I just stumbled upon your youtube channel a couple months ago..(It came up on my recommended page as did this video today!) I've never built a speaker before, but After watching your videos, I feel like I could. Just hit the subscribe button and am looking forward to Utilizing the inspiration I've found here.. Thanks!
Hello all, my kit arrived today and I haven't been able to replicate the feedback noise from the audio jack as shown here by Kirby. The only difference that I can see is that I used the full width cable supplied with the daughter board (input and usb).Maybe a V2.0 daughter board. Sounds good though. Box building this weekend.
I think your speaker builds are impressive. Would love to see how you would approach a build using a chromecast audio (with optical output) instead of bluetooth.
Great video . Just purchased the components you listed to build my first Bluetooth speaker . I will eventually have a video on my channel of the build once complete.
I used it in a bluetooth speacker DIY with 6" speacker and it's work very well, the only trouble was the battery, the size are not perfect for 18650 lithium battery but if you push very very hard you can put in it. Also 12v are not enough for delivering the max volume, but it's satisfying for outdoor. Very clean amplifier with great sound, not bassy like bt speacker as bose ect... I can't wait to see what you will make with this board
I have used several of the JAB1 series amplifiers w/battery charger. I have never had the feedback that you experienced. I will definitely keep a look out for any issues. Also be aware the speaker outputs on the JAB1 are labeled incorrectly and puts the speakers out of phase. I really wish the speaker wires were not all black and 20ga wire instead of 22ga. I make custom molex connectors with upgraded wires gauges for the speakers, power input (upgrade to 20ga) and the charge cable (upgrade to 22 ga). Great video series Kirby!
Interesting video, I thought it was put together pretty well with clear, well lit shots. I liked your honesty with the board, how you left in some bloopers, and even your hat. This is my first visit to your channel and I'll probably be back to see what else you have. Keep up the good work.
I got one the JAB 2 50x2 boards with all the the extension boards from China 4 months ago, and have never experienced any noise with mine. Its been working great, you may have got a faulty unit. I agree with you these are the nicest little amps to come out so far. Did you know you can add a couple more battery boards to get longer run time? It still stays at 12 volt from what i understand. I like the videos, keep em coming!
I actually ordered four boards from Parts Express and all of them had this problem. I also talked with he customer service there and they said all their boards are experiencing this. I'm thinking they might have received a bad run from Sure, but that would probably still be hundreds, if not thousands, of boards with this potential issue. Such a bummer! I'm super glad it's a pretty easy fix though. I hadn't tested chaining the battery boards yet, but I suspected that was possible with the multiple connectors not he back of the board. Pretty rad! Thanks for watching and chiming in!
I just figured it out, re read the specs, I'm using the AA-JA11112 Interface Extension Board and it comes with a ground loop isolator built in, so that could be why I haven't experienced any noise issues.
I believe that wire on the aux cable that you removed is a ground. I had the same problem with this board and the seller said the fix was to tie this wire to the ground (one of the screw holes in the upper right corner). Seems like a common problem as I got this feedback very quickly from them.
Grounding the wire turns bluetooth on on my KAB-215 board. So, what I've found is that BT -> R(in) is not even necessary. You can switch on BT module via BT -> GND.
4 wires for a stereo aux input seems odd to me. The only time I can think of that would need 4 wires would be, if you're including a microphone input. or some charging capability through the aux, which to me sounds like a stretch.. either way, it makes sense that the feedback would come from the 4th wire as I would consider that a bad ground. .remove the bad ground and remove the ground loop feedback.
Something people should be aware of with these amps. The watts ratings are bogus. Whatever SURE (or any manufacturer) rates these, the usable output is actually around half. Just take a look at the spec sheets. They are rated 10% THD at full output and will sound like garbage on any set of speakers. However, they are generally 0.1% or less THD at around half the rated output. Also, the published ratings are at 4 ohms. Most home audio is 8 ohms. So really, if you have a 50 watt amp, for 8 ohm speakers, usable watts are 12.5. And because of all the marketing BS over the years, most folks don't realize 12 watts is cranking on good speakers.
You don't need a true 100W per channel. Very few speakers could actually take 100W. Unless you have huge speakers, with multiple woofers, multiple midrange drivers and a tweeter, an amp like this rated at 50-100wpc will be more than enough to drive your speakers beyond their rated wattage.
