Friday, March 6, 2015

Wizarding World Inspired Steampunk Speakers!


 The Inspiration:

 


The Challenge:

 



The End Result:

 

 When it came time to re-install our surround sound in the new steampunk room, John and I brainstormed how to make our plain black wall speakers more in-theme. Then we spotted those fantastic metal cone speakers over in Diagon Alley at Universal. SO GOOD. The long pointy end wasn't practical, but a flared metal cone with a fabric screen? Heck yeah!

So then we just had to figure out how to do it.

John was the one who found the solution, and it's almost laughably simple. I bet some of you have already figured it out:


See it?



Yep, those are $2 plastic flower pots.

Here, I'll walk you through the process:

 
Remove speakers from housing.


 
Cut a small slit in the back of each pot and push through the metal tab of the original wire connectors (the red and black things). Also drill two holes - one on either side - for the long side screws that will come later.


 
 Trace & cut round interior braces from thin wood. Rout the outside edges to give them a bevel. (This will help them sit snugly inside the plastic pots, so there's no gap around the edge.)

 
Paint wooden braces & screw heads black.


Attach speakers to braces using the four corner screws...

... and secure with nuts on the back side.

The finished interior. 

(The two large side screws are long enough to reach through the back of the pot where we drilled those holes, and will hold everything in place once secured with more nuts.)

 
Paint everything gold/brass. (Shiiiiiny....)


 
Attach the original speakers' wall hardware to the backside of the flower pots.
 (Don't they already look cool?!)

Attach speaker wires to the connectors you pushed through the back of the pots earlier. (They just plug in, nothing scary.)

Carefully set each speaker in place in the pots, making sure to get it level on all sides. (It will want to slip and go in wonky.) Once it's level, stick the long side screws all the way through the back of the pot, and secure with nuts:


Now it'll look like this:
 
And all that's left is the decorative screen!

Cut round hoops out of more thin wood, and use hot glue to stretch fabric around them:

We found this fantastic brown linen over at JoAnn's, which looks just like antique speaker cloth.

Print decorative emblems on card stock, cut out with a craft blade, and spray paint those gold, too:

Attach the emblems to your fabric with spray adhesive.

(That emblem is actually a stylized W, btw, for the Wizarding Wireless Network. Those of you with an eagle eye and too much time on your hands may spot a few other examples of it around the parks:
 


That one's in a relatively hard-to-notice spot, so 10 points to anyone who knows where I found it. (It's like a giant light bulb behind a radio facade, and I am mildly obsessed with it.)

Lessee... where was I? 

Ah! And finally, stick the fabric screens to your speaker interiors with a couple of tiny glue dots or Velcro.

Now you can install your new speakers as you would any others, using the quick connectors on the backs to attach your speaker wires. Easy peasy!

Since they hang in the top corners of the room, it's actually pretty hard to see the sides of our new speakers - mostly you only see them face on, like this:


Even so, I am completely in love with them. I love that they're round (circles beat squares ANY day),  I love the added level of steampunky detail for the room, and I love how the emblems gleam in the light:


Plus they're super nerdy! SCORE.

And since I'm sure you audiophiles are curious: they sound great! John was concerned that they might be a little more tinny than before, but it's possible that's more the fault of the new wood floors and all the hard surfaces in the room than the speakers themselves.

Now to figure out how to camouflage the sub-woofer. :D

(Oh! And John's scratch-built, rivet-licious TV cabinet is done, too, so stay tuned for the finished reveal on that, probably some time next week!)


*****

Come see ALL of my craft projects on one page, right here!

34 comments:

  1. I was just about to do a very similar project but have been hesitating over sound quality concerns - so I am glad to hear that you haven't noticed a huge problem with the change in the housing!

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  2. Love that you got to pull in a little Harry Potter into your steampunk room.

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  3. So you think wooden embroidery hoops would work instead of having to cut circles?

    Just a thought. :)

    And every time I see a project of yours u winner why you don't have a Cricut it Silhouette.

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    1. Embroiderers represent, @Julie, that was the first thing I thought of too! Would have to be careful about getting hoops and flower pots the same size, although I guess how far the hoops go into the pot is a bit adjustable.

      Kimstu

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    2. I agree with Kimstu; it'd be tricky finding the right size hoop, but if you did, it'd totally work! And it's never really occured to me to get a Cricut, since I don't do do *that* many papercrafts... and they're so expensive. :)

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    3. Cricuts go beyond paper. You can cut fabric, vinyl, wood veneer, thin cork, thin craft foam...You could have had the Cricut Explore Air cut out the logo for you and have as many as you need! You can create your own stencils and masks for painting. Do your own wall words with vinyl. Create your own tee shirts with the iron on transfers or use fabric and wonder under to make appliques! Really, I don't work for Cricut, i just have had one since the beginning and cant wait for the new version to come out! If you need more of a sales pitch or want some pointers, just let me know!

