Acoustic speaker amp and power bank
I just bought a used R1, and am having a good time with it. I like how the case can be used as a stand, and decided to build on that idea.
As you can see in the photo, I 3D printed an acoustic speaker amplifier (non electronic) that was designed for phones. I’ve tried a couple of these “amplifiers” and this one seems to me the best for my purposes. It roughly triples the volume of the R1 and seems to provide a bit more bass.
R1 docked on external \"amp\" and power bank
R1 is easily removable because of magnetic USB C connector
AA battery-sized spacer to raise the R1 when placed in the \"amp\"
I also wanted to provide power for the R1, without tying it down to an outlet. I had an Anker power bank in my drawer and decided to dedicate it to the R1 (I used double sided foam tape to hold the power bank in place). I added a magnetic usb c connector to make it easy to remove and replace the R1. You’ll notice a usb stub on the Anker—that’s another usb c connector to make the Anker easy to charge.
I also 3D printed a AA battery shell to use as a spacer so that the R1 would sit higher in the “amplifier.” You could employ a used AA battery for this purpose. I didn’t alter the “amplifier” design for the R1 as I wanted to still use it for my phone (just remove the AA battery shell spacer to use as phone)
I’m pasting in below the links to the 3D print files, power bank and magnetic usb c. These aren’t affiliate links.
Note also any power bank you have should work fine. Because the power cable is built into the Anker power bank, I took care in the placement of the power bank on the back of the “amplifier” so that the stiff cable would tend to push the R1 into the alignment I wanted, rather than skewing it.
Print files:
https://makerworld.com/en/models/1135409-phone-amplifier-passive-speaker#
https://makerworld.com/en/models/654787-battery-convert-aaa-to-aa#
Other parts:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZ9M6X8Q (again, other power banks would work. I’ve seen refurb Ankers on eBay…)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZTFYVF3?ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details&th=1 (note there are many varieties of this with right angle. I wanted a straight one of which there aren’t a lot, so I chose this one despite reviews not being super—so far so good).