2 Way Orb Speaker

thingiverse

I've always been fascinated by creating a speaker in the shape of an orb or sphere. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly skilled at woodwork and lacked the necessary equipment to bring this idea to life until I acquired my 3D printer. Since then, I've been tinkering with various designs, experimenting with different prints, and refining my skills. A few weeks ago, I upgraded from my Cocoon Create 3D to a Cocoon Create 3D Touch (Wanhao Duplicator i3 Plus), which allowed me to revisit this project with renewed enthusiasm. I scrapped all previous designs and started from scratch, resulting in the orb speaker you see here today. While there's still room for improvement, I'm pleased with how it turned out. Keep in mind that this speaker is not designed for top-notch sound quality; its primary focus is aesthetics. So, don't expect to be blown away by crystal-clear audio – but it does produce a decent sound that's perfect for casual listening. In fact, I've already begun designing an "orb amplifier" to complement my orb speaker. The base orb houses a standard 4-inch speaker (woofer), which I sourced from Jaycar Electronics in Australia. You can use any 4-inch speaker you have on hand or find at your local electronics store. The tweeter is a compact 2-inch unit that I ordered online, as I couldn't find one small enough within my budget in Australia. For now, the crossover circuit consists of a simple 6.8uF capacitor placed alongside the tweeter – there's definitely room for improvement, but it gets the job done. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this orb speaker and encourage you to share photos if you decide to print one yourself! Update: I've uploaded v2 of the stand and arm, featuring minor tweaks that should help reduce sagging in the tweeter orb. Update update: the orb amp is now available as a separate download, making it easy to connect your iPod or other device with a headphone jack to enjoy immersive audio experiences.