I totally agree with you on the power and how much it's changed over the 20 years. The power ratings that is. I installed car audio for about 5 years in the mid-90s. We never used more than 150 to maybe 250 watts per subwoofer. Now I do know that the Rockford Fosgate amps that we used worth heavily underrated say for instance the punch 60 was supposedly 30 x 2 Watts at 4 Ohms. Testing last year showed that this amp actually put out around 80 x 2 at 4 Ohms! We all knew something must be going on but of course you didn't have the internet back then and the amp was also around $300 so strangely we had to throw the spec sheet out the window lol. But still, we did not run the Thousand watts per sub that people are doing now and not making that much more volume or SPL. And this is not only with subwoofers but front stage drivers as well. And amplifiers and speakers have become more efficient so why do we need 100 Watts for each 6.5 inch coaxial in each door? LOL we don't! So yes 12.5 clean repeat clean, watts, is very adequate. Still, even today, they still will not get away from putting those large Peak or Max wattage numbers on the box and marketing materials. Don't even get me started on power wiring and additional batteries! Again, class D amplifiers have become almost 50% more efficient than the older a b amplifiers but now all of a sudden we need 4 gauge and sometimes 0 gauge runs of expensive wiring or even welding cable! I took out my older Rockford Fosgate Punch 200 DSM amplifier which is capable of making 400 plus watts and does so easily on a gauge cable that can be up to 20 ft long! Thank you for bearing with me I know it's car audio but still it's audio and it's wattage! I appreciate everyone.
Hey Kirby, do you still feel this is the best bluetooth amp board? If not which would you now recommend? I like the fact that you care what the speaker looks like when its finished and not just throwing random things together and calling it a "speaker".
Hey Kirby. Love your videos man. I've learned a lot. Just finished my first cigar box speaker build and used the Dayton Audio version of this board and it's matching battery board. Without your videos I'm not sure I'd have done it. So thanks man. Keep doing your thing
Hi, I was wondering about this: Is this board truly identical to the dayton board? I figured dayton was a reputable manufacturer.. so did dayton pick an off-the-shelf chinese board and just slap their name on it? Or is the board in this video a ripoff?
I purchased the 2x50W one for a build I am working on. I was drawn to them because of the lithium ION battery board and the other items that are all made to go with them.
Were you talking about the background hissing or the light "feedback" because a lot of cheap bluetooth speakers have that hissing and if eliminating a wire from bluetooth to aux switching is the solution, I'm off to test this!
Great Video! Can you Tell me how to wire this board for a mono speaker? The build plans assume the optional second speaker but I really want to just have a single speaker running mono? I can't find any documentation on how to wire this that is consistent.
Thanks for posting the video and the build file! Any chance of adding the battery module to the file? I'm a little confused about which hookups go where on that board. I'm assuming ac adapter to battery module to amp board.. just not sure which plugs to use.
I picked this amp up about a week ago I have yet use it thanks for the heads up on the feed back! Looks like your real close to hitting 10k subs congrats!
Using this for bluetooth speakers, do you think the sound would be better with a pair of full range speakers, or can it handle 2 2way crossovers and it´s pair of 6.5" and tweeter? Any ideas?
I plan on doing a DIY copy of the Sony SRS X-77. DOSS Audio recently made a budget version with some decent tuning but the enclosure had serious resonance issues. What can be done today for a 2.1 build with BT? My design will have isolated mains and a subwoofer with a passive radiator. I've been retro-furb'ng and building speakers for over 35 years and I think it's time to build something modern and more equipped for our changing needs. I have no shop or access but I can probably handle modifying something to build this. It's just the noise I'm worried about. I'm also not a fan of just using passives in a L R box. Mixing the back waves in a single cabinet, regardless of the style of enclosure is not efficient and things get muddy in the mids once you start affecting cones with competing crosstalk of the back waves. I'm guessing we still don't have a quiet board in this arena. I could build a box with a TPA3116 2.1 50W+50W+100W board with an AUX jack only - and then just use an external BT device but UGH!!!! You get me on that. Thanks for all your hard work here!
To avoid confusion, class d amps are not digital, the "d" does not stand for digital and its only similarity is that it uses switching transistors. The bluetooth/usb modules are the only digital parts.
True, the D does not stand for digital, but the "digital" refers to the digital control of the switching transistors. You can find more info here: www.audioholics.com/audio-amplifier/the-truth-about-digital-class-d-amplifiers Thanks for your input and for watching!
It's still not digital. Although the switching transistors are used in saturation, i.e. fully on or off, akin to how they are used in digital equipment, the timing of them turning on or off is not time-discrete like it would be for example in a digital direct delta-sigma amplifier, but analogue.
It's not digital unless it's discrete in all dimensions :( Sorry to disappoint and i know it's nitpicking because it really doesn't terribly matter, but it's true.
I really like the SANWU amp modules, similar to these. The BT and other accessories are separate daughter boards, but 15W - 200W stereo & 2.1modules = very handy and flexable. Uses the TDA and TPA amp chips. A lot of BT audio devices will have feedback noise if you power your audio source off the built-in 5V supply when using the line-in (like ipod or phone). I wonder if your hack will work with these too?!
