Speaker Problems - (Not Loud Enough)

[scottc14]

Hello, I am working on a project which involves speakers, and I recently purchased a about 40 speakers, with intentions of making simple 2 speaker circuits. These speakers will be implemented into a product which will market to young women with ipods or mp3 players.

The speakers are 3W 8OHM and do not sound good off of an ipod or mp3 player, which defeats the purpose of the product. I know its possible to get these speakers louder, I just don't know how. Does anyone have any help or advice, I'm interested in whatever you got.

Here is a link to the speakers: FR-05202-01: ARNDT ELECTRONICS: Electromechanical
I basically wired them together and to a stereo plug.

Thanks.

 

[MikeMl]

The audio amplifier inside an IPOD or MP3 player is not designed to drive 4 or 8 Ohm headphones or speakers. Rather, the earbuds or headphones that come with those devices usually have an impedance of 35 to 50 Ohms. You will have to add a stereo IC amplifier with a voltage gain of about 2 to 5, capable of driving 8 Ohms. Lots of folks here will tell you what to do...

How come your product is sexist?

 

[scottc14]

I'm not sure how to exactly add a stereo IC amplifier, or where to find such a thing. Would you or anyone else be willing in help with such a thing?
Or should I return the speakers and buy ones with a higher OHM (even though I have done some soldering to the connectors already)?

My product mainly targets women, but may also be used on men. I'm building what I call the "Party Pocket" which will be a vinyl flap with speakers and a pouch for your ipod, and this product will have clips so it will clip onto the outside of your purse. Men may clip it to their belt, or athletic shorts.

Thanks.

 

[MikeMl]

**broken link removed** is a place to start. National Semiconductor makes dozens of suitable chips. So does Fairchild, and **broken link removed**

Oh, and on your idea of simply raising the speaker impedance; here is the reality. The IPOD or MP3 uses a 3V battery. If the audio amp puts out a perfect 3V peak-to-peak sine wave, that is only 3/2.828 ~= 1Vrms. If you feed that to a 32Ω speaker, that makes the power output = 1^2/32 = 31mW, hardly loud enough.

You will need at least 1/2 W of audio. If you start with a 8Ω speaker, the voltage across the speaker needs to be computed from this equation: P = E^2/R or E = √(P*R) = √ (0.5*8) = √(4) = 2Vrms.

Now 2Vrms is ~6Vp-p, meaning you will have to start with a 6V battery, and an IC amplifier capable of driving 1/2W into an 8 Ω speaker.

 

[scottc14]

I was looking online where I purchased the speakers and found these: RF-608E: JAMECO VALUEPRO: Electromechanical

If I were to return the speakers for these and hook them up to a male stereo plug, would they sound good of an ipod?

 

[MikeMl]

I was looking online where I purchased the speakers and found these: RF-608E: JAMECO VALUEPRO: Electromechanical

If I were to return the speakers for these and hook them up to a male stereo plug, would they sound good of an ipod?

They would not cause distortion like a 4Ω or 8Ω speaker would, but the level would be so low that you could just barely hear the sound in a very quiet room. You need a separate battery pack and amplifier as described in my previous post.

 

[scottc14]

Is there a more simpler way to explain your previous post for someone who is not completely familiar with electronics?

 

[MikeMl]

Scott, to be quite blunt, I suggest that you should have checked the reality, done a real design, build a bread board, evaluated its performance, computed parts costs and construction costs, done some basic market research, found parts suppliers, found an assembly house, written a business plan, before thinking you have a product to sell.

 

[scottc14]

I have written a business plan, I just was not expecting so much electrical components involved. My original plan was just the simple speaker circuit I have now. Would I be best getting an 8OHM amplifier with the speakers I currently have, or should I return my speakers for the other ones and get an amplifier for them? From your earlier post, I am comprehending that I need a 6V battery and a .5W amplifier that will drive into 8OHM speakers.

 

[canadaelk]

If you wrote a business plan you left out the part about start-up costs. Lack-of-research did you in. What is the name of the game you can go back to square one? I know it is not chess or business. E

 

[scottc14]

I did not post this to hear about your opinions, I posted this thread in need of help.

 

[canadaelk]

Mea culpa, mea culpa maxima!
There I thougt I was helpfull. If you post, expect to get opinions, not back-stroking (Bauchgeklatschen). E

 

[mneary]

Some examples of products that you might import and market: **broken link removed**

If that's not what you want to sell, go to dealextreme and search 'ipod speaker'.

 

[audioguru]

The very poor quality speakers are much too small which explains their cheap cost. Therefore they produce no bass sounds and no high audio sounds so will sound awful if they are driven from a real power amplifier.

 

[transistor495]

Okey..so this product is mainly intended for women but also suitable for men too...

Scott, what you are talking about is an iPod speakers that are tons available already in the market with varying range of quality.

Cheaply you can make it with a pair of just 1W speakers and a TDA2822 as audio amplifier. Just leave 4 x 1.5V AA battery slots so that users can insert their own rechargeable batteries. You may sell for unit price something 10USD