Hey Guys,
I am new to the forums. I want to make a boombox out of a wood crate below Ive been able to get my hands on but need some help with choosing parts.
I have already decided on the LepaiA+ amp Amazon.com: LP-2020A+ Lepai Tripath Class-T Hi-Fi Audio Mini Amplifier with Power Supply: Electronics
I will probably be using a 12V 12ah battery to power everything as well as a solar panel on top to keep the batteries charged, sine this will mostly be used outside.
No I run into trouble choosing the speakers because I know very little about speaker queality or what works well outside. Ive thought about marine speakers but I just dont know, please let me know your thoughts on this, any information helps,
Thank you
,CallMeWhiskers
I am new to the forums. I want to make a boombox out of a wood crate below Ive been able to get my hands on but need some help with choosing parts.
I have already decided on the LepaiA+ amp Amazon.com: LP-2020A+ Lepai Tripath Class-T Hi-Fi Audio Mini Amplifier with Power Supply: Electronics
I will probably be using a 12V 12ah battery to power everything as well as a solar panel on top to keep the batteries charged, sine this will mostly be used outside.
No I run into trouble choosing the speakers because I know very little about speaker queality or what works well outside. Ive thought about marine speakers but I just dont know, please let me know your thoughts on this, any information helps,
Thank you
,CallMeWhiskers
Well I have found a lot of threads talking about the boominator and boominator mini but i already have the case I want to use and plus the boominator is way above what i want to spend + is diving way too deep on a first build. mant post talk about building the amplifier as well which goes over my head.
what I have found is that most builds have a part of tweeters and a pair of woofers, it appears that a resistor is soldered to the tweeters, still figuring out why. I would need to create chambers with in the box to inprove sound quality
I see some posts saying that the TA2020 board is too small and some saying it is just right
it appears tha Dayton is a popular brand for speakers, but a lot of people are picking just alot of cheaper options from parts express
and then I got to posts that were from 2010 and quite a bit of the speakers people were suggesting arent made/ hard to find now
so I havent really seen people sugesting anything specific very often
what I have found is that most builds have a part of tweeters and a pair of woofers, it appears that a resistor is soldered to the tweeters, still figuring out why. I would need to create chambers with in the box to inprove sound quality
I see some posts saying that the TA2020 board is too small and some saying it is just right
it appears tha Dayton is a popular brand for speakers, but a lot of people are picking just alot of cheaper options from parts express
and then I got to posts that were from 2010 and quite a bit of the speakers people were suggesting arent made/ hard to find now
so I havent really seen people sugesting anything specific very often
I would suggest using car speakers, if your budget is limited. They're 4 ohms, which will take the optimum power from the amp. Thrift stores, swap meets, garage sales, and abandoned cars are possible sources. Also auto wrecking yards; some of them salvage car audio stuff before crushing cars.
If you're building speakers for outdoor use, efficiency is usually more important than deep bass. Speakers which are 10 dB more sensitive will play as loud on 10 watts as less sensitive speakers would on 100 watts. This also pays off in a smaller amp, and a smaller battery or greatly increased playing time.
Another option might be to incorporate complete speakers (as in, speakers in boxes) into your box. It's not unusual to find good quality bookshelf speakers sitting next to junk speakers in thrift stores, and priced the same.
If you're building speakers for outdoor use, efficiency is usually more important than deep bass. Speakers which are 10 dB more sensitive will play as loud on 10 watts as less sensitive speakers would on 100 watts. This also pays off in a smaller amp, and a smaller battery or greatly increased playing time.
Another option might be to incorporate complete speakers (as in, speakers in boxes) into your box. It's not unusual to find good quality bookshelf speakers sitting next to junk speakers in thrift stores, and priced the same.
what would be a better configuration, a woofer and a tweeter on the 2 main sides of the box. or all on the same side?
it would mostly be used out doors so im not worried about a huge amount of bass but getting a good range would be nice, how can i find the sensativity of speakers? or is it just usually written on them somewhere?
it would mostly be used out doors so im not worried about a huge amount of bass but getting a good range would be nice, how can i find the sensativity of speakers? or is it just usually written on them somewhere?
If you want to cover a large area, then mounting speakers on opposite or adjacent sides would spread out the sound more. But, for most purposes, putting them on the same side makes more sense. If the box included a subwoofer that was crossed-over below 100 Hz, then putting it on the back or the bottom wouldn't make much difference since bass isn't very directional and the wavelengths are long.
Sensitivity is one of the basic specs that a manufacturer usually provides, along with frequency response and power handling and size and weight. Brand name car speakers tend to have similar sensitivities, so don't sweat it.
Sensitivity is one of the basic specs that a manufacturer usually provides, along with frequency response and power handling and size and weight. Brand name car speakers tend to have similar sensitivities, so don't sweat it.
