Building Bluetooth Portable Speaker (Kicker Speakers)

[legoz]

I'd like to build a portable Bluetooth speaker mini boombox
i have little to no experience on what components to buy.

I have a pair of Kicker DS40 4 ohms 50 watts peak 25w each.
Can some one recommend a good Bluetooth amplifier module
for me and if possible a portable power source for it.

Ive been reading and reading for days on how to build one
but thought i'd ask for help now. Maybe some one can help.

Thanks.

 

[djonesii]

Start with the battery ..... Most likely this limits you to a 12Volt DC board ...

From there, go out to parts express and start looking.

The ones I have built ( not boom boxes, but hard wired ) I always have used a seperate receiver module on either a separate 5V supply or the using a small transformer.

Getting the bluetooth in the same box can be tricky as the receiver can generate some noise.

 

[OffGridKindaGuy]

I'm currently building 2 units myself. One operates at 12 volt D.C. and the other at 5 volts D.C. I'll add more when I have time. (I'm at work)

 

[OffGridKindaGuy]

My 5 volt system. It'll easily run for a couple of long nights on a fully charged battery..

1pcs PAM8403 Digital Power Audio Amplifier Board USB DC5V 3W 3W Amp Module | eBay

5600mAh Portable External Battery USB Charger Power Bank for Mobile Phone iPhone | eBay

1ft USB 2.0 Extension Cable | Black | Type A | Male to Female

2ft Mini 3.5mm Stereo Cable | Male to Male

3 5mm USB Bluetooth Wireless Stereo Audio Music Speaker Receiver Adapter Dongle | eBay

Cut the 3.5mm cable in half and connect one half to the amp for audio input. (Enough for 2 unit) Cut in half and expose the wires in the middle of the USB cable. (You will be using both ends) Disregard the green/white/shield wires and only use the red+/black-. Reconnect the red/black of both ends and add jumpers to connect to the amp for power. Add speaker wires to the amp for connection to speakers. Plug the Bluetooth into the female end and plug the battery to the male end. Plug the 3.5mm into the Bluetooth.. Wala! (On/Off Sw. is the battery)

Amazing little amp and will kick Jawbone butt on a good set of speakers. (4 or 8 ohms) Ain't got all of the bells and whistles but who cares? I wanna listen to music!
_________________________________________________________________________

My 12 volt system is about the same except I added a female USB jack and a 5 volt regulator to the amp. (Which isn't necessary, just a prototype) My vision was to add it to charge a 5 volt bank battery or my MP3 player/Cell Phone from the larger 12 volt battery if needed..

*I ran into a ground loop issue while trying to operate the Bluetooth from the port I added. I cured it by adding a ground isolation unit between the amp and the Bluetooth BUT for the cost of a quality isolation unit compared to a bank battery..

12 volt Amps.. Which one? I like them both and they are mighty equal, except for cost. The 2020 has a little more punch but to me, it doesn't justify the cost difference..

LP 2020A Lepai Tripath Class T HiFi Audio Mini Power Amp 20WX2 Car Amplifier 844632088353 | eBay

Lepai LP 808 Hi Fi Stereo Amplifier 12V 2A DC Car Boat Track Amplifier | eBay

Portable 12V DC 6800mAh Blue Rechargeable Li ion Battery CCTV Cameras B4 Lenses | eBay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5mm-USB-Bluetooth-Wireless-Stereo-Audio-Music-Speaker-Receiver-Adapter-Dongle-/261574958926?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ce7151f4e

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5600mAh-Portable-External-Battery-USB-Charger-Power-Bank-for-Mobile-Phone-iPhone-/350950654986?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item51b64a040a

The battery comes with an A.C. mains charger. The battery output connector matches the amp(s) perfectly! You can easily daisy chain 2 batteries for longer run time if needed..

Bank battery is for the Bluetooth. 3.5mm to the amp and Wala! (Just add speakers)

Shop around and you may find better prices. I purchased the 12 volt camera batteries/chargers from AliExpress for much less but ya gotta wait a month..

 

[lutkeveld]

The LP2020A+ is definitely worth its money over the 808.
The 808 is a piece of **** deluxe. That's my experience with the 838 (2.1 version) at least.
ClassAB, so not suited for portable use, distorts horribly and is build badllyyyy.
Save yourself the trouble, buy a YJ TA2020 or preferably a MaxAmp20.

 

[OffGridKindaGuy]

Dunno about the 838. Never owned one. I have several 2020's and the 808's..

The biggest difference I notice is the 2020 likes 4 ohm speakers better than the 808. On 8 ohm speakers, they's 'bout the same, IMO..

