ENLIGHTENED SOUND
Personal Project 2022
Lit Audio
For this personal project and only second speaker build, I molded my love of audio with by experience in lighting design. My goal was to build speakers that were as calming and captivating as the music they emitted.
Building the Speakers
The Build
The main enclosure is made from 1/2 in. MDF board strips that are glued together. The base is smoothed out to create a cylinder and wrapped with textured cloth. The top enclosure is painted satin black. There is a slot port behind the mid/tweeter enclosure for better bass extension. Four rubber feet lift the down-firing woofer off the ground and provide vibration isolation. The midrange and tweeter are housed in a 3D-printed front face designed to help with surface diffraction.
Powerful Guts
The two speakers are powered by the Arylic® Up2Stream® 2.1 Amplifier board. The board is a 50W X2 +100W system powered by the TPA3116, and comes with DSP processing, Wi-Fi connectivity (Airplay®, Chromecast®, Spotify®), and plenty on input options.
Broad Detail, Deep Bass
For this speaker project, I wanted detailed sound with wide soundstage. I chose the Tectonic® 3 1/2 BMR (Balanced Mode Radiator) driver, a flat midrange that provides near 180 degree dispersion. I paired this with an AMT (air-motion transfer) tweeter for articulate highs and wide horizontal dispersion. For the bass, I chose the Tang Band® 5 1/2 paper cone woofer, a smaller yet powerful driver that delivers bass down to 40Hz.
Soothing Ambience
LED strips encircle the speaker underneath the top surface, creating a beautiful indirect glow. They have three brightness settings and are powered from the amplifier.
Stereo Bliss
The Speakers were designed and built as a pair for stereo music listening. The DML Drivers and down-firing woofers provide a stunningly wide soundstage for immersive music listening
Specifications:
Dimensions: 18 in. tall, 6.73 in. diameter
Wattage: 200W peak each
Power: 24V AC-DC power supply
Frequency Range: 50Hz - 25kHz
Inputs: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, audio jack, USB inputs
Port: Slotted port design, (calculated using Win ISD)
18 in.
6.73 in.
Measurements and Listening
Here are the measurements I took with a calibrated mic using Win ISD. I’m getting good bass extension with the woofer and port design, there is a a little peaking going on around 140Hz, but overall the SPL is flat with a slight U-Shape. Listening to these speakers is a joyous experience. The detail and soundstage are superb. The speakers particularly shine with jazz and acoustic tracks, providing a room-filling and realistic listening experience.
Super Lit
I am very happy with the way my first serious speaker build turned out. There are many improvements I could make and several mistakes I made along the way, I did a lot of learning as I went. I had so much fun building these and listening to them, and I can’t wait for version 2.0.
