Solved Mounting speakers

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Hi all,

Unclear if this should be here or in a more general console modding area - wondering about advice for mounting speakers inside a case to prevent buzzing? My speakers are relatively large, and tend to have some pretty intense shaking when hitting against anything. Would anyone recommend rubber rings mounting between the speakers and the vents they will be pressed against (maybe gluing the speakers to the rubber and then the rubber to the vents and having that be the securing)? Just mount them straight on with some crazy glue? Have something behind the speakers, mount the speakers to that, and not have the speakers touch the vents sound will be coming out of at all?

Much appreciated!!!
 

Shank

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No pictures so I can only make guesses. Make sure the buzzing isn't the speaker diaphragm smashing into the case. If you can't screw it down firmly enough to keep it from vibrating, having a rubber or foam pad between the speaker frame and the case could help. While its best to avoid glue whenever possible, maybe using a bulkier, softer glue like high temperature hot glue could work.

I'd recommend using the biggest speakers you can fit in your case, as long as they match the impedance (like 4 ohms or 8 ohms) of your amp. Bigger speakers move more air, so it can be louder, clearer, and have better low end. Theres no replacement for displacement, as they say. Unfortunately, most of us (myself included) are usually pressed for space and use tiny speakers.
 
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Not a great photo (not near the project at the moment), 5 inch screen for scale.

They're pretty big!! I'm afraid I'm not sure how I will apply pressure from the back for these speakers, there's not a convenient way to screw these guys into a case, and thing gluing them from the front may be the only option. It does not look like the diaphragms hit the case, it would be nice to give them a little room just in case.

In terms of rubber, I could make do with some old rubber bands? Those get crusty over time however, and I don't want to be opening this thing up later to be replacing rubber chips. I'm considering literally just epoxying the speakers to the side of the case (epoxy on the side of the speaker, and leaving room between the speaker front and the case). Maybe I'll do this??
 

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pipbug

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Not a great photo (not near the project at the moment), 5 inch screen for scale.

They're pretty big!! I'm afraid I'm not sure how I will apply pressure from the back for these speakers, there's not a convenient way to screw these guys into a case, and thing gluing them from the front may be the only option. It does not look like the diaphragms hit the case, it would be nice to give them a little room just in case.

In terms of rubber, I could make do with some old rubber bands? Those get crusty over time however, and I don't want to be opening this thing up later to be replacing rubber chips. I'm considering literally just epoxying the speakers to the side of the case (epoxy on the side of the speaker, and leaving room between the speaker front and the case). Maybe I'll do this??
Personally I'd get smaller speakers but there's no right or wrong when doing stuff like this (if it works, it works) Do what feels best for YOU :)
 

Shank

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Those are huge. If you can fit em, your portable should sound great, assuming they are good. However, I agree with @fluiddaudio that they are a little overkill.

Unlike most larger speakers, there isn't really much on the speaker basket to mount it with, but you may be able to glue it in place using high temperature hot glue around the ring on the front. You are gonna have to get creative with this one if you want to mount it using the magnet or back plate. What does the the case you are trying to mount it in look like?
 

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Stitches

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I used speakers from an iluv sports that look exactly like those. Epoxying them straight onto the case worked fine and I had no buzzing issues from that. What does cause buzzing is signal interference and degradation. Generally speaking, signal carrying wires like speaker and video wires should be shielded and as short as possible. If the wires going to your amp/speakers are too close to another wire carrying power, the power wire will cause interference and buzzing. If you have access to any first party Nintendo cables you can chop, I would suggest replacing all the audio wires going to the amp and speakers with the shielded wire from the Nintendo cables. If that doesn't stop it, the problem could be the amp itself, or the console's internal pre-amp playing up.

Also with speakers like that, you don't need to touch or anchor the back. That won't affect sound quality at all for ones this small unless you want to squeeze out that last little bit of echo-y bass.
 

pipbug

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I used speakers from an iluv sports that look exactly like those. Epoxying them straight onto the case worked fine and I had no buzzing issues from that. What does cause buzzing is signal interference and degradation. Generally speaking, signal carrying wires like speaker and video wires should be shielded and as short as possible. If the wires going to your amp/speakers are too close to another wire carrying power, the power wire will cause interference and buzzing. If you have access to any first party Nintendo cables you can chop, I would suggest replacing all the audio wires going to the amp and speakers with the shielded wire from the Nintendo cables. If that doesn't stop it, the problem could be the amp itself, or the console's internal pre-amp playing up.

Also with speakers like that, you don't need to touch or anchor the back. That won't affect sound quality at all for ones this small unless you want to squeeze out that last little bit of echo-y bass.
Sure but using that speaker size for such a minor increase in sound quality isn't worth it in this application imho. Pretty sure people use a headphone jack + small speaker config when they want the best of both worlds...just more practical really
 

Fiskers1208

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I used speakers from an iluv sports that look exactly like those. Epoxying them straight onto the case worked fine and I had no buzzing issues from that. What does cause buzzing is signal interference and degradation. Generally speaking, signal carrying wires like speaker and video wires should be shielded and as short as possible. If the wires going to your amp/speakers are too close to another wire carrying power, the power wire will cause interference and buzzing. If you have access to any first party Nintendo cables you can chop, I would suggest replacing all the audio wires going to the amp and speakers with the shielded wire from the Nintendo cables. If that doesn't stop it, the problem could be the amp itself, or the console's internal pre-amp playing up.

Also with speakers like that, you don't need to touch or anchor the back. That won't affect sound quality at all for ones this small unless you want to squeeze out that last little bit of echo-y bass.
Noah told me that using an iluv speaker is not recommended. Is there anything wrong with it?
 

Cid

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I would suggest using a PAM8403 amplifier with two 8ohm speakers, like GameBoy family speakers or even DS Lite or 3DS speakers. They are tiny, slim, and they sound great. The amplifier can also get pretty loud and is tiny too.
 

Cid

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Exactly like me for my NES portable! :D
Forgot to mention : these speakers and amplifiers are really inexpensive too in lots.
 
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