Usable sound system should not cost a dime. Building your own sound system might sound like something difficult but it is actually not the case. I recently got myself the chance to build my own sound system with almost negligible expenses
Necessary items:
- ZK-TB21 2.1 amplifier
- PC Power Supply (PSU) 500W
- EPS extension
- Bus bar 4 to 1
- 16 AWG cables (depending on distance amplifier to speakers) + Bus bar to ZK-TB21
- Passive subwoofer .1
- Two Passive Loudspeakers
- Cable crimper
Steps for each individual items
Regarding the step you should follow, you can start anywhere you like. Since this was a DIY project, making sure that the project will suit your need is more important as well as knowing the limit. For example, how long big the room is, where are you going to place the loudspeakers. Unfortunately this matters. Not only this will dictate the AWG cable length but also the “room mode”, which can lead to bad sound. This tutorial doesn’t cover the room mode as it requires more work than the DIY project itself tbh. Anyway,
- The ZK-TB21 needs to be assembled.
- Power Supply comes with different outputs, more comprehensive information: https://www.moddiy.com/pages/Power-Supply-Connectors-and-Pinouts.html. luckily 12v is an acceptable ZK-TB21 input voltage. Now your job is to find 4 12v pins and 4 GND pins.
- EPS extension was or is required so that I don’t have to work on the PSU cables instead I saccrifice the extension, where I can clip and crimp the cable.
- Once cut, we’re going to connect and mount each 12v cables to the bus bar
- We need AWG cables as they tolerate higher current (due to its thickness) therefore better heat dissipation. AWG cables should be connected to right -> right loudspeaker. Left -> left loudspeaker. Subwoofer -> subwoofer.
Short Story,
We were heading home from a mate’s place after dinner and a few games of FIFA, then swung by to pick up another friend’s bike. He’d been saying it felt heavy to pedal, so I suggested we check the tyre pressure. Sure enough, it was way too low. We went to my place to grab my pump. On the way, we came across a subwoofer and a computer. My mate thought we should take both, and luckily his bike has a rack, so we loaded them up and brought them back for a closer look. Inside the PC I could see a PSU and a motherboard. The subwoofer turned out to be a passive subwoofer with two input pairs. The CPU was an older AMD chip from around 2012, and the motherboard was old too but the PSU looked decent.
Once home, ideas started to come. At some point, these items got me thinking, I can make my own sound system with less money but how do I harness the PSU to power up the subwoofer? Amplifier is definitely the solution. But after looking on ebay I found no cheap solution. Second-hand amps were pricier than I wanted, and I didn’t fancy spending €50+ especially unsure if they even work. Then I kept searching and found a small amplifier board on Amazon for about €25. My ultimate giga move was realising I could potentially find the same model that I was looking for on amazon ZK‑TB21, on Aliexpress and amazingly I found it for almost half the price. Crazy.
