Are there speakers any better than the ones that Tim and Erv sell?

[killphil]

My second speaker has just blown within 2 weeks. I know these premium speakers are supposed to be high end, but they keep on fitzing out on me.

I've heard about some ipod speakers. Are these suppossed to be any good?

Right now, I'm just gonna go and snatch up a couple cheapos from Radio Shack, cause I can't really aford to drop $6 everytime a speaker blows on me, which seems to be happenning more frequently than I'd like. In total, I believe I've lost 5 speakers to this.

[Kal El Rah]

you must be doing something wrong, I have only heard of 1 dead speaker, but that 1 was defective to begin with.

[cardcollector]

We need a little more info on why your speakers are blowing (voltage etc)

I LOVE tim's speakers and haven't had any problems with them. they make a huge difference compared to the hasbro speakers.

[killphil]

They just stop working.

I turned on my saber last night and heard this aweful didstorted sound. Rebooted it, and the sound came back on but very tinny and buzzy. Then today, it just died. No sound. Same thing happenned with another one 2 weeks ago.

It's driving me nuts, and I wish I could pinpoint the problem, but I just don't know.

[Lord Maul]

That happened to me once with a CF saber. If you're using CF, try turning down the volume on the board. That fixed my problem.

[killphil]

Yeah, it's a CF, and yes, the POT is about halfway down. I'm experimenting with a 36 mm speaker I canabilized off a old pair of headphones. Sounds better than any speaker I've heard thus far, but it is a tad on the quiet side. Need to figure out how to mount it and resonate it, then I'll see about adjusting the volume.

[pipster79]

question for you,

are you wiring the battery positive to the speaker like in a mr but with the cf instead? if so dont i tried that b4 and blew 3 speakers that way, it somehow creates a short to the speaker and it melts the voice coil.

[Count Malik]

I too love the shops speakers...:mrgreen: But on the non serious side you could get a nice spendy pair of Bose headphones then gut those! lol jk

[killphil]

What about those 36mm speakers? Anybody know where to find those?

These 36mm headphone speakers have alot more base, but there is not much in the way of loudness. Definetly want to see what those would be like.

[Count Malik]

Only 2 people that I know off the top of my head and are really good with speakers & CF (non TCSS speaker wise) and that is Jay-gon and Novastar (along with others but I see that they use "other speakers" than most) so try them! :cool:

[Lord Maul]

Novastar sourced the speakers that Tim, Alex, and Erv all sell. I'm not sure what speakers Jay uses...

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Novastar sourced the speakers that Tim, Alex, and Erv all sell. I'm not sure what speakers Jay uses...

I mostly use the ones in the store here for sabers running CF's and US boards. I have also had them blow out on me though, when using them with either board. When tim is out of stock on them, I do get some different ones from another source, but out of respect for Tim, i'm keeping quiet on that. ;)

As far as the speakers blowing out thougn, I don't think just because they are rated for 1 wattt of sound that they should be constantly run at that power level. Phil may not only have to turn the volume down, but adjust the playback volume of certain sound effects in the config files to help with the situatuion. Then he might be able to turn the volume back up with the pot.

[killphil]

I went out and bought one of those mini speaker units you plug into an ipod. Ripped it open and there were 2 mini speakers inside,slightely smaller than our standard speakers. They are 8 ohms, but rated for .5 watts instead of 1 watt. They sound perfect and eaqually as loud.

I've been reading the manual for the CF wondering if I have to change a parameter for the lower wattage but have not seen anything thus far. Anybody know if that's the case or not?

[Kal El Rah]

The only sound adjustment on the cf is the volume potentiometer, the us2.0/1 is the sound selection in the boot sequence. other that that, the cf has to have the sounds recorded at a lower volume.

[killphil]

Yeah, I did adjust the POT after wiring it up to compensate for the distortion.

[goldsaberwarrior]

it sounds to me like a clasic short. I had a problem with a hasbro hilt I tried to fix once. I didn't put the speaker back in right and I somehow didn't solder it back in right creating a short. I don't know much about the CFs except what Jay Gon, Erv, and Nova have told me and what I've seen from other people but going off what you've told us that's what it sounds like to me.

Just to be safe I would check your wiring and make sure you have everything right. Also make sure you're not running too much voltage. If you're running with a high voltage you need to bring it down some. It's not good to run a high voltage for too long even though you may be able to. I don't advise it anyways. That's the first I've heard of Tim's speakers blowing like that. Like was said before I heard of the 1 speaker going out but you'll get that one lemon once in awhile.

Recheck everything just to be on the safe side. You never can be too careful with the guts of your saber.

[DJMoonbass]

its a shame a FOCAL tweeter speaker wouldnt fit in a saber.... those would sound amazing. but then again power reqirements and size is pththththth

[Jonitus]

The problem with speakers blowing is more than likely NOT a result of the speakers getting too much power, but IS a result of getting too much distortion. Distortion kills speakers.

If someone tweaks their own sound fonts for a CF and amplifies them to make them LOUD, they're also introducing a lot of clipping and distortion, which the Mylar cones can't handle (they aren't designed for that and aren't robust enough to handle square waves (which is what clipping results to))

If you want loud, use a decent resonance chamber and vent sound ahead of and behind the speaker. If you must build your own sound fonts, keep the maximum levels of the sounds at or BELOW 1dB in the editor. Otherwise...enjoy replacing speakers constantly.

5 years of building sabers, dozens of CF builds, NO blown speakers...ever

[killphil]

I'm just using stock soundfonts from the compendium CD.

