Hey guys I've been through a ton of diy boombox threads and have already bought some stuff.
I've bought a lepai 2020a amp and a 7Ah SLA battery and charger.
Next step is to get some speakers and make the box and wire everything up. I have some cheap computer speakers that don't work anymore so I tore it apart and connected the drivers to the lepai. Sounds pretty crappy.
Wanted to go out and buy some drivers but honestly I can't find any of those suggested in other threads such as monacor sp- 60 or daytons or anything of the sort.
What I can find though are those coaxial car speakers and these caught my eye:
boss R53 5.25" speaker pair. Main thing that actually caught my eye was the 90db sensitivity. I'm just dabbling and starting to learn more about these systems so any advice would be good. Main considerations were that it's cheap and more sensitive than those in the same price range. Also any advice on how the speaker enclosure should be if I did get those would be a great help. Thanks
I've bought a lepai 2020a amp and a 7Ah SLA battery and charger.
Next step is to get some speakers and make the box and wire everything up. I have some cheap computer speakers that don't work anymore so I tore it apart and connected the drivers to the lepai. Sounds pretty crappy.
Wanted to go out and buy some drivers but honestly I can't find any of those suggested in other threads such as monacor sp- 60 or daytons or anything of the sort.
What I can find though are those coaxial car speakers and these caught my eye:
boss R53 5.25" speaker pair. Main thing that actually caught my eye was the 90db sensitivity. I'm just dabbling and starting to learn more about these systems so any advice would be good. Main considerations were that it's cheap and more sensitive than those in the same price range. Also any advice on how the speaker enclosure should be if I did get those would be a great help. Thanks
That's what car speakers do, they catch your eye. Real speakers have to catch your ears 🙂. The SP60's are by far a better option than the Boss speakers, their '90db' sensitivity is probably a random number. You could go with a 7.25 liter ported with 2 120x35mm ports or copy the Boominator mini/micro.
Haha damn, and I thought I found just the right ones. Though like I said I can't find the sp60s locally so the shipping costs are like twice the actual price. Worst part about this is that I'll have no idea how anything sounds till I'm done with the whole project haha
Hi,
There is nothing wrong fundamentally with using car speakers in
a boom box, though the x/o's usually could do with more work,
at least usually an L-pad to set the tweeter level.
Cheap and cheerful car speakers can be very good value.
rgds, sreten.
There is nothing wrong fundamentally with using car speakers in
a boom box, though the x/o's usually could do with more work,
at least usually an L-pad to set the tweeter level.
Cheap and cheerful car speakers can be very good value.
rgds, sreten.
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Hey there, so would you think the ones I mentioned in the first post would be suitable? Since like I said I have no idea how they'd sound till everything is done. Also how would I determine the enclosure size if I decide to get the car speakers? Thanks
Hi,
As ever doing stuff on the cheap needs a lot more skills
than doing it more expensively with known drivers.
I can't tell you the numbers, winging it involves a lot
of guesstimation, which requires a lot of knowledge.
The guessing can be reduced by measurements.
rgds, sreten.
As ever doing stuff on the cheap needs a lot more skills
than doing it more expensively with known drivers.
I can't tell you the numbers, winging it involves a lot
of guesstimation, which requires a lot of knowledge.
The guessing can be reduced by measurements.
rgds, sreten.
Here are the specs I found:
Features
Boss R53 5.25″ 400 Watt 3 Way Car Speakers
Poly Injection Cone Material
Voice Coil Material: Aluminum
Impedance: 4 Ohm
Frequency Response: 100 Hz to 18 Hz
- New Boss R53 5.25″ 400 Watt 3 Way Car Speakers (4-pack)
– 200 Watt MAX (400 Watt per 4-pack)
– Poly Injection Cone Material
– Voice Coil Material: Aluminum
– Impedance: 4 Ohm
– Frequency Response: 100 Hz to 18 Hz
– SPL (1 Watt / 1 Meter): 90 dB
– Mounting Hole Depth: 2″.
Would these specs help in guesstimate-ing the enclosure? I'm thinking the enclosure should be ported instead of sealed too?
Features
Boss R53 5.25″ 400 Watt 3 Way Car Speakers
Poly Injection Cone Material
Voice Coil Material: Aluminum
Impedance: 4 Ohm
Frequency Response: 100 Hz to 18 Hz
- New Boss R53 5.25″ 400 Watt 3 Way Car Speakers (4-pack)
– 200 Watt MAX (400 Watt per 4-pack)
– Poly Injection Cone Material
– Voice Coil Material: Aluminum
– Impedance: 4 Ohm
– Frequency Response: 100 Hz to 18 Hz
– SPL (1 Watt / 1 Meter): 90 dB
– Mounting Hole Depth: 2″.
Would these specs help in guesstimate-ing the enclosure? I'm thinking the enclosure should be ported instead of sealed too?
No. Those "specs" are just a marketing description, no useful or trust-worthy data.
You need the drivers actual parameters. As an absolute minimum you need the Qts, Vas, and Fs data. Qes and/or Re is highly desirable too. BL factor and Le is also handy.
Wouldn't it be possible to get proper quality speakers from eg. p.audio? They're produced in Krung Thep, Thailand and although there's no Singapore dealer, there is a Malaysian dealer in Kuala Lumpur which is only some 200km away by road so shipping should be affordable.
You need the drivers actual parameters. As an absolute minimum you need the Qts, Vas, and Fs data. Qes and/or Re is highly desirable too. BL factor and Le is also handy.
