How to Make Your Own Speakers

Building a Basic Speaker

Find copper wire, packing tape, and a strong magnet. While there is a lot of calibrating that goes into high end speakers, the basic technology is actually pretty simple. An electrical current is run through a wire that is attached to a magnet. This current makes the magnet vibrate, and those vibrations are picked up by our ears as sound. To hear the sound well you should also get a small plastic tupperware or cup. This will amplify the sound much like yelling into a cone amplifies your voice.

Wrap the copper wire around the magnet several times to make a coil. You want to wrap the wire 6-7 times starting from the middle. Make sure you leave several feet of wire unwrapped on either side of the magnet. Tape this coil onto the bottom of your tupperware, but without the magnet.

Use a bottlecap or other round object to make another, larger coil. Using both ends of the leftover copper wire, make an even large coil and tape this on top of the smaller one. Like before, you will leave roughly a foot of leftover wire on each side of the coil -- this is how you will attach your "speaker" to your music source.

Place the magnet on top of the two coils. You want it to sit comfortable within both coils, but don't worry too much about touching every inch of wire.

Attach both copper wires to a music source. The most common attachment is an 1/8th inch cable or "Auxiliary" cord (the input on most headphones). Wrap one end of the wire around the top of the metal input and the other around the bottom. Gator clips, which are small clamps that transmit electricity, can make attaching your copper wire to a music source easier.

Tinker with your speakers to get better sound. Try using a stronger magnet, keeping your coils tighter, using different "amplifiers," and playing different music sources at different volumes.

Building High-End Speakers

Understand the components of a speaker. While the basics of speaker technology have not really changed since 1924, audio technicians have been perfecting the design, electronics, and sound of speakers ever since. That said, all speakers contain a few basic components: Driver: Transforms an electrical signal into sound. Drivers come in many shapes and sizes, but all share the same function -- they make noise. Many speakers have multiple drivers to handle many frequencies. For example, "woofers" are large drivers that work well for low-frequency sounds like bass, while "tweeters" handle high frequencies. Crossovers: These small relays take complex electrical signals and break them up into smaller parts to send to different drivers, isolating bass, treble, and mid-range frequencies. Cabinet: This is the shell of a speaker where the electronics are housed. In order to eliminate noisy "resonance" or to get greater volume they are produced in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials.

Buy a speaker kit. While you can certainly buy all of the parts separately, it is incredibly difficult to build good speakers without years of studying the principles of sound and electricity. However, the budding DIY speaker enthusiast has another option -- buying pre-designed speaker kits with drivers, crossovers, and cabinets included. When searching for a good speaker kit, you should consider: Is the cabinet included? Many speaker kits only contain blueprints for the cabinet -- you will have to buy, cut, and fasten the wood together yourself. Is the crossover pre-connected? Depending on your comfort level with electronics, you may want to purchase a kit where the crossover is already assembled, or you can attach and solder the pieces yourself. How high-quality to you want your sound? Most audio professionals consult the Loudspeaker Design Cookbook or LDSB, for advice on choosing drivers and crossovers, and you can expect to pay more for better quality components. How powerful, or loud, do your speakers need to be. In general, this is determined by the size of you drivers.

Solder the crossover together following the provided crossover pattern. You will need a soldering iron, hot glue, and a pattern to make sure your crossover works correctly. All speaker kits come with a chart illustrating how to attach everything, and sample patterns can be found with a quick internet search if you are working from scratch. This prevents your speakers from shorting or burning out. Make sure you completely understand how to read wiring diagrams before continuing. Once your parts are attached, secure them to a small board with a hot glue gun or zip ties. Finish by attaching your crossover cables to the drivers with speaker wire.

Cut, stain, and assemble your cabinet according to your blueprint. If your cabinet is not provided for you, you will need to buy the wood and cut it to fit your drivers. Most speakers are rectangular, but talented carpenters can play with other shapes, from polygons to spheres, to get better sound. While all cabinets are different, there are a few guiding principles to their design: Use material that is at least 1.5" thick. Always measure your wood so that it fits together perfectly -- any sound that leaks out of the speakers will greatly diminish their quality. Fit the speakers together before adhering them. Wood glue is the preferred adhesive, but you can also use a drill and screws or biscuit clips as well. The paint or stain you chose for your cabinet will not affect the sound, but decorate your cabinet before installing components to protect your electronics. Be sure you are comfortable with carpentry equipment before building original speaker cabinets.

Install your drivers and crossover. If you followed your blueprints correctly the drivers should fit snugly into the holes you cut on the front of the cabinet. Adhere the crossover board to the cabinet so that the cables to the driver are not stretched or stressed. The drivers are usually screwed into a plastic molding on the outside of the cabinet. Use wood glue or adhesive to securely fasten the crossover to the cabinet.

Fill the rest of your speaker with "acoustic stuffing." This specially designed fabric is meant to dampen sound inside the speaker so that you don't hear weird vibrations or echos. While not necessary, it can help the sound considerably.