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Nikola speaker mod


Dzlchef

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Aren’t the speakers pointed to the motor, inside the wheel cavity? I’d think that the location would require water resistant speaker elements, of which the new ones does not have a mention of. It might even be that water resistant speakers are bound to be lacking in bass due to a stiffer cone design.

Still, a nice upgrade!

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2 hours ago, mrelwood said:

Aren’t the speakers pointed to the motor, inside the wheel cavity? I’d think that the location would require water resistant speaker elements, of which the new ones does not have a mention of. It might even be that water resistant speakers are bound to be lacking in bass due to a stiffer cone design.

Still, a nice upgrade!

Yes, but the others weren’t either and an all paper cone.  This is much better!

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Something that @Dzlchef doesn't stress enough is how his speaker mod muzzles the very annoying startup sound.

I've heard his speakers and they sound great. But maybe even the bigger selling point for me is that annoying screechy startup sound becomes a softer more mellow tone that's much more acceptable.

P.s. I wonder how your speakers fared with  all the water crosses from Friday?

Edited by Marty Backe
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2 minutes ago, h3X said:

You could always cover them in hydrophobic speaker cloth.

Fantastic suggestion. I just ordered the speakers for my wheel.

I figured maybe the speakers had to be made from a special material. I didn't know of the existence of this cloth. Looks like for the cost of the speakers I can buy enough material for a 100-Nikola's. But I may pull the trigger. 

Thanks :cheers:

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Fantastic! Can’t wait to do this @Dzlchef !  Thanks for posting this. The speaker sound is lousy, and when I turn it on in a public nyc train station ... I get serious looks.

 

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58 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

P.s. I wonder how your speakers fared with  all the water crosses from Friday?

I haven't checked the physical condition but the sound is still very good.   I've been cranking this morning on the plaza as we're setting up the restaurant.   

This is a must do mod IMO and super easy.   Well, except you will need to solder the wires to the speakers, but that's simple enough that even a complete novice should be successful.  

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1 minute ago, Dzlchef said:

I haven't checked the physical condition but the sound is still very good.   I've been cranking this morning on the plaza as we're setting up the restaurant.   

This is a must do mod IMO and super easy.   Well, except you will need to solder the wires to the speakers, but that's simple enough that even a complete novice should be successful.  

Yeah, I'm getting all the parts in place so when I (someday) get my working control board, I'll do this at the same time.

P.s. I hope you didn't loose too many "Work Points" for Friday's escapade 

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31 minutes ago, h3X said:

You could always cover them in hydrophobic speaker cloth.

Great suggestion on the cloth.   If it's thin enough you could lay down the cloth over the speaker holes and use the spacer ring from the new speakers to hold in place while you screw everything down.   The spacer ring on the new speakers isn't attached.   Maybe Marty will have the new and improved speaker mod?   If so, I'll correct when swapping out my board.

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2 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

P.s. I hope you didn't loose too many "Work Points" for Friday's escapade 

Nah, it's all good.  My team is amazing and my boss much more understanding than my wife.   She wasn't very happy to not have heard from me.   I just stayed out of the dog house!

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24 minutes ago, Dzlchef said:

Nah, it's all good.  My team is amazing and my boss much more understanding than my wife.   She wasn't very happy to not have heard from me.   I just stayed out of the dog house!

I'm happy to hear about your work :thumbup:

Regarding the wife, after a couple more of these adventures (there will be, right?), she'll no longer be upset when you disappear with no cell phone coverage for most of the day. At least that's how it's worked for me B)

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31 minutes ago, Dzlchef said:

Great suggestion on the cloth.   If it's thin enough you could lay down the cloth over the speaker holes and use the spacer ring from the new speakers to hold in place while you screw everything down.   The spacer ring on the new speakers isn't attached.   Maybe Marty will have the new and improved speaker mod?   If so, I'll correct when swapping out my board.

I'm thinking of cutting out the rest of the plastic too. That has to improve the sound.

Of course I'll video the whole operation :)

Edited by Marty Backe
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3 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

I'm thinking of cutting out the rest of the plastic too. That has to improve the sound.

Of course I'll video the whole operation :)

Not sure it would really make that much of an impact to be worth it. 

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  • 1 month later...

Interesting! I am looking to upgrade the sound on the Z10. Of course a small JBL or similar bluetooth pod strapped to my rucksack would work well but I would rather keep it all contained in the wheel. Theres only 1 small speaker in the Z so it will always be limited but if I can better the stock speaker in any way it would be good. AlternativeIy, I am not averse to wiring in a separate bluetooth amp board and its own speaker (as I would like to keep the stock warning sounds too) if need be. I cannot find any markings on the stock speaker to upgrade it so I am pi$$ing in the wind a bit. If the speakers you linked are at least the same size I might give it a go :)

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I "fixed" mine by putting 1/8" rubber mat between the speakers and the holes, and sealing it up with the same white tub & tile caulk that Gotway seems to love.  Looks just like factory!  :lol:

Note that I really don't use the speakers, I was more interested in waterproofing this area.

 

 

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4 hours ago, chrisjunlee said:

Is there a way to make the speakers more powerful? Or would that require an amplifier?

Switching to more efficient speaker elements is a good way to do that, but as Planemo so marvellously said, without details on the current ones it would be a bit of a wind-pi$$ing.

Every speaker needs an amplifier, so there is one on board already. Modifying that is one option, but requires knowledge on amplifiers in general. And due to the same wind-pi$$ing, might cause distortion.

Furthermore, one could replace the two side-by-side 2” speakers with a single larger one.

But the Nikola speakers are already the loudest on any EUC, I have only heard that their harsh tonality is the aspect that leaves much to be desired.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Out of curiosity, I decided to see just how waterproof the "hydrophobic speaker cloth" is.  I wrapped some around the end of a water bottle, and tipped it upside-down.  If I didn't squeeze the bottle, it didn't leak.

For our use case, it should do the job, as I don't see the possibility of pressurized water being able to hit the speaker opening.

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2 hours ago, Legend27 said:

The Amazon price is actually cheaper, and if you have Prime, 2-day delivery. But yeah, if you don't have access to Amazon, China it is :)

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