Looking for the thinnest speaker technology with a decent sound

Hello everyone,
I know my request may look strange but let me explain: I have the idea of making a custom phone case with a built-in amplifier and speaker and plan on making it 3D printed. I have figured out how to make everything work except the speaker, as I would want to be as compact as possible while keeping a better sound than the phone's built in speakers. I wonder if there is some kind of speakers that can be pretty wide so I can get a decent amount of bass for the size, but as thin as possible, so that it does not affect the comfort of use too much. I am no expert in acoustics, I just want to make a cool project to avoid carrying a bluetooth speaker while having a listenable sound on my smartphone.
Thanks!!
 
Hi, few quick thoughts while no specific advise on the speaker. There is need to fit amplifier, power source and prosessing as well. Big part of BT speaker sound is DSP, which makes bass appear to ear while its really not there with a small speaker. I bought Sony SRS-XB12 bluetooth speaker few years back, was smallest with decent sound. Hard to get any smaller package than that, not much bigger than the ~2" driver + electronics.
 
How big?

I have a bunch of 25mm FRs and a few 35mm that might do the job, if you want really small the smaller driver, maybe 2 of them. The smaller ones are all out of the first slab iMac, the larger from eMac.

The smaller drivers might be trickier to mount, i haven’t taken any out of the enclosure they come in. Now i am thinking of going down and extracting a pair of drivers from their boxes.

I’d be happy to send some of these if you want to play.

dave
 
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There are a lot of speaker modules for laptops and LCD monitors/TVs that might be useful. You might be able to fit multiple drivers in the case to increase output.

I'm not suggesting this is necessarily the best one, but something along these lines includes the enclosure for the speaker, so part of the design is done for you already.
https://www.parts-express.com/5-8-x-1-1-2-2W-Speaker-4-Ohm-78G311-503-YL-69-289-2070

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maybe I thought there were some small electrostatic speaker, I know those things can be very tiny. actually I thought of using the USB c audio and power to power the speaker and redirect it to another type c connector so I could charge the phone at the same time
 
How big?

I have a bunch of 25mm FRs and a few 35mm that might do the job, if you want really small the smaller driver, maybe 2 of them. The smaller ones are all out of the first slab iMac, the larger from eMac.

The smaller drivers might be trickier to mount, i haven’t taken any out of the enclosure they come in. Now i am thinking of going down and extracting a pair of drivers from their boxes.

I’d be happy to send some of these if you want to play.

dave
that would be very cool but I live in France so I don't really know about how the shipping would cost...
 
Hi, few quick thoughts while no specific advise on the speaker. There is need to fit amplifier, power source and prosessing as well. Big part of BT speaker sound is DSP, which makes bass appear to ear while its really not there with a small speaker. I bought Sony SRS-XB12 bluetooth speaker few years back, was smallest with decent sound. Hard to get any smaller package than that, not much bigger than the ~2" driver + electronics

Hi, few quick thoughts while no specific advise on the speaker. There is need to fit amplifier, power source and prosessing as well. Big part of BT speaker sound is DSP, which makes bass appear to ear while its really not there with a small speaker. I bought Sony SRS-XB12 bluetooth speaker few years back, was smallest with decent sound. Hard to get any smaller package than that, not much bigger than the ~2" driver + electronics.
I think I could shrink down the size of the electronics by making a custom PCB and using the phone power and audio output. However, while I have some knowledge in electronics, I still don't really know how to integrate and program a DSP, so if you have some knowledge about i will be more than happy to learn about it!
 
not the size of a #D printed phone case.

But here's another way of looking at it.
Carry on of those mini bluetooth D amp, connect an exciter to it, and slap that exciter on a flat surface, like a window. Big sound, minimal carry ( well, as small and as big as it can be! 😉
I already knew some by speakers could be very thin but the idea was to make something that would make the use seamless, even if it means making my own speaker, but I have few knowledge about speaker conception and manufacturing. do you have some resources I can learn from?
 
maybe I thought there were some small electrostatic speaker, I know those things can be very tiny.
Electrostatics and planar magnetics can both be very thin, but they also typically sound very bad when placed near a hard/reflective surface and asked to play full range. The reflected/out-of-phase sound from the back comes right through the diaphragm causing lots of interference effects. This is one of the reasons why they are typically dipole/open back.

They also don't respond well to acoustical loading in smaller boxes. When they are enclosed, it's typically with a large box with lots of absorption in it. Tweeters are typically the only planars you'll find with a closed back in close proximity.

Electrostatics also have very limited output for a given size. This is inherent to the voltage breakdown limits of air. It cannot be circumvented with any practical technology for an application like yours. You'll get far more output from a normal coil driven speaker.
 
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Nothing can beat DMLs for thinnest technology except maybe planars (Magnepans etc) or electrostatics. But DMLs sound great and don’t cost much. Easy to make too.

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...ll-range-speaker.272576/page-333#post-7129176

Thinnest conventional dynamic driver speakers can be made as wall mount backnloaded horns or transmission lines.

Look at Cornu thread or my foam core thread for ideas.