Hi kirby i saw you drawn guide for this set up an my question is am i correct in thinking that you can have two speaker ??? stereo i mean left and right ? please get back to me.
So quick question... If you opt for the battery pack, does the AC adapter charge the batteries or just power the board? Which power source is primary once adapter is plugged in?
I'm very new to this and this is gonna sound like a dumb question but here it goes. So from my understanding this amp board is powered through the battery pack that you showed in the video with the 18650's and how is that connected i guess is my question. I guess i'm confused on the battery pack and then you also showed the wires that you said are for power. So do you need to purchase a charger for the power and if not or if so, how do you charge it? Thanks. BTW I love your videos and how creative your speaker build videos are.
I found your awesome excellent informative videos because I am planning my own build. I really like this board, but really want to include airplay. Have you found a good way to do Bluetooth and airplay? Thanks.
I have a Klipsch promedia 2.1 setup,and the amp in the sub is burned up.Would this work for it? Not planning on using batteries,and would like the bluetooth option..Thanks for your time
Great vids, thanks for taking the time out. I bought a bunch of old radios and boom boxes. I would like to convert them into Bluetooth speakers using the existing speakers and amps. Any thoughts? Btw i don't really know jack about this kind of stuff but I have a diy state of mind. Help please!
Im planning on building an ammo can Speaker with all the components you mentioned in the video. I want good bass as well as treble. What speakers would you suggest?? Should I get a woofer + tweeters?? Or full range speakers ??
Hi I got the complete package, but I get a bit confused with the battery board, since there was no manual to find, can you please as well show how you connect the batteries?
Great informative video Kirby, that board has so many excellent time saving features that a little hack on it is worth it! If only I could get it easily in Scotland 😁 👍👍
I built a 100w reciever for my living room / dining area about 8 years ago using a SURE amp and a SURE bt receiver board powered by a 12v power supply. My issue is that my green indicator light does not always come on, on my bt reciever so no connection. Recommendations for a replacement bt board??
curious how well it sounds. . I've been looking at various Cass d mini blue tooth amps and the prices vary so much, not to mention the false power specs for many of them.
I have a pair of Dayton Audio B652 amp-ed by a Lepai 2020+. They sound decent for my present needs, but I am thinking about some changes, like getting rid of all the wires by integrating the amp into the speaker, also integrating a bt receiver into the chain and a sub out for a future addition of a sub. This module you present here seems to be closer to my needs than the Lepai. What do you think?
I just ordered the entire board kit. Is there a way I can add a bass and treble control to this? Also I'm ordering my speakers from PE and want to go with either 6.5's or 8's. Since I've never seen or heard how these amps perform, do you recommend I go 4ohm or 8ohm? Love your videos, btw. Awesome stuff.
Hey Kirby about to pull the trigger on my first build with this system, I had a few questions about wiring 1. Does the amp board handle the power distribution according to what cables or expansion boards are installed ( lithium battery board) or do you wire power directly to the battery board? dont want to burn up my amp by connecting 19 VDC, 1-5A power adapter to the wrong spot. 2. Is it a bad idea to enclose the 19 VDC, 1-5A power adapter in the speaker case. I was wondering if heat given off inside would damage the amp board long term. 3. Can you connect multiple lithium battery boards to extend play time for the build? Thanks for any help given! Its going in a 50 cal ammo box with 2 full range 4in drivers a bass port 5 in x 7 in x 11in
Is it possible to extent the range of the Bluetooth signal on the Wondom 11161 with either an add on board or by soldering a MMCX connector with an 2.4GHz rubber duck antenna to the antenna trace on the board? im building a wireless speaker box for use outside and want extended range (up to 300') as well as the ascetics of an external antenna.
You make some great looking speaker cases! The JAB boards by auditronica are great! I'm a week away from starting to work on a programmer for their digital signal processing boards.
glad i stumbled upon you my hardmon kardon stopped charging. i took it apart contacted them to see if i could order individual parts// no luck// so il make my own sh&t . Many Thanks
Yeah I have had two boards shipped. 1 from there eBay store and from there online store. Both arrived in a week or two and ready to go. Nice boards. Sometimes a little trouble with the Bluetooth but a little switching it on and off again seems to work.
Hi! Just seen your video and youve been really helpful with my speaker build, i was wondering if you could use a micro usb port to charge instead of barrel plug. Also would this work with one speaker so mono instead of stereo? Thanks! Keep up the good work Kirby!
