Two weeks ago, my friend and I were stuck inside working and listening to music, and it was an unbelievably nice day out. We started talking about getting a nice boombox, so we went off on a tangent and searched for boomboxes and ghettoblasters. To both our amazement there was hardly anything that looked decent. And anything that did look decent ended up being $150+, wasn't very portable and still couldn't do more than a couple watts without major distortion. We went back to work and I tucked this gripe into the back of my mind.
Last week I pulled it out, and went to work.
The boombox will be...
under $175
under 15 pounds
a manageable size
of decent sound quality
loud for rocking too
playable for 3+ hours at max volume.
Components List:
5.25in Car Speakers
Speaker Covers
amplifier this thing is AMAZING. Regardless of this project, you should own one if you own speakers. It especially likes high efficiency speakers aka 87dB/2.83V/1m and up.
Battery
Arm Strap I got my strap locally, but this thing looks nice. Or you could just salvage one from an old bag.
Rubber footpads
louvered dish
blank dish
speaker cable.... you need 2 feet of it max. find a friend with some if you don't have it.
2 d-rings to connect strap... $6
24in X 48inX 1/2in birch plywood.... $10-15 at local home depot.
can of spray paint in your favorite color... $5
wood glue... cheap
This puts me just under $175 including shipping/tax. I already had some of the components sitting around. If I wasn't so lazy, I would have salvaged more. Recycling combined with some cheaper full-range drivers and I could have easily brought this project under 150.
I already own a lead-acid battery charger/conditioner amazon has some for... $30-50
Specifications:
Dimensions: 8in X 8in X 16in
Miter joints will be used whenever possible
The back will removable for future access.
Full drawings will be up in a week. For now, this will have to do...
don't laugh at my skillz too hard
DIY Boombox Worklog and Partlist
