Average-to-good sound, little bass, would use to watch movies and listen to music if no other choice
7/10
Replacement went well, except for 1 thing: new speakers were about 2mm thicker than old ones. I had to move them farther from the sides a little, removing sidewalls in the process. I can confirm that while the BPB material feels like metal, it's plated over some plastic core. 2 sided tape was used to fix them in place. See attachments for replacement process pics.
In the process, I had to open the PBP for the 4th time. I'm afraid this isn't PBP friendly. Will have to imagine some bottom panel replacement hack soon. Would be nice to have a more thinkerer friendly choice shell design for next PBP iterations, even at the price of a thicker laptop. What should matter most is rigidity, stiffness and weight. Not trying to copy Mac Book laptop designs, which are, by the way, computers made for never being opened.
This is an interesting post. How well do the speakers fit into the PBP case - I can' really tell from the picture. To make it more specific - I am curious about the height of the speakers. Thanks!
01-16-2020, 04:53 PM (This post was last modified: 01-16-2020, 04:56 PM by 8jef.)
(01-16-2020, 04:41 PM)Luke Wrote: This is an interesting post. How well do the speakers fit into the PBP case - I can' really tell from the picture. To make it more specific - I am curious about the height of the speakers. Thanks!
I've just edited my post to explain that. I neglected making a last inside pic of the mod, as I was distracted by some other things at the end. So I had to remove the side of the speaker sitting base, because new speakers were 2 mm thicker than old ones. Moving them about 3 mm closer to the PBP center was enough. The I used double sided tape for retention.
While I have not modified the shell speaker "grill", and some part of the speakers are not exposed the perforations, this does not affect sound levels, which are acceptable.
For my next test, I'll use some thinner and larger (maybe 3 to 4 cm) round or oval speakers, which should work well.
1 W, 8 Ohms, full spectrum, 3 mm thin, 13 X 18 mm (should fit like gloves - regular PBP are 20 X 30 mm), solder pads, waterproof (not that we should care), and 94 DB !! (wow)
1 W, 8 Ohms, full spectrum, 3 mm thin, 13 X 18 mm (should fit like gloves - regular PBP are 20 X 30 mm), solder pads, waterproof (not that we should care), and 94 DB !! (wow)
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.
01-20-2020, 12:38 PM (This post was last modified: 01-20-2020, 12:39 PM by Arwen.
Edit Reason: Fixed mis-spelling
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@8jef or @Luke, do either of you know the wattage and Ohms of the existing speakers?
Also, @Luke, could we get a datasheet for the existing speakers, to put on the Wiki?
Even if we can't get a datasheet, verification of the specifications would be helpful. For exactly this reason, replacement / modifications. I added the dimensions and that they are oval, but everything we can get, makes future work easier.
(01-20-2020, 01:00 PM)Luke Wrote: I'll try to get the datasheet for the speakers and upload it to Wiki . I'll notify you guys when / if I get the sheet on here.
Thanks
Although what help answer these sort of questions, and many other issues, is a Bill of Materials.
