The Boominator - another stab at the ultimate party machine

I tested my boominator today. The lid was only being held down by some weight and it was placed on an open field in my garden. It was fairly loud and you could feel the kick in your chest from one meter away, but I still felt it wasn't loud enough for a smaller party. My amp is a Ta2020 and I used both my phone and my netbook as a source. The netbook was a bit louder, but began distorting at the higher volumes.

I've gotten the impression that other boominator owners are very impressed with the loudness of the speaker so I began wondering if something is wrong. I'm pretty sure everything is connected correctly, although I use plug'n'play (spadestik) for the wiring instead of soldering.
 
The MUSE is fine. Not sure if you have a problem or not. Please put the top plate on properly and test again. Then try and speak to yourself in a normal voice. That's always a good measure of how loud things are because when you have clean sound you can turn up volume very far without noticing it before you actually try to speak with someone.
 
The amp is a Muse M20 EX2 - TA2020. I am unsure of the actual meaning of input sensitivity and I definitely don't know how to "change" or "regulate" it. Can you put this in rather simple terms?
Gain.
Increasing gain of the amp or adding a preamp are things that you might want to think about.

From 5v powered sources like the phone/digiplayer and like the 5v rail inside the netbook, the digital volume control begins to clip itself if over about 70%. However, the majority of power amps are still using outdated gain factors that don't support modern sources and can't get the amp up to potential. This combination is not enough output to push and not enough gain to help.

For adding a preamp, you can try a small signal op-amp as a preamp just like the CMOY and related projects for battery power headphone amp because that is really similar to a preamp.
 
I have no chance of getting af hp-10w right now, but can i use a hp-10t instead?

No. Afraid not. They're completely different.

There may still be resellers in southern Europe, eg. Greece, Italy and Spain, and in eastern Europe, eg. Lithuania and Romania that have them available still. But inquire and get confirmation before placing an order.

Otherwise, the only alternative is Goldwood GW-1058 which is only sold in North America, so you have to import it from there.

If you don't mind spending more but also cut at least 10kg of the weight and gain about 3dB more sensitivity then you can get the Eminence Basslite S2010 instead. It requires moderate changes in that the port should then only be 24mm not 36mm but otherwise the same size. You also have to find a pvc tube that fits over the magnets, and cut to the right length so that the drivers are connected.
 
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No. Afraid not. They're completely different.

There may still be resellers in southern Europe, eg. Greece, Italy and Spain, and in eastern Europe, eg. Lithuania and Romania that have them available still. But inquire and get confirmation before placing an order.

Otherwise, the only alternative is Goldwood GW-1058 which is only sold in North America, so you have to import it from there.

If you don't mind spending more but also cut at least 10kg of the weight and gain about 3dB more sensitivity then you can get the Eminence Basslite S2010 instead. It requires moderate changes in that the port should then only be 24mm not 36mm but otherwise the same size. You also have to find a pvc tube that fits over the magnets, and cut to the right length so that the drivers are connected.

Thanks for the quick response.

Is it realistic that i can get Goldwood GW-1058 before Roskilde?

I'll have to consider if i'm willing to pay 1200 kr more in total for the Eminence Basslite S2010..

And you cant just use Hp-12W - if you of course build a larger cabinet (and realizing that you have to put wheels on your modified boominator)? Guess you would need some in the midrange?
 
And you cant just use Hp-12W - if you of course build a larger cabinet (and realizing that you have to put wheels on your modified boominator)? Guess you would need some in the midrange?

Yes, you'd need a midrange as the HP12W is only good up to about 400hz. And each cabinet would have to be (exactly) 7 times larger in internal volume. The HP12W is not meant for and cannot be used in compact enclosures.

Yes, it's realistic to get the GW-1058s before Roskilde (if you order relatively soon). You should also look into buying them through forwarder service otherwise the price including freight, VAT and customs would be the same as for the Basslite's bought in the EU.
 
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Hey Saturnus. Can this be used to charge the batteries. Mobil Solcelle sæt 13 W - Køb den idag hos BilligCamping.dk

I've bought 3 x 12v 7.2Ah batteries. do I have to by a form of regulator for sunpanels.?

Yes, it can be used. No need for a regulator unless you intend to have it plugged permanently in when you're not using the Boominator. For example at a festival you're using power constantly, if not a lot at times, and that makes sure your batteries won't get overcharged.
 
The MUSE is fine. Not sure if you have a problem or not. Please put the top plate on properly and test again. Then try and speak to yourself in a normal voice. That's always a good measure of how loud things are because when you have clean sound you can turn up volume very far without noticing it before you actually try to speak with someone.

Well, I put the top plate on properly and it still isn't that loud. I came to wonder if I am experiencing the same as Osny - Phase inversion. Do you think that could be the case? The ports aren't pumping a lot of air out.
 
Here's som pictures, I hope they will sufice.

ImageShack Album - 16 images

There's no centerbrace because I made my drawings and bought the wood a long time ago. That's why the measurements are a little off. The black you see on the wires is to keep the connections in place. I've used "samlemuffer" to apply the resistor to the tweeters and to "transfer" the two wires from the 2 drivers into one single wire to the amp.