[Jonitus]

In that case, your potentiometer on the CF may be turned up too high. That can lead to distortion as well.

I never have mine turned up past 75%. Ever. Good resonance can make up the difference, and allows my sabers to be loud and clear.

[strengthofrage]

Resonance, sound holes in the hilt and at the pommel = very loud and clear. I've never had a TCSS speaker blow... CF, Hasbro, MR or otherwise. Make sure you aren't shorting on anything too... a nice safety precaution if you think your solder points might be hitting the hilt/shorting is to dab some hot glue on them. Works well and is easy to remove.

[Sairon]

Resonance, sound holes in the hilt and at the pommel = very loud and clear. I've never had a TCSS speaker blow... CF, Hasbro, MR or otherwise. Make sure you aren't shorting on anything too... a nice safety precaution if you think your solder points might be hitting the hilt/shorting is to dab some hot glue on them. Works well and is easy to remove.

Or heat shrink the connections, so that they will not touch the walls of the tubing.

[strengthofrage]

I meant the solder points on the board, speaker etc. I had a board that was quite a tight fit and a row of solder points was really close to brushing the inner wall of the hilt. Applying a layer of hot glue works in those situations.

[killphil]

There is mylar tape on both sides of the board, so it's good there.

Think I'll just turn the POT down a little more when I get my next speakers. That's the best I can think of, since I've pretty much met all the advice given in this thread before the speaker blew. Probably just it's time, I suppose. Been in operation for almost a year.

I guess one $6 speaker a year isn't too bad for saber maintenance, esp considering the fortune I would have wasted this year alone in batteries if I was still using stock MR's.

[Novastar]

I'm just using stock soundfonts from the compendium CD.98% (or possibly 100%) of the sounds on my CD are set to *never* surpass the 1dB level, and--as Jon mentions--this is essentially the standard for sound stuff.

I'm pretty sure that the sounds themselves wouldn't cause any issues... but Jon is right... distortion WILL. For certain. Shorts will too. And not the kind you wear. :)

[killphil]

Yeah, I didn't think the soundfonts were the culprit anyway. I always adjust the POT so I have a balance of the loudest and most clear sounds. About at 65%-70% or so.

You ignored my last PM, Nova. Was really hoping you could help me out with that, or at least point me in the right direction.

[Novastar]

I try never to "ignore" anyone. I told you what was up in PM. Please: don't bring up PM stuff in public.

That being said... I have a LOT on my plate right now--so be patient, or google the information. That's how I got started with the speakers.

[killphil]

Didn't know how else to get your attention, man. I PM'd you 1st but got no response, so I brought it up here where I knew you were watching. This is kinda important, so I have simply been trying to network as best as I can...

[jedimastergarcia87]

My TCSS speaker also didn't work the first time but only because it was a bad one. Is this normal to everyone to get a bad speaker the first time? My Radio Shack speaker blew on me lastnight. :/ I heard a pop sound and I knew it was the speaker. By the way, how long should the wires be from TCSS speaker to the sound board? (US 2.5). I own that sound board now and love it! :)

[Jedi-Loreen]

Dude, I don't think your speaker was bad when you got it.

With the wires on your US 2.5 stripped back way too far, your speaker wire probably shorted against LED wire, or the switch wire on the other side.

http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt310/weird_kid_syndrome_josh87/US25.jpg

I blame the wiring job, not the speaker.


Like I said in the Shoutbox, there's no set length for the speaker wires, it depends on how far the speaker is from the pads on the sound board. :rolleyes:

[Sunrider]

Check this PN out for a speaker on the bigger side. I think im gonna use this bad boy on the next project.8)

CMS0401KL-1X

[killphil]

I have long since re-purchased a couple speakers from Tim, and I have had no problems with them in the 2 months they have been in use.

I was able to source a larger 40mm speaker from Mouser for use in my V2 (it has a much larger ID than the standard MHS parts), and that one works very well. Little to no distortion, and very loud too. In fact I had to turn the POT down to about 25% just so I wouldn't wake up the whole household at night time, and so I wouldn't drown out my other sabers.

[Novastar]

Good to hear about the 28mm ones Phil.

Also... yes... 40mm speakers of decent to very nice quality will generally be ">" 28mm speakers of nice to very nice quality.

It's a smaller subset (if you will) of comparing desktop speakers to TV speakers... or "average joe" speakers to a super-pimped out "pimp my ride" car stereo setup.

In general... the larger speaker USUALLY "wins". But it's true that the relevant 411 to saber-building is:

* Firstly... can the speaker fit into the saber hilt?
* Secondly... is the speaker nice enough quality?
* Thirdly... what kind of resonance am I providing?
* Fourthly... was it "super" expensive compared to something else that is much cheaper... yet still achieves a similar result?

In the case of the MHS setups here at TCSS... I don't know any parts that will fit a 40mm. Or even a 36mm. Therefore, it makes less sense for Tim to stock any such things.

That being said--I've had some 36mm speakers that are ALMOST not as good (or simply just "equal to") the 28mm ones he has in the shop.

So... to repeat... I spent a LOT of research time finding/sourcing the 28mm ones that Tim, Erv, and (at one time at least?!?) Alex use. It doesn't mean they are unbeatable. It doesn't even mean that even IF they ARE currently unbeatable... that something down the road won't be better.

And it's also true that the price tells some of the story. Good luck at finding a speaker that is <$5 or $6 that is 28mm, 36mm, 40mm, 45mm... which is simply "awesome".