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  4. U winner = I wonder

    Darn phone

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  5. Always with the glowy Songbird eye, huh? ;-)

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    Replies
    1. ALWAYS. (Thought that one wasn't intentional. Ha! Spooooky.)

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  6. ohoh, do the subwoofer like a mini old school radio like the one in your pic?

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    1. That's what I was going to suggest, too. Something like this, perhaps? http://steampunkworkshop.com/nathans-guitar-amp/

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    2. that looks great! something like that yeah, depends on how big it is though

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    3. Okay, so no idea why the spacing in my comment is like that. Odd....

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    4. You read my mind! I bet just a front facade like the light-bulb radio would be pretty easy to do!

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  7. I will search for that light bulb/radio when I am at Universal in 12 days....any tips????

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    1. It's in one of the Harry Potter areas. ;) [ducks to avoid thrown tomatoes]

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  8. Fabulous idea! Clever and cool. Subwoofer tip: the husband, back in the day, just made a basic wooden box for his subwoofer in the trunk of his 1955 Olds for the sound system he installed in there, which he then painted & covered with fabric (which I had embroidered the old Olds rocket emblem on for him). Sounded great - in fact, too loud for me! You should be able to construct almost anything that will work out of wood with the skills you two have - too bad you haven't run across anymore antique radio cabinets. That would be great for a larger subwoofer, with the right sound quality, but probably pricier than you want....

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  9. I want to re-do my entire house so I can steampunk something. Gorgeous.

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  10. I wish you'd had this up a few weeks ago! We just installed some in-the-wall speakers, but this would have been way cooler.

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  11. Is there anything that you guys can't do? :D Seriously, these are so cool. Loving the new room!

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  12. These look great! Nice job, and I can't wait to see the room all finished!

    Another one of my favorite DIY blogs JennaSueDesign.com/blog, made a very nice subwoofer cover box out of wood. All done it resembled a rustic crate, with slatted sides so the sound and vibrations could still pass through, but the ugly subwoofer was completely camouflaged inside. Below is the link to her simple tutorial, which could easily be steampunkified (totally legit word) to your liking with metal bracers and/or rivets. Enjoy!

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    1. Here is the link: http://jennasuedesign.blogspot.com/2014/10/diy-wood-side-table-subwoofer-enclosure.html?m=1

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    2. Oooh, what a great idea! You could even turn it into an old shipping crate with a sci-fi packing label, like Blue Sun from Firefly?

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  13. My dyslexia made 'speakers' look like 'sneakers'. Still, a very cool project!

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  14. Would you be willing/able to repurpose your vintage radio cabinet for the sub-woofer? Just a thought...

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    1. Far too big for the room, but I'm thinking antique radio IS the way to go!

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  15. Is John available for hire? My John is not handy at all, bless his little cotton socks, so I could really do with some help around the house. We live in Upstate NY, so you could come and stay for some R&R too. I use the term "R&R" loosely, because with four bouncy kids, our house isn't really a place of zen-like serenity, but you'd be more than welcome while I put your John to work!!!

    ~ Rachel ~

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  16. I need these in my life immediately. I wish my Fiance was as geeky as me. He tolerates my geekiness to a degree and whilst he is mildly indulgent I am not permitted to go as far as to bedeck an entire room!

    I am loving this room, although with the exception of the foam air ship because the attitude of the vendors husband totally ruined that feature for me. I adore the light cages and the wiring 'pipework', the speakers are majestic and the stained glass is gorgeous.

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  17. I bow down to the genius that are (is?) you and John - continually knocking it out of the park on these DIY's! Seriously, I consider myself to be fairly crafty and handy but I have nothing to you two. : )

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  18. Ooh! Nice!
    It would be cool to glue on one of those little glass globs in the circle of the W... would it be too heavy do you think? Or interfere with the sound?

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    1. Hmm, if you could find perfect half-orbs made of *plastic*, that probably would be light enough to glue on. I'll keep my eyes open for something like that in the future!

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  19. I just saw this neat wall hook online and thought of you all. Might be fun in there. Though I'm sure you could make your own, too. :-) : http://www.modcloth.com/shop/store-organize/i-squid-you-not-wall-hook

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  20. GREAT JOB! I've been mildly obsessed over the "light bulb radio" since I saw it in the film. There is one in the castle walk through in USJ that my girlfriend let me shoot even though I slowed us down on our way to the ride :3

    The one in the USJ Gryffindor common area shares a recognizable design inspiration as the one you found but differs in almost every aspect.

    Now I'm champing at the bit to get home to watch the film again and screen-cap everything!

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