Hear me out. I've had this idea knocking around in my noggin for a while now, and it's this: what if you had a hoodie with speakers built into the shoulders? You connect to them wirelessly (by salvaging the wireless component of wireless earbuds), or you could even add an option for a wired connection--a pocket with an aux jack, perhaps. No need to bother with earbuds that don't fit your ears, or headphones that are too big to carry around: you have speakers in your shoulders. I'm thinking they should be laptop speakers--specifically MacBook Pro speakers, as they're the gold standard--and all electrical components need to be removable units, so that you can actually wash the clothing. I'm thinking you'd slot the components into little pockets on the shoulders, and they'd be held in place with elastic/magnets/both? It wouldn't even have to be a hoodie, though I think that would work the best because of how thick the material is; the point is to have the speakers hidden almost entirely inside the fabric.
And yes, I know this is a bit gimmicky 😀 But it's practically my life's work to come up with stupid little gizmos like this.
I'm posting about this A) because the more engineering eyes there are on a project the better, and B) because I'm trying to select parts. I need to somehow fit two speakers, a lithium battery cell, a BMS-and-USB-C recharging board, a combined bluetooth-and-amplifier chip, and maybe--but hopefully not--a DSP, inside a piece of clothing. All while keeping the components completely hidden, and without creating a load of weird bulges everywhere. Anyone have any suggestions for parts, or where to place all these components while keeping them easily removable?
Diagram:
My worktable is a site of frequent detonations. Please knock so I don't start a Lithium fire when you startle me.
There are a couple of "gotchas" there but the main one is physics.
Headphones use tiny drivers (d'uh) but sound incredible because they have a very small mass of air to move. As the sound has to move more air (i.e. as you move away from the speaker) the mass increases drastically, with low frequencies - which move more air, having more mass, so bass sounds are the first to suffer. It's a hair more complicated than that buy that's what you're up against.
Take everything I say with a pinch of salt, I might be wrong and it's a very *expensive* way to learn!
@marcdraco Good point. But then, laptop speakers can still sound pretty good, and I don't know of anyone who listens with their laptop around their ears. That's why I thought that wouldn't be a huge issue.
My worktable is a site of frequent detonations. Please knock so I don't start a Lithium fire when you startle me.

