Thinking of putting a subwoofer inside my dv9000

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Tonight i visited a friend to help him with a Dell laptop. I know this guy doesn't like paying cash (he's good at selling stuff), so i asked him instead to give me some parts he can't manage to sell in return for my help.

I got an inverter from a Lenovo (oughta be good for testing those CCFLs) and a subwoofer from a hp dv7. I didn't have any use for it really, but i like cute little speakers. Now, thing is, it almost fits height wise inside my dv9000's 2nd HDD bay, if i would cut a hole in the cover. And i'll never use 2 hard drives in this thing, because i need that stupid bracket for the 2nd drive and i can't seem to find it anywhere. I'm really thinking of dropping this little subwoofer in there.

In all honesty, it's likely a glorified midrange driver (it's in a sealed plastic case, it's not even ported), but even a bit of extra kick wouldn't hurt.

[Junk Parts]

I wouldn't do it. If that speaker box isn't perfectly magnetically shielded it will wipe your hard drive out.

[ben7]

A subwoofer? I don't think that would fit in a laptop!

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Originally Posted by Junk Parts

I wouldn't do it. If that speaker box isn't perfectly magnetically shielded it will wipe your hard drive out.

I wouldn't worry about that because it came from another laptop so it's designed for that. Besides, the 1st hdd bay (which is populated) is on the left side, and the 2nd bay on the right side, with the RAM and wireless card between them. There's more than enough space between them to not worry about magnetic issues.

Btw i am in error, that woofer is from a Packard Bell not a DV7. How do i know? i picked the DV7 one today. It's in a pretty large ported plastic enclosure. Definitely not gonna fit anything else... i'll see what use i find for it.

Originally Posted by ben7

A subwoofer? I don't think that would fit in a laptop!

Like i said, more of a glorified midrange driver, but better than nothing. I cut the rear of the enclosure, now it fits perfectly in the 2nd bay, just have to cut the cover, and find a suitable class D amplifier chip for it. With the rear cut, the driver made some awful noises because it needs the air suspension, otherwise it bottoms out easily. I filled the remainder of the enclosure with cotton wool, and now it sounds fine and fits right in. Time to search around for a little class D chip that will work from 5v and needs the least number of external components.

[ben7]

Originally Posted by Th3_uN1Qu3

I wouldn't worry about that because it came from another laptop so it's designed for that. Besides, the 1st hdd bay (which is populated) is on the left side, and the 2nd bay on the right side, with the RAM and wireless card between them. There's more than enough space between them to not worry about magnetic issues.

Btw i am in error, that woofer is from a Packard Bell not a DV7. How do i know? i picked the DV7 one today. It's in a pretty large ported plastic enclosure. Definitely not gonna fit anything else... i'll see what use i find for it.



Like i said, more of a glorified midrange driver, but better than nothing. I cut the rear of the enclosure, now it fits perfectly in the 2nd bay, just have to cut the cover, and find a suitable class D amplifier chip for it. With the rear cut, the driver made some awful noises because it needs the air suspension, otherwise it bottoms out easily. I filled the remainder of the enclosure with cotton wool, and now it sounds fine and fits right in. Time to search around for a little class D chip that will work from 5v and needs the least number of external components.

Ah, k

So, are you gonna build an amp for it?

[b700029]

dv9000?

Just don't let the bass shake the BGAs too much...

[ben7]

Originally Posted by b700029

dv9000?

Just don't let the bass shake the BGAs too much...

[MdPhoenix]

This isn't undheard of. My old Dell Precision M90 had a sub in in. Plenty of laptops do. It's usually as stated a glorified midrange put into a small enclosure to give it a bit better sound. I don't think it's a horrible idea.