanding. The initial developers of this project are a group of talented, experienced and fanatical speaker developers. It's amazing what you can accomplish with modern high quality parts at very low cost.

Rob Beschizza

#5 – 7:42 PM December 31, 2008

OM, presuming that you no longer work at Dell, do you have anything left over to nail it for "working" its quality control?

haineux

#6 – 8:59 PM December 31, 2008

OK, BoingBoing cognoscenti: people always ask me, since I like audio, what kind of small speakers they should get for their computers?

Priorities:
1) Inexpensive (under $200 total)
2) Small (smaller than typical bookshelf or monitor speakers)
3) Audio quality.

Now, I know that goals 2 & 3 are mutually exclusive if you want audible response below, oh, 150 Hz. That's just physics.

But what's good for the rest of the audio spectrum that sits in this range?

(A lot of speakers that seem to have excellent bass in fact have a large resonance in the mid-low area, and nothing much below that. This is why those are called "thumpers.")

ROSSINDETROIT

#7 – 6:59 AM January 1, 2009

@ Haineux: I don't pay attention to modern speakers but I've had every vintage thing imaginable from Voice of the Theater to BBC LS3/5As. The hot tip in small desktop speakers is the Realistic Minimus 7. Out of production now but sold by Radio Shack for decades. Every audiophile worth his salt has a pair or 2 of these cheap beauties stashed for compact systems in cottage, boat, bedroom, office, etc. They're black cast aluminum, half the size of a bread loaf. They're non-powered, so you'll need a cheap small receiver to run them. The whole rig should run you $50 with a little diligent scrounging and the sound will be totally satisfying.
BTW, the link in my post above goes to the audio forum site AUDIOKARMA.ORG, which is an ideal place for questions like 'what speaker should I buy?'

ROSSINDETROIT

#8 – 7:10 AM January 1, 2009

Also deserving mention in the small speaker category are the NHT Super One and Super Zero. Paradigm made/makes some outstanding small speakers like the Titan and Atom.

Scuba SM

#9 – 10:16 AM January 1, 2009

I recently finished a monitor mod where I aimed for a more art deco aesthetic. The base and top cap are made from solid maple.

http://s365.photobucket.com/albums/oo93/scuba_sm/

Rob Beschizza

#10 – 2:18 PM January 1, 2009

NICE. Totally posting that tomorrow, Scuba SM.

Scuba SM

#11 – 4:32 PM January 1, 2009

Rob,

If you like, I can provide some more information via email or something.

prion

#12 – 10:41 AM January 2, 2009

Excellent fabrication! But would it kill him to put some nice speakers inside? There are so many great full-range drivers to choose from, and many are a very reasonable cost. It seems a bit like putting a Lambo body kit on your Fiero.