I like the analog sound of the 808 compared to the 2020. Not as "Clinical". Smoother mids BUT the bass is more defined through the 2020. They both have their pros and cons..

The 808 is smaller and cheaper in price. Better option for portable builds. If someone spills a beer on it, you only have to cry half as much..

 

[OffGridKindaGuy]

Another option is one of these..

new car radio bluetooth car stereo 12V mp3 player car audio Bluetooth radio SD Card USB Port AUX IN PHONE 1 Din in dash 520-in Car Radios from Automobiles & Motorcycles on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

Can't play CD's with it but it works fantastic! I'm using one for my home stereo right now. Bluetooth connects easily and I run XM into the Aux. jack. I don't believe it would use much more power than either amp I mention but a whole lot of extras..

 

[Saturnus]

I don't believe it would use much more power than either amp I mention but a whole lot of extras..

You'd be wrong. A car audio head unit easily uses 1200-1800mA in idle before playing any music at all. These are power hungry little buggers with all them LEDs and other completely unnecessary parts on all the time.

To compare, that's 3-5 times as much as a TA2020, TPA3116, or maxamp uses at maximum volume. These small amps use 40-60mA in idle.

Just to clarify. All these amps have exactly the same output power as output power is a function of supply voltage vs load impedance.

 

[Saturnus]

The 808 is smaller and cheaper in price. Better option for portable builds. If someone spills a beer on it, you only have to cry half as much..

On the other hand the 808 uses more than 6 times as much power for the same output power so you cry a lot more from back pains having to drag larger batteries around. And 6 times larger batteries easily outweighs the cost difference of the amps as well.

In either case, at the end of the day, I'd not recommend either amp for a portable build. The Lepai TA2020 is a very poor, if cheap, implementation of the TA2020 chip. There are much better alternatives for only a few dollars extra.

 

[OffGridKindaGuy]

"You'd be wrong. A car audio head unit easily uses 1200-1800mA in idle before playing any music at all. These are power hungry little buggers with all them LEDs and other completely unnecessary parts on all the time."

Both, the 808 and the 2020 use LED's. The difference between the DIN unit and either amp is the radio tuner and the display. The DIN unit I linked to is fused at 1.5 amps from the factory and both amps suggest a 2 amp supply. Maybe the idle load on the DIN unit may be a tad higher but any amp uses more power with higher volume. Just totally disconnect from the battery when not using. Mite lose the radio presets and clock setting but..

I agree.. The 2020 is more efficient than the 808 but the run time on a 7 aHr. SLA is only different by an hour or so. (11.9 volts on the battery) Both amps (The 808 and 2020) will do a long night on a fully charged SLA. I've tested both at the drive-in movies with one of my set ups. Even had juice left to jam out after we got home..

 

[Saturnus]

I agree.. The 2020 is more efficient than the 808 but the run time on a 7 aHr. SLA is only different by an hour or so.

That does far from match my findings.

The TA2020 uses 60mA idle. And the LA4636 in the 808 uses 70mA. So far so good.

However, at maximum volume into 4 ohm speakers playing music with an average crest factor of -10dB the TA2020 uses 360mA and the LA4636 uses 1240mA.

 

[OffGridKindaGuy]

From another post of mine, in regards to the 808..

"Suppose to have a Sanyo LA 4636 as advertised.. Not so.. Found a Phillips TDA7057AQ! For what I see, neither is interchangeable with each other!

"

2 different chips. I'm sure the LA4636 is a more powerful chip, as per specs, but the 808 doesn't use it.. False advertisement..

 

[Saturnus]

The TDA7057AQ is in function not significantly different from the LA4636 so it doesn't change much except the TDA7057AQ is incapable of running 4 ohm loads.

So maybe your findings are based on comparing a TA2020 on a 4 ohm load vs. a TDA7057AQ on a 8 ohm load. In that case there is not much difference but the TDA7057AQ delivers half the output power for slightly more power used.

 

[lutkeveld]

Or on low volume where the difference in consumption isn't as big as on full power.

 

[Saturnus]

Or on low volume where the difference in consumption isn't as big as on full power.

True. On low volume both amps would easily last several days on a fully charged 12V 7Ah battery.

 

[OffGridKindaGuy]

Ain't no low volume around here..

AMOF, both vehicles, to my left and right at the drive-in, shut down their car radios and listened to my system all night..

I can only express what I have observed in real life situations, using 8 ohm speakers..

 

[lutkeveld]

Keep in mind that volume works logarithmically. So reducing your volume to slightly under max power can already results in half the power usage.

 

[saabaab]

Currently using two kicker ps52504 speakers in an ammo can being driven by an xh-m190 amplifier. Loud. Clean. Clear. Battery life has yet to be detetmined as I usually only run it a day or so between chargings.