How To Build 'The World's Best Speakers' - Are Flat Panel Speakers Really Any Good?

Flat panel speakers built from foam boards and Dayton Audio exciters can't really sound good, right? Over on @TechIngredients they shared a design for "The World's Best Speakers". I just could not believe speakers made out of a $5 piece of foam board outperformed many bookshelf speakers, so I decided to build them so I could hear them for myself. While I'm not sure that they can rightfully claim the title of "World's Best", they are very good, and very cheap to build.

The full set of speakers from Tech Ingredients includes a total of 8 different panels, using different materials, shapes, and sizes. I elected to build just these 2 panels as a way to dip my toes in the water of DIY speaker systems and to see if their claims could possibly be true. The foam boards each cost me around $5, and the exciters were around $25 each. I can’t believe the sound quality I’m getting out of a set of speakers I built in a few minutes for only $60 in parts!

#CheapSpeakers, #DIYAudio, #GarageSpeakers

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As an aside: I really love Fosi Audio amplifiers - they are compact, powerful, and sound great! I've found the following mission statement from Fosi to really be true: "Guided by our mission to “Redefine HiFi with Unmatched Value," Fosi Audio continues to fuel its passion for the HiFi industry, ramp up R&D efforts, and co-create new HiFi equipment with users. We pledge to bring more amazing HiFi gear with high value, innovative design, cutting-edge technology, and premium quality, all backed by a 24-month warranty, to audiophiles worldwide."

🕐 0:00 Introduction
🕐 0:42 Parts Required
🕐 1:48 Shaping The Foam Panels
🕐 3:39 Mounting Hardware
🕐 5:18 Placing The Exciters
🕐 7:14 Testing Setup
🕐 7:38 First Impressions
🕐 11:08 Compared To Cell Phone Speakers
🕐 12:00 Other Thoughts
🕐 12:52 Conclusion
🕐 13:44 Bloopers

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[AmplifyDIY]

Based on all the feedback and comments I've received on this project, I'm planning a follow-up video where I'll test the following:

1) Mount the exciters on posts so that the exciters move less, and compare to the hanging system shown in this video.
2) Compare these panels to a good set of bookshelf speakers.
3) Add a subwoofer.
4) Try painting or possibly fabric-wrapping the panels, and compare with non-painted.

What else do you want to see me try?

[TheNightstalker]

I built a pair of these about a year ago, you will need a good amp to drive these but they (can) sound ridiculously good for what they are. After building (or let's better say, slapping them together) I ended up sitting in my basement and listening to all kinds of music for hours because I was so amazed of the sound.

[saimnaeem]

Just a heads up for anyone doing this. I just completed them, but did some more research on home made DML (Flat panels). The audio quality increases IMMENSELY if you coat the front and back of both panels with 2 layers of a 1:1 Wood Glue and Water mixture after sanding. I tested them before and after, and the coating adds a lot more low end, and overall makes the speakers sound significantly better.

I also found it important to hang the speaker wires coming off the panel away from the panel. You can bend the attachment point with pliers, its just important the wires don't touch the panel too much.

I'd also recommend tinkering with your eq settings. I found a round curve downwards shape worked best (Lets say 1 cm downward for the lowest end 60 to 150hz, 0.8 cm for 150 to 400 hz, 0.3 cm for 400 to 1 khz, 0.1 for 1 to 2.4 khz and 0.4 upwards for 2.4 to 15 khz)

[soundssimple]

I built a set of these with sheet balsa wood, roughly 90cm x 40cm with the Dayton Audio exciters placed 2/5ths in and 2/5th up from the the bottom corner ( mirrored pair ). The result is very good, good treble, good mids but with light bass. Good enough for a small room / study / bedroom for casual listening. The bass is light but responds better the farther out from the wall you suspend them.They have to be at least one foot from the wall for bass to be half decent. I ended up angling mine slightly towards the 'listening point' which gave better outward reflection of sound off the wall and out around the room. The overall sound is surprisingly good for a very inexpensive project. Definitely worth a try and I have made mine into artwork so that they appear to be paintings, I now have two 'Banksy's' as my speakers.

