Hi all,
My 9 year old son and I are building a boombox for him to use at the rink for playing music in the change room etc.
It is 1/2" MDF construction, uses two cheap 6.25" 3way car speakers, and a 12V SLA battery for power. I got a 3116 amp board from ebay to power the speakers. The size of the box is 20"wide x10" high and 11.5" deep (outside dimensions). I have no idea on the particulars of the speakers, and so the design of the enclosure is just winging it.
I need help with suggestions mounting the amp. Most of the DIY pics I see have the amp mounted so that the knobs and inputs are on the outside of the box. I am struggling with a good way to mount my amp board inside the box but with the controls and 3.5mm jack easily assessable.
The amp board I have has the volume knob (also on/off switch) and the jack at the front. Because I am using 1/2" (12mm) MDF for the construction, the knob and jack won't make it through.
I've got decent woodworking skills, I could stop dado a slot about 2" wide and 1/2" tall, leaving about 1/8"-5/32" material on the face edge, and then drill the holes for the jack and knob to poke through. I am hoping that it won't be to weak. I would then glue a small shelf underneath the board to mount the amp to using the 2 holes at the back. I would do the dado on a drill press with a 1/2" forstner bit.
Here's a pic of a board with similar construction to the one I got on ebay. The LED on the one I got is a tiny flush mounted blue one, but to my untrained eye, the rest of the layout is very close.
Last night, we went to the local Home Depot, and were looking for something maybe to use as a face plate. No one could point me to small sheets of acrylic or plexiglass, so we came up with a utility box cover for $1.50 to bring home. Very similar to this:
However, the (2"x4") cover has a slightly raised profile, and as a result, I would need to probably go right through the MDF with the slot for the board. Will this affect the performance of my 'sealed' enclosure?
Another option would be to cut a smaller 3"x1.25" plate from the metal of this cover and glue it down as a faceplate for the amp . I would do most of the cutting with a hacksaw, angle grinder and hand file. My son would like to see the angle grinder in action.
Peter
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My 9 year old son and I are building a boombox for him to use at the rink for playing music in the change room etc.
It is 1/2" MDF construction, uses two cheap 6.25" 3way car speakers, and a 12V SLA battery for power. I got a 3116 amp board from ebay to power the speakers. The size of the box is 20"wide x10" high and 11.5" deep (outside dimensions). I have no