Im striking out looking for used ones so far. the only salvage yard near me doesnt sell speakers. ive check a few different thrift shops near me and not found anything thats worth it... are there any brands you would recommend that have decent quality but are too terribly expensive. im thinking of just buying a set of new speakers to put in.
als thank your for your help so far
als thank your for your help so far
Any name brand car speaker won't be terrible. Given a choice, larger speakers like 6x9 or 6.5" may deliver more bass than 4x6". If you can be patient, watch the sales for any stores that carry car audio. (A local store is currently advertising Clarion 5x7 or 6x9 at $30 a pair, $80 off the "regular" price.)
Another possibility is to visit local car audio installer shops and ask if they have any OEM speakers that were pulled out of cars. They may have alien mounting flanges or connection terminals, but the price (if any) should make up for that. Perhaps have a six-pack of beer or a dozen donuts to offer as a reward. If you wanted a tweeter as well, look out for home speakers where the foam surrounds of the woofers have rotted away (and aren't worth the trouble of refoaming).
Another possibility is to visit local car audio installer shops and ask if they have any OEM speakers that were pulled out of cars. They may have alien mounting flanges or connection terminals, but the price (if any) should make up for that. Perhaps have a six-pack of beer or a dozen donuts to offer as a reward. If you wanted a tweeter as well, look out for home speakers where the foam surrounds of the woofers have rotted away (and aren't worth the trouble of refoaming).
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Interesting thread. I wanted to do my own DIY boombox at one time. But I ended up shelving the project because the place I worked at the time (where I was going to use it) had some nefarious people who would have been very happy to destroy it for me. Glad I am not there anymore. Now my mind is working on it again. I like the box. I like dangus's idea of OEM speakers. I replaced some speakers in my Jeep with some from crutchfield thinking I was upgrading and the stock ones were about the same. Good luck. I will be watching.
Hey, so in my search for a decent pair of speakers I found a decent pair of dayton audio bookshelf speakers for ~$40. Ive been able to get some more money for this project so I would be able to do that price.
Dayton Audio B652 6-1/2" 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair 300-652
Would you mind taking a look at these? Im pretty sure they would work for what I am doing but I would like a second opinion on it.
Ill probably get grills to put on the woofers just because this will be portable and take out side, to be safe
Dayton Audio B652 6-1/2" 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair 300-652
Would you mind taking a look at these? Im pretty sure they would work for what I am doing but I would like a second opinion on it.
Ill probably get grills to put on the woofers just because this will be portable and take out side, to be safe
If you want something really cheap and easy, just get 2 or 4 of the Aurasound 5" which are available for $3.60 at Madisound, plus 2 or 4 piezo tweeters. I've built a couple of boomboxes using this, and it sounds great in my ears. For amping I would recommend the cheapest TA2024/TA2020 amp you can find on ebay. Shouldn't cost more than $6. The walls in your crate look really thin, and it will likely be prone to vibrations. Make sure to stiffen it with some aditional bracing, stuff the entire thing with acoustic wool, and make sure to seal the speaker compartment entirely (unless you go for a ported design). All in all, this will cost you less than $50 with battery and connections.
Those Daytons are a bit less efficient than typical car speakers, and at 6 ohms they'll get less power from a T-amp. But, they appear to be excellent quality for the money, perfect for a home/office system, or outdoors in quiet surroundings.
You can find good speakers at thrift stores and garage sales, sometimes for ridiculously cheap. And I've seen decent name-brand speakers like PSB Alphas for $35 a pair at a pawn shop, and they've been there for months without selling. So... that's worth considering. On the other other hand, PE probably buys direct from the factory in China and eliminates a lot of markups, so those Daytons could be comparable in quality to speakers that retailed at much higher prices. And they're new, so you know what you're getting.
And I'll second the recommendation for an eBay T-amp. The power output is the same as a "high power" car head unit that claims 35 to 50 peak watts - read the specs carefully. You might want to consider an amp based on the Yamaha YDA148 chip; that amp chip has some nice features like an optional built-in clipping protection. It's not as popular as the Tripath chips, but I found one on Dealextreme for a reasonable price.
You can find good speakers at thrift stores and garage sales, sometimes for ridiculously cheap. And I've seen decent name-brand speakers like PSB Alphas for $35 a pair at a pawn shop, and they've been there for months without selling. So... that's worth considering. On the other other hand, PE probably buys direct from the factory in China and eliminates a lot of markups, so those Daytons could be comparable in quality to speakers that retailed at much higher prices. And they're new, so you know what you're getting.
And I'll second the recommendation for an eBay T-amp. The power output is the same as a "high power" car head unit that claims 35 to 50 peak watts - read the specs carefully. You might want to consider an amp based on the Yamaha YDA148 chip; that amp chip has some nice features like an optional built-in clipping protection. It's not as popular as the Tripath chips, but I found one on Dealextreme for a reasonable price.
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Looks good to me. I think you may have to stuff the box good with insulation.Maybe those speaker baffles crutchfield sells might be good to use here. I wonder if adding an extra layer of wood glued on the inside might stiffen it up better. Fairly thin box might vibrate alot. Hopefully others will chime in on this.