[ericgillespie]

Instantaly liked because you gave credit to techingredients. I love it when people put claims to the test. Subbed

[TheDudeAbides-]

Great video. I fell down this rabbit hole a few years ago just for fun. Bought about 8 different exciters and a bunch of materials, from pink insulation sheets, white styrofoam sheets, a ceiling tile, and a few items from a thrift shop, such as a large thin plate and a pane of glass. I even tested with a cardboard pizza box, which sounded better than expected. I also put one exciter on the back of a guitar and one on the back of a full sized upright bass. These two tests turned out better than everything else. No surprise, as they are acoustically tunes enclosures designed to produce food sound.

In every test, the main thing lacking was bass. Adding a subwoofer would be the key to creating a system that delivers good sound for all types of music.

[deejayemceeflounder]

Personally I’d be offsetting using the golden ratio. I base that on nothing

[DanHoke]

I really appreciated this counter-point. Anyone can claim good sound on a youtube video. This is our version of peer review. Thank you for taking the time to do it.

[pacalvotan]

I ordered (and have received) the parts and found that our local hardware store stopped carrying the pink Stryofoam insulation panels. However, their new supplier offers black Styrofoam panels and they assured me that these were just as good (although I didn't tell them I was building speakers either LOL). I opted to try the 1" x 24" x 96 " panel cut into two equal halves and found that these speakers (although not studio quality) are perfect for sitting outside around our fire pit in the summer. They work really well, and the sound is above average...much better than those little outdoor bookshelf speakers one usually sees for sale at 4 times the price.

[robotstonka]

That guy from "tech ingredients" is extremely smart, his projects are crazy good and interesting. Love watching his videos!
Thanks for putting to the test this one, I'm really looking forward to build them myself. I have a good quality amplification and I'm very curious how those panels would perform, but I would definetly build those bigger panels too for the lower frequencies. Cheers!!

[klausjones]

If you want to go for a full sound, you just need to daisy chain a subwoofer with build in Crossover before each panel. That will step up the sound tremendously.

[DerMBen]

I've been wanting to install some speakers for watching films in our living room, but my mum has been adamant about not having speakers on the wall 'ruin' our living room. I might try building these and seeing if you could turn them into decoration at the same time...

[markfinley]

I still have the Magnaplanar speakers I bought in 1977, and they are still incredible. The separation between instruments is superb. And you can crank them up to insanely loud without distortion. But I might build a set of these for my garage.

[MarkHarmer]

I have a pair of Carlsbro flat panel speakers and use one of them for busking. The sound carries amazingly well outdoors even at long distances in noisy places, but they’re not any louder close-to. Also stops the issue of people close to the speaker talking very loud. Flat panel speakers have amazing properties! The sound is also really clean and well-defined even at a distance.

[steveluck]

I had to buy an 8ft sheet so used most of it to build two pairs of different sizes panels. Did all the sanding and painting and gave them away as a Christmas present along with a cheap class d amp that had a seperate sub out put. It needed it couple months later picked up a very cheap junk shop passive sub. Just picked out the one that felt heaviest to get and idea of cabinet and driver quality. Now it works very well for peanuts money.

[chuckbayliss]

Actually mounted a pair to three quarter inch sheetrock when I was building my man cave and they sound superb.

[NAVYABHAN]

Radio Shack used to sell speaker's that were "Flat Panel." They were sold in the mid 70's to early 80's. The sound of theirs was awesome, and were no more than an inch thick!

[ahmetturkmen]

This guy is straight to the point, professional and down to Earth. Instantly Subscribed!

[etptech]

I built those speakers as well and I put one in the center and one at the 2fifths 5fifths and one rounded corners one without. I was able to paint them black. like Tech Ingredients did. They sound amazing. People could hear them from a block away when I played them outside.

[Rylan-zy]

This is like a rabbit hole project! The panel could be carved or designed in a way to reproduced the bass part of the sound. While maintaining The same size. Very astounding sound!