HOWTO make a speaker out of a magnet, a cup, legos and wire

Posted by Cory Doctorow, November 8, 2007 11:54 PM | permalink

This homebrew speaker was hacked together from some legos, wire, magnets and a plastic cup -- according to the build-log, it "performs very well"!

I didn't expect a high quality of the sound from this made-from-scratch speaker but it performs very well, better than I expected.
A speaker is just a magnet, a coil, frame and a cone or any material that can make the air vibrate. Here is the bill of materials that I used to build this speaker:
# List of materials 1 Magnet (neodymium magnet works great)
# 1 Business card
# Wire 32 or 34 AWG (you may use 30AWG)
# Paper bond
# Tape
# Glue
# Scissors
# Ballpoint pen
# Lego bricks or wood.
# Ruler.

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Discussion

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#1 posted by Alchemist_J , November 9, 2007 6:34 AM

Superb idea, but for the love of god its LEGO, not LEGOS. Sorry for some reason that just really bugs me.

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#2 posted by george57l , November 9, 2007 7:11 AM

I am very disappointed that I was not the first one to say it is not legos it is Lego!

Xeni and Mark (and probably David - my memory is faulty) have been corrected on this in the past - this is Cory's first offence as far as I know.

Just stop it! Always Lego (with a capital L) and NEVER legos or Legos. Can't BB be fitted with a "seek and destroy" filter for any uses of 'legos'?

:-)

"The Lego pedant"

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#3 posted by leo , November 9, 2007 7:20 AM

I think Cory should have known.

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#4 posted by Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

, November 9, 2007 7:35 AM

I think I should have a pony.

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#5 posted by historyman68 , November 9, 2007 11:20 AM

actually, they must have changed it since then. Now it merely says:

"You are probably looking for
www.LEGO.com – the official website
for LEGO bricks and toys – you are
now being redirected

If you have not been redirected
please click here"

and the "click here" redirects to lego.com too.

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#6 posted by george57l , November 9, 2007 11:49 AM

(I looked at that link to what the Lego lawyer said. What is a "lecutre"?) :-)

Is Meccano much seen in the USA? Or is it a curiously European thing?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meccano

Because nobody EVER said "made from Meccanos" - it is "made from Meccano". Same deal.

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#7 posted by flickersticks , November 9, 2007 11:51 AM

This looks like fun! if you want to make a speaker to play a vinyl record (a crappy one that you don't mind scartching up) you can hold a plastic cup with a regular needle or pin stuck through the bottom gently on the record as it spins on a turntable.

its simple in principle, but a great party trick!

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#8 posted by dculberson , November 11, 2007 1:45 PM

Leo, I think Cory's point in that post is that he does know and doesn't care. I agree. What's the big deal?

It's like people complaining that Beemer refers to a BMW motorcycle and Bimmer refers to a BMW car. My reaction is: does anyone actually care? But to be more accurate, I might say "Nobody should care."