3D printing is becoming more popular, affordable and capable. This is exciting news for the DIY crowd - it promises to make advanced speaker and subwoofer building much easier. There are some DIY speaker builders who have talent that is undeniable, but most people don't have the tools or the skills required to create enclosures that compete with high-end commercial offerings. 3D printing promises to change that by eliminating the need for woodworking skills. The potential exists to create radical designs in terms of how the interior cavity is engineered, incorporating ports and bracing that would be difficult or impossible to create with traditional methods.
After doing a bit of digging, I found some interesting examples of how 3D printing is already empowering DIY speaker and subwoofer designers. 2014 is going to be the year of the first-ever 3D printed house. Imagine the possibilities that presents a DIY home theater buff. For now, let's look at what's already possible:
Dodecahedron speakers are a popular 3D printed DIY speaker project
Check out this gorgeous bookshelf/desktop speaker enclosure that was created by some good folks over at AutoCAD.. The entire enclosure - including openings for the drivers and details like screw holes - was 3D printed in one shot.
I found this enigmatic slo-mo video on YouTube - It claims to be a rotary subwoofer built primarily with 3D printed parts. Unfortunately there is no link to a build thread or any other information
The 'Sway' portable speaker is based on a housing constructed of 3D printed parts
Here we see an interview with a systems engineer at Harman International about 3D printing and product development. There is a lot of promise for DIY folks interested in experimental waveguide designs.
ZDnet discusses 3D printing in general
Edited by imagic - 1/25/13 at 5:51am
After doing a bit of digging, I found some interesting examples of how 3D printing is already empowering DIY speaker and subwoofer designers. 2014 is going to be the year of the first-ever 3D printed house. Imagine the possibilities that presents a DIY home theater buff. For now, let's look at what's already possible:
Dodecahedron speakers are a popular 3D printed DIY speaker project
Quote:
At normal listening distances, an array of twelve speakers arranged on the faces of a dodecahedron is a very good approximation of a point sound source, and the sound waves it produces are very close to perfectly spherical.
http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Dodecahedron-Speaker-for-Desktop-Printers/
http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Dodecahedron-Speaker-for-Desktop-Printers/
Check out this gorgeous bookshelf/desktop speaker enclosure that was created by some good folks over at AutoCAD.. The entire enclosure - including openings for the drivers and details like screw holes - was 3D printed in one shot.
Quote:
. The speaker enclosure is a combination of flexible and rigid material, printed simultaneously, so no assembly was required. All that had to be done was to install the actual speaker drivers themselves into the enclosure. The result was a high performance speaker with great acoustical properties.
http://labs.blogs.com/its_alive_in_the_lab/2012/10/3d-printed-speaker-made-at-the-office.html
http://labs.blogs.com/its_alive_in_the_lab/2012/10/3d-printed-speaker-made-at-the-office.html
I found this enigmatic slo-mo video on YouTube - It claims to be a rotary subwoofer built primarily with 3D printed parts. Unfortunately there is no link to a build thread or any other information
Quote:
Rotary subwoofer, 16.5" (420mm), created primarily with my 3D-printer. Recorded at 480 fps. It will start 'woofing' at around sec. 15 at about 22Hz.
You can see the door to the garage (in which it was fitted and which was fixated) moving as a result.
You can see the door to the garage (in which it was fitted and which was fixated) moving as a result.
The 'Sway' portable speaker is based on a housing constructed of 3D printed parts
Quote:
Sway is designed so the user can customise parts to reflect their own personal style. The speaker grills have changeable designs, along with a silk layer that adds a splash of colour and protects the electronics. Being able to influence the look of the music player helps build a stronger attachment to the device and encourages people to think of electronics as something to be treasured.
http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/move_over_jambox_vintage_via_3d_printer_in_sway_portable_speaker_22759.asp
http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/move_over_jambox_vintage_via_3d_printer_in_sway_portable_speaker_22759.asp
Here we see an interview with a systems engineer at Harman International about 3D printing and product development. There is a lot of promise for DIY folks interested in experimental waveguide designs.
Quote:
Robert Scoble interviews Charles Sprinkle, a systems engineer at Harman, a maker of audio equipment. Sprinkle uses Arduino and 3D printing in the design, testing and improvement of new speakers at Harman.
ZDnet discusses 3D printing in general
Quote:
It paves the way for prototypes to be designed more efficiently and the cost of adoption is falling, but for 3D printing to reach mainstream adoption, its use must first be simplified for the non-technically savvy
http://www.zdnet.com/3d-printing-heads-toward-mainstream-7000010176/
http://www.zdnet.com/3d-printing-heads-toward-mainstream-7000010176/
Edited by imagic - 1/25/13 at 5:51am
