BESTÅ cabinet gets a built-in speaker shelf.
After some years of silence on the SUB arena of IKEAhackers I’m back again. The ”IKEA featuring JBL” is still living, but now in our new flat. (And yes, I have got some feedback from our new neighbors).
Our son has moved out, so we built a small home office / guestroom. And we needed some sound there as well.
The main part and intelligence comes from an AudioPro speaker but it needed more BAAAASE.
I have plenty of space under a raised bed where I could fit a double 21” sub or bigger but that is no challenge.
Furthermore, we have a small BESTÅ bookshelf with drawers where the printer and AudioPro host sits, so I wanted something integrated there.
IKEA items used:
Other materials and tools:
- Chipboard
- MDS 6,5”
- bassport
DIY built-in speaker shelf
The idea was to add a “non-drawer” to the BESTÅ bookshelf that fits the look but behaves differently …
I found a very nice small 6,5” speaker from MDS: Predator PS06 that is a small but not a lean device. Actually, quite brutal.
Related: Corner speaker shelf for the SONOS Play:1
So, into production.
The goal was to make a box that fits in to the BESTÅ cabinet. And then make sure to integrate it nicely through the use of the same drawer front.
I looked in to how to build it. From my search, I found out it would be possible to make it either as an bandpass design which completely hides the speaker and just have vents.
However, in this case, I wanted the speaker to be noticed. So, I decided to go for an ordinary vented box where the speaker is not hidden inside the box.
Some calculations later, I found a box of 22 liters would fit fine and work nicely down to 30hz.
I built it quite easily built from chipboard I already had at home. The box does not even take up a full shelf. It was no problem fitting it in, as you can see in the pictures.
I easily fitted the drawer panel to the front of the box using glue and some screws, going in from the inside of the box out towards the drawer panel.
Fitting in the speaker
Besides, I chose to submerge the speaker in the front. It becomes more a part of the drawer and not too exposed out front. I used some paint to make the hole look good. The vent was fitted through the front and box.
So the result is integrated but noticeable…
… in all ways when it is fitted with an 200w D-class amplifier. Despite its small size it’s a true subwoofer.
I am really impressed by the small speaker. After trying it, I think I will build another sub that should fit in the same bookshelf but using a bandpass design so that the only thing you see at the front are two vents. That just makes it even more integrated and unnoticeable.
~ by Fredrik Töörn
If you like built-in speakers, you may be interested in my other hack — IKEA featuring JBL.
