Refine my camping sound box!

[SandBoxInc]

Hi! Thanks in advance for any tips and suggestion you guys have.

New member and a rookie in Audio. But I heard this was the place to go for advice.

So here is the idea. I built a Wood Box that I put pretty much this setup in. imgur: the simple image sharer

I riveted and put handles on the whole group of receivers together and dropped the whole unite in the box with it connected to the speakers. I keep blowing out the speakers because I take this out camping and I turn it up too loud.

MY question is, what would be better then buying these $100 garage specials and somehow make this box smaller. I assume I wouldn't need all 4 sides of this box with a 10" inch speaker with a 4"+2" smaller speakers. Plus is there an all in one tuner that would allow me to plug in a audio device ( TRS connector ) that would take away all of those boxes? I assume a car audio player wouldn't work without some amps? Next is something that I could use other then my generator! How long would something like this run on a normal car battery or a Deep Cycle Boat battery?

So a summary of the questions
1. All-in-one tuner that will allow for simple ipod/iphone plug-in (TRS connector) Would a car radio work? (Example - http://www.jensenmarinedirect.com/je...atherband.html)
2. Better speakers that hold up to elements?
3. How long would this setup run on a Car Battery or Deep Cycle Boat Battery? I have a Honda 1k Generator that runs this and my 40' 5th wheel trailer just fine.

Thanks again

[dangus]

For battery operation, an efficient "T-amp" is a good idea. Search eBay for TA2024 or TA2020. They'll do about 10 real watts into 4 ohms, which doesn't sound like much, but that's the same power that a "high power" car deck puts out (the 35 or 40 watt ratings are purely imaginary). $12 (including shipping) will get you a no-frills board ready to use, so you may prefer to pay a bit more and get luxuries like volume and tone controls and a case. Search on TA2020 mini and you'll find them for under $20 including shipping.

Consider building efficient PA style speakers, which may make those 10 watts sound like 100. There's some cheap(ish) MCM Audio Select woofers at MCM that look promising. But, you could start out with whatever home or car speakers you already have and see if that's enough.

Music can sound very good outdoors because it's not muddied by room reverberation. Critters don't seem to mind; I've found giant flying bugs attracted by black lights, and heard the birds waking as deep house echoed from the trees.

There are made-in-China MP3 player modules that include FM radios. I suspect radio performance won't be very good, particularly if there's EMI from a switching amp nearby, but maybe the tuner chips use DSP magic. Search ebay for DIY MP3 SD and you'll find some.

[Cal Weldon]

Posts not dealing with the original questions removed.