Wouldn't it be possible to get proper quality speakers from eg. p.audio? They're produced in Krung Thep, Thailand and although there's no Singapore dealer, there is a Malaysian dealer in Kuala Lumpur which is only some 200km away by road so shipping should be affordable.
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My first 'perpetual music machine' was a two 6.5" car stereo speakers taken out of a scrapped car, and mounted in a sealed enclosure with a TI chipset based class D amp, and a SLA.
It was plenty loud for a bunch of us at a small campsite. A Boominator is far louder at the same power, and far better sounding, but building mine cost me way more than the ~$20 of parts that went into this old thing.
It was plenty loud for a bunch of us at a small campsite. A Boominator is far louder at the same power, and far better sounding, but building mine cost me way more than the ~$20 of parts that went into this old thing.
Haha nice, shall go cheap and just look for some spare car speakers. How did you go about designing the enclosure? Volume and all I mean.
I measured the speaker parameters using the method here, adding a ring of poster putty to the cone to determine Vas - Measuring Loudspeaker Driver Parameters
Multiplied Vas by 0.707 to get the enclosure volume, guesstimated the volume of the speaker/magnet and built an appropriate box, which was just under 4L IIRC.
Multiplied Vas by 0.707 to get the enclosure volume, guesstimated the volume of the speaker/magnet and built an appropriate box, which was just under 4L IIRC.
Hey there guys after finishing the car speaker boombox and using it for a while I felt that it wasn't that great after all. After more searching I found these drivers available and can be easily bought in Singapore. They are not too expensive either and since they're full range I was thinking if I could build something like a mini qubinator which was saturnus' cube boominator design with 10" full range drivers.
VISATON - Loudspeakers - accessories Online - Singapore/Asia
VISATON - Loudspeakers - accessories Online - Singapore/Asia
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
If anyone's interested, here was the one I completed.
It sounds pretty ok and is definitely loud enough for indoor use but isn't loud enough to use outdoors and the sound is also very directional, only loud when standing right in front of it. Bass is more or less non existent outdoors and distorts quite quickly when turned up. Still it's not bad to have, just wish I could build something better suited for outdoor use.
I've looked at saturnus' various boominator builds but unfortunately it's more or less impossible to get a hold of the necessary drivers.
Wanted to ask for advice on whether the visaton ones linked above would be any good for designing something of such purpose, and how I would go about designing it. Thanks guys.
Hi from a new member,
I've been lurking for while now gaining various bits of information to help with the design of a DIY Boombox I completed a couple of weeks ago.
I used second hand 17mm structural plywood for the top, bottom and sides and some scrap 7mm ply for the front and back panels.
I went with the Lepai LP-2020+, two Pioneer 4 ohm car speakers, a 9 Ah SLA battery, a cheap volt meter with side mounted switch and a marine female car charger plug for charging the internal battery and for recharging an MP3 etc + an RCA chassis input. I sourced some tweeters from an old Sanyo M9998K boombox (1979) and used the metal feet that came with the Sanyo.
I went with separate sealed boxes for each set of speakers filled with padding. Simple construction but very solid - no vibrations etc.
I originally wanted to create a DIY box that would sound as good as a classic boombox but would be able to utilise a rechargable battery. I tend to use my boomboxes outdoors and was sick of paying $35 per set of 10 D cells (killing a set in under an hour!)
I'm very happy with the sound of this DIY box. The Lepai seems to drive the Pioneers pretty well - It pounds with good bass and clear highs and is plenty loud outside! It far exceeds the sonic abilities of my boomboxes! This little amp seems very efficient as you can run this thing for days and days before a recharge is needed. 🙂
You may notice the speakers were changed in the last photo - I upgraded to better drivers as my second hand set were past it! Total weight came in at 9.40 kgs fully loaded with the new, heavier drivers.
I'm now working on a slightly bigger box running 8 inch drivers - I can feel another addiction taking hold!
Thanks guys,
James..... 🙂
I've been lurking for while now gaining various bits of information to help with the design of a DIY Boombox I completed a couple of weeks ago.
I used second hand 17mm structural plywood for the top, bottom and sides and some scrap 7mm ply for the front and back panels.
I went with the Lepai LP-2020+, two Pioneer 4 ohm car speakers, a 9 Ah SLA battery, a cheap volt meter with side mounted switch and a marine female car charger plug for charging the internal battery and for recharging an MP3 etc + an RCA chassis input. I sourced some tweeters from an old Sanyo M9998K boombox (1979) and used the metal feet that came with the Sanyo.
I went with separate sealed boxes for each set of speakers filled with padding. Simple construction but very solid - no vibrations etc.
I originally wanted to create a DIY box that would sound as good as a classic boombox but would be able to utilise a rechargable battery. I tend to use my boomboxes outdoors and was sick of paying $35 per set of 10 D cells (killing a set in under an hour!)
I'm very happy with the sound of this DIY box. The Lepai seems to drive the Pioneers pretty well - It pounds with good bass and clear highs and is plenty loud outside! It far exceeds the sonic abilities of my boomboxes! This little amp seems very efficient as you can run this thing for days and days before a recharge is needed. 🙂
You may notice the speakers were changed in the last photo - I upgraded to better drivers as my second hand set were past it! Total weight came in at 9.40 kgs fully loaded with the new, heavier drivers.
I'm now working on a slightly bigger box running 8 inch drivers - I can feel another addiction taking hold!
Thanks guys,
James..... 🙂
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