The wood on the box is about 1/4" thick so i had already planned on getting a small sheet of 1/4" plywood and liquid nail or wood glue to put on the inside to stiffen it up.
After looking at some of the stuff over at madisound im looking more at that option and possibly going with these these: The Madisound Speaker Store
and these for tweeters : The Madisound Speaker Store
I am still not sure where I am going with the amp yet bc i would like some volume controls on the am itself and working with just a board looks scary and sensative and im worried about breaking it.
The rest is just misc wiring and switches and the solar panel
Ive made some rough rendering in solidworks of a speaker layout with the speakers above, this is with the added 1/4" thickness on the boards, its all to scale. the red is what would be cut out and the black and white is the area covered by the bezel or i dont know what its called.
im still not sure if i will go with a ported design or just make speaker compartments and stuff them with dampening wool. which one sounds better? is the porting option just cutting a hole in it?[
IMG]http://imgur.com/vE2kt9e,dqwqTLE#0[/IMG]
After looking at some of the stuff over at madisound im looking more at that option and possibly going with these these: The Madisound Speaker Store
and these for tweeters : The Madisound Speaker Store
I am still not sure where I am going with the amp yet bc i would like some volume controls on the am itself and working with just a board looks scary and sensative and im worried about breaking it.
The rest is just misc wiring and switches and the solar panel
Ive made some rough rendering in solidworks of a speaker layout with the speakers above, this is with the added 1/4" thickness on the boards, its all to scale. the red is what would be cut out and the black and white is the area covered by the bezel or i dont know what its called.
im still not sure if i will go with a ported design or just make speaker compartments and stuff them with dampening wool. which one sounds better? is the porting option just cutting a hole in it?[
IMG]http://imgur.com/vE2kt9e,dqwqTLE#0[/IMG]
The Aura speakers are 8 ohms, so you won't get as much power from the amplifier. At that price, I'd be inclined to use two per side in parallel, which will draw more power and probably be more efficient.
Ports have to be designed to suit the Thiele-Small parameters of the speakers. Given the high resonant frequency, there may be no sane options for a ported cabinet. But, try plugging the numbers into a modelling program and see what you come up with. Maybe there's a way to coax a bit more bass out of them, perhaps with a bandpass design.
Ports have to be designed to suit the Thiele-Small parameters of the speakers. Given the high resonant frequency, there may be no sane options for a ported cabinet. But, try plugging the numbers into a modelling program and see what you come up with. Maybe there's a way to coax a bit more bass out of them, perhaps with a bandpass design.
Yea after playing with a calculator, porting isnt really an option.. So what does the acoustil wool really do? does it just make sure sound doesnt stay in the box and more of forces it out?
how would the wiring in parallel work out? would i put a left and right channel on each side of the box? and wouldnt drawing more power run down the batteries faster? and do you mean a pair of tweeters and a pair of the Aura speakers on each side?
Ive been looking on ebay and the only 6 dollar boards ive seen are the TA2024 boards which dont seem as powerful nor have volume control, and with the TA2020's for what I would pay for just the board i could buy the lepai with a nice case for just a few bucks more... or does volume control even matter?
how would the wiring in parallel work out? would i put a left and right channel on each side of the box? and wouldnt drawing more power run down the batteries faster? and do you mean a pair of tweeters and a pair of the Aura speakers on each side?
Ive been looking on ebay and the only 6 dollar boards ive seen are the TA2024 boards which dont seem as powerful nor have volume control, and with the TA2020's for what I would pay for just the board i could buy the lepai with a nice case for just a few bucks more... or does volume control even matter?
The TA2020 and TA2024 are essentially the same chip, but the 2020 supposedly has higher power handling because of its larger surface area (correct me if I'm wrong). The 2024 should however have no problems driving 4x 8 ohm speakers, which will be 4 ohm per channel if you parallell them. I personally don't need volume control on the amp itself as I just adjust that on the player. The $6 board are very small and easy to place, and fit perfectly on top of a regular 7,2Ah SLA. I would use a piece of plywood and separate the box into two compartments. The drivers which share the same channel also share the same compartment, and are placed opposite eachother. The same goes for the piezos, which you should dampen physically with silicone or similiar in the grooves on the backside. It's also recommended to connect a resistor in series with the piezos, 47 ohm seems to be used alot. Even though the cabinet size might not be perfect for the drivers, it should sound reasonably well if the internal volume is at least between 10-20 liters. Just make sure to brace/stiffen the box, so it doesn't vibrate, and seal it properly with silicone/acrylic. The acoustic wool is used to avoid sound cancellation - google it, as my explanation will likely be no good.
I just finished a boombox using Apex Jr's M&K/Vifa coaxials (Speaker Stuff) and the recommended crossovers, along with four Tang Band W5-876SE subwoofers from PE. I'm quite happy with the sound, but the boom box is very heavy!
Brian
Brian
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