I have been wanting to throw together a cooler stereo for some time now. I had most of the parts but but didn't have the cooler until I broke down & bought one today. I was searching for one that had a realatively simple flat-walled design, and was wide enough to fit 2 speakers next to each other on the same face. The "Igloo Playmate Elite MAXCOLD" fits the bill nicely and was even on sale this week at Target.
My main goal was to build an easily portable, good-sounding ipod stereo using parts I already had. The Polk DB650 speakers sound wonderful and the Lepai 2020 will run for a long time off an SLA battery, which will be nice for outdoor use. The build has gone quickly so far, here's one exterior pic (more pics soon):
On the interior, I did lay down 1 layer of thin, dynamat-like material that I bought from Elemental Designs a few years back. I didn't notice a whole lot of difference before/after but honestly did very little listening without the deadener. I had some extra that needed to be used up so I laid it down.
I also have some thicker foam-like deadener (also from eD), should I lay this on top of the thinner deadener? IIRC both materials work together to deaden both high & low freq vibrations. I figure this is one way to cut down annoying vibrations but maybe it doesn't make any difference when using a plastic cooler as the speaker cabinet.
*Update 8/28 - I probably won't throw down the layer of foam over the thinner material. I don't have any more rattles to kill.
One last question - would a port help with bass output? It honestly sounds pretty good without a port, but a little more low end output would be great. The polk 6.5's are actually very clear but the bass is just OK.
*Update 8/28 - port definitely livens up the low end. I'm much more pleased with this unit after porting than before.
My main goal was to build an easily portable, good-sounding ipod stereo using parts I already had. The Polk DB650 speakers sound wonderful and the Lepai 2020 will run for a long time off an SLA battery, which will be nice for outdoor use. The build has gone quickly so far, here's one exterior pic (more pics soon):
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
On the interior, I did lay down 1 layer of thin, dynamat-like material that I bought from Elemental Designs a few years back. I didn't notice a whole lot of difference before/after but honestly did very little listening without the deadener. I had some extra that needed to be used up so I laid it down.
I also have some thicker foam-like deadener (also from eD), should I lay this on top of the thinner deadener? IIRC both materials work together to deaden both high & low freq vibrations. I figure this is one way to cut down annoying vibrations but maybe it doesn't make any difference when using a plastic cooler as the speaker cabinet.
*Update 8/28 - I probably won't throw down the layer of foam over the thinner material. I don't have any more rattles to kill.
One last question - would a port help with bass output? It honestly sounds pretty good without a port, but a little more low end output would be great. The polk 6.5's are actually very clear but the bass is just OK.
*Update 8/28 - port definitely livens up the low end. I'm much more pleased with this unit after porting than before.
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Added a port tonight after calculating an appropriate length and diameter. I also found that port placement on the box (cooler) does not really matter.
Some foam between the lid and the side wall of the cooler completely eliminated any rattles and honestly now I can say I have a decent sounding unit!
I'll post pics soon - this has been a fun project for me. It will even hold some beers!
Some foam between the lid and the side wall of the cooler completely eliminated any rattles and honestly now I can say I have a decent sounding unit!
I'll post pics soon - this has been a fun project for me. It will even hold some beers!
Here is a pic of what the interior looks like now. I experimented with about 4 different port lengths and settled on the one I originally calculated: 1" ID PVC x 6.5" long.
I removed the lid and added adhesive backed foam which completely eliminated all my rattles.
I removed the lid and added adhesive backed foam which completely eliminated all my rattles.
Cool! You are all set up for ambiophonics!
You can get the iPhone or iPad App.....it's free, check it out.
Or if you have android....the neutron music player has it also 🙂
http://www.ambiophonics.org/
You can get the iPhone or iPad App.....it's free, check it out.
Or if you have android....the neutron music player has it also 🙂
http://www.ambiophonics.org/
that's a nice build man. perhaps the diyaudio dudes aren't the best crowd for this type of build. you should check out motorboatyourself.com forums. it's a whole forum dedicated to cooler builds. I haven't seen anyone over there build a with a lepai yet, so you should shoot on over and let them know how that turned out.
Iggy - I appreciate the tips. I will definitely check out mbyourself forums since it looks like this project is right up their alley. I did see someone mention a Lepai 2020 amp but they never posted much of a review or many details about their application.
After reading most of the forums & replies at mbyourself, it just seems like many builders are throwing a bunch of amps & speakers in large coolers and running them off automotive batterys to have the "biggest and baddest" system. Not to over-generalize or slam another forum, but it just seems like I will get more thorough, scientific responses in this forum. I could go dump a bunch of money into a big ol cooler stereo with a huge amp and 6 subs, but for now I want to make the best with what I have.
So with that being said, any suggestions/comments on what I have done or what I can improve are very welcome. I realize this cooler style system is a less popular build for this type of crowd, but I respect the level of technical understanding many of you on this forum have.
My thoughts on how to further improve this system are related to the amp itself. I am wondering if there's a killer DIY amp that would work well in this system & give me more power & cleaner sound while not taking too much of a hit on battery life.
After reading most of the forums & replies at mbyourself, it just seems like many builders are throwing a bunch of amps & speakers in large coolers and running them off automotive batterys to have the "biggest and baddest" system. Not to over-generalize or slam another forum, but it just seems like I will get more thorough, scientific responses in this forum. I could go dump a bunch of money into a big ol cooler stereo with a huge amp and 6 subs, but for now I want to make the best with what I have.
So with that being said, any suggestions/comments on what I have done or what I can improve are very welcome. I realize this cooler style system is a less popular build for this type of crowd, but I respect the level of technical understanding many of you on this forum have.
My thoughts on how to further improve this system are related to the amp itself. I am wondering if there's a killer DIY amp that would work well in this system & give me more power & cleaner sound while not taking too much of a hit on battery life.
yeah, some of them are like that... some folks have built conservative systems that recharge with solar power, like me. no 10's, just two 6.5's like you have. so don't give up on them entirely.
that being said...
the "killer DIY amp" question is what brought me to this forum from motorboat to begin with. check out the boominator thread. there should be a list of amps they've used in their builds somewhere.
that being said...
the "killer DIY amp" question is what brought me to this forum from motorboat to begin with. check out the boominator thread. there should be a list of amps they've used in their builds somewhere.
That's a great recommendation. I really need to build a boominator now. The fact that 4 10s can be driven by such a small amp is so awesome. Time to start collecting parts!
For now I'm going to look into the inductor and resistor mods people have done to improve the sound quality of the Lepai and see how much improvement I can get for this cooler stereo application.
For now I'm going to look into the inductor and resistor mods people have done to improve the sound quality of the Lepai and see how much improvement I can get for this cooler stereo application.
For the cost of the modifying the Lepai and a new power adapter, wouldn't it be close to the cost of a SMSL SA-50?
I have a Lepai 2020A+ and there's like the "sounds of silence" when it's on.
I'm sorry, I don't follow. Can you explain "sounds of silence"?
And I will keep the smsl in mind but since I already have a lepai 2020, the additional Cost shouldn't be very much vs $50 on another amp. (I'm cheap.)
Does the power supply mod for the lepai ta2020 apply in my case where I'm using a battery? I thought it was related to an issue with the wall wort. Maybe I need to do some more research on this subject.
And I will keep the smsl in mind but since I already have a lepai 2020, the additional Cost shouldn't be very much vs $50 on another amp. (I'm cheap.)
Does the power supply mod for the lepai ta2020 apply in my case where I'm using a battery? I thought it was related to an issue with the wall wort. Maybe I need to do some more research on this subject.
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