Questions: Hey Kirby, great vids, keep it up! Those speaker wires in the wire kit look really really thin, Any idea what gauge they are? Is the amp powerful enough to warrant using better speaker wires? (if using larger /more demanding speakers of course).
Hey, great channel, I'm just getting into speaker building so this is an awesome resource! I have one of these boards but I'm not finding it overly loud, I'm running a 12v5A supply, would a bigger power supply help? Which one do you use? Thanks.
Looks like the same board (KAB-230) from Parts Express, just re-branded. Have the same battery extension, etc. Where did you splice the on/off switch in, and I would like to add an led voltmeter to monitor battery supply. Any suggestions, hints?
hey Kirby, great videos learned a lot built my first bluetooth powered speaker, do you have any recommendations for a 2.1 bluetooth amplifier board 2.1 for sub thanks
Is there an updated video for a Bluetooth amplifier board or are you still using the Sure/Wondom amp or have you switched to Dayton? The interesting and useful feature of the Sure boards is the programmable DSP in my opinion.
I'd REALLY like to see you build a WATERPROOF, battery powered speaker, with good audio quality, that doesn't sound small, keeping it relatively compact (like 30x10x10 cm or similar)
what cross over type would you use with this board?? Keeping the size small i was wondering what speakers you recommend? I was going to go with a conservative car audio speakers.
hey Kirby- I'm building a massive headboard for my bedroom complete with LED lighting. I think I should add speakers. I've got some car speakers, would love to incorporate Bluetooth, I have no idea what I'm doing. I can handle wiring, but am at a loss as far as power supply and using a blue tooth board, etc. Any help?
Hi mate great video! One Question.. Do you think it would be fine with this kind of products to add a crossover board between the amp board and the speakers? I'm about to use the KAB 250 but I couldn't find any feedback from users with a crossover board in between! thank you and take care !
Hi, i had sony n990w blu ray player now the player amp board is not working how can i connect my 4 speakers 1 center speaker and 1 woofer to any amp. and how and where i can find such board. Thanks ( My player was 1000W)
Hi, I've two old speakers of a record player lying around which is kind of antique probably from the 80s and want to make those Bluetooth enabled. I plan to use the Bluetooth amplifier audio board but I want how to select the right one (ohms and watts) for the speaker box I have and also as I'll be adding that to a single speaker so I want the audio output to be single channel. can you please help me how to check the specs of my speaker box and then how to get the right Bluetooth Audio Reciever amplifier for it?
Kirby, have you made a speaker that runs off a battery pack? Cause i find it hard to find a battery pack or info to make one. Im looking to make a portable speaker with enough battery to last all day... Can you help me please xD
I purchased a lot of boards like this one, and their capability to reproduce low frequencies was always really bad. Is this one better ? Did someone tested it ?
question: two drivers and two bass radiators, positive and negative wires have to be connected to the drivers in reverse ( switching - with + )? So when is punching the air inside the box to push the radiators outwards? Thanks
I have an unusual project. I want quality sound in a welding helmet. Safety rules preclude earbuds and muffs. Bluetooth connectivity a must. Wish list: Solar charging panel because why not take advantage of welding light? Have a speaker and/or Bluetooth board suggestion ?
Love your videos! Subscribed to your channel and already planning to make my first desk speakers! I really like this : "I...I don't...Iiiiii...I dunno". You should do it more often and make it your personnal trademark!
Hi, Kirby, how are you? Can you help me with a doubt? The site that you recommends(parts-express.com) is offering now an Bluetooth amplifier module made by Dayton áudio, you know which one is better(dayton or sure)?
I'm really looking for some help incorporating a Bluetooth speaker in a vanity mirror I'm building. Is there anyway possible you would be able to help? As far as parts list & instructions?
Great info. I've been bumbling through my own little speaker project for a while. My biggest hurdle has been available of parts - in the UK the only readily available drivers are brands called Monacor and Visaton, neither of which compare favourably with the likes of Dayton Audio or Peerless, or even my little Fountek FE85. Do you have any experience with either of these less quality brands and their 3" to 4" full range drivers? (I'm sticking to full range until I get my head around cross-overs). Cheers
hey i ve been thinking of building something like a JBL xtreme with passive radiator. i have narrowed down to few components. bluetooth board, crossover crcuit from banggood, passive radiators from aliexpress. just not sure about the woofer driver. can i use a full range speaker and connect to the bass of crossover?
Hi Kirby, grate vids. Many thx, pleasure to watch. Do you have any suggestion what kind of small speakers and passive speakers (radiators) can I buy on alliexpres, to be decent quality? Like to build portable speakers like Jbl charge, flip, Bose soundlink mini ets but with my own hands :). Thx in advanve. Keep up roling vids. They are grate :)
