PBP Speaker Replacement

[vfr400racer]

On the IRC, there was a discussion today, about the speakers being out of phase. Maybe this is the reason why the PBP sounds so badly, Maybe @Luke   can check, if this is the case for a few devices only, or if all the PBP's are affected. A schematic drawing would be nice, so one can check if the speakers are connected the correct way.

[zaius]

On the IRC, there was a discussion today, about the speakers being out of phase. Maybe this is the reason why the PBP sounds so badly, Maybe @Luke   can check, if this is the case for a few devices only, or if all the PBP's are affected. A schematic drawing would be nice, so one can check if the speakers are connected the correct way.

There is a schematic on the Wiki.  The speakers should have wire colors or markings indicating polarity.  If they don't, you can test disconnected speakers by connecting one conductor to one terminal of a low voltage (eg. 1.5 V) battery, then quickly tapping the other conductor against the other battery terminal and seeing which direction the speaker moves.  Do not run DC through the speaker. Just give it a quick pulse.

[crocky]

I have found better!

https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en...D/5958415/

http://www.puiaudio.com/pdf/AS01808AO-WP-R.pdf




Review:

A bit thinner and smaller than stock speakers, less than 3 X 13 X 18 mm (stock 3 X 20 X 30 mm), these PUI Audio speakers (model AS01808AO-WP-R) represent a great improvement upon stock ones, and a marginally good improvement compared to my previous test, especially regarding bass sound. Then, there are no miracles. Good quality headphones are still much better. Another good point for the PUI's: they are a bit louder than the others. Finally, distortion will happen if you crank volume over 100%. Speakers from the first test were not as prone to distort sound, but then, there was less bass to begin with.

Fitting:

Applying double sided tape to the front contour of each speaker (pic 1), I was able to glue them directly over the mesh/grill areas on the bottom cover. I've then soldered (-) and (+) on both side (pic 2), before covering with electrical tape (pic 3). The finishing touch was to apply some thin foam layers with double sided tape just over each speaker to act as dampers inside the housing sandwich (pic 4).

That's about it.

Conclusion:

Sound challenges on the PBP, among others, are closely related to the choice of housing. Mac Book Air ultra thin housing style forbids from using better thicker fuller speakers, and/or other hardware. This makes other things difficult, like adequately fastening the bottom cover without breaking everything. Being already invested in the process of PBP hardware betterment, I'll next look for a way of designing and fitting some other better housing, tinkerer style. I have a few ideas in mind. I will come back with another thread once I have something to show you. Like minded spirits are welcome to PM me and/or post on the forum, so we can share solutions. Access to a large size 3D printer may help too.

Someone says the video is not available in Australia because of some copyright material from SME?

[clover]

For those wondering about the foam this looks like a good foam:
https://www.amazon.com/Sonic-Barrier-Lig...553&sr=8-5

[clover]

Just did this mod with the second speakers you posted about. I am getting distortion with anything over 53%, but these speakers are thumping way more than stock. Thanks!

[Natrox]

I did this mod today but the speakers are really quiet. Not sure what I did wrong.

[Natrox]

It appears my speakers are marked 0.1W, but the part number is correct. Not sure what went wrong.

[clover]

It appears my speakers are marked 0.1W, but the part number is correct. Not sure what went wrong.

Sorry to hear they are low, what operating system are you using?

heard that you had possible shorting issues. after I soldered the new wire to the old speaker wire, i coated the solder point with super glue to avoid any possible shorts caused by the exposed metal.

Also I used the sound dampening material I posted in an Amazon link above in this thread. It worked really well! the glue on one end meant i didnt need to do any of my own taping.

I've made some photos from my mod available here
https://droppy.ironrobin.net/#/Photos/SpeakerMod/

[Natrox]

It appears my speakers are marked 0.1W, but the part number is correct. Not sure what went wrong.

Sorry to hear they are low, what operating system are you using?

heard that you had possible shorting issues. after I soldered the new wire to the old speaker wire, i coated the solder point with super glue to avoid any possible shorts caused by the exposed metal.

Also I used the sound dampening material I posted in an Amazon link above in this thread. It worked really well! the glue on one end meant i didnt need to do any of my own taping.

I've made some photos from my mod available here
https://droppy.ironrobin.net/#/Photos/SpeakerMod/

I'm on Manjaro, but I've seen the same issue on stock Debian. The short seems to be solved. I tried boosting the levels but it just distorted things.

Did your speakers also say 0.1W?

Edit:
Heh, it actually is louder in Debian.

Edit2:
Fixed it! Turns out alsamixer was set to -48dB. Why? Only Q knows.

[9072997]

Just my personal experience, but I put one of these (https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en...D/5958415/) in as the right speaker and left the original in as the left, then played a file that alternated between the left and right channels. The new speaker was quieter. I think my next step is going to be to try to squeeze an amp in there to support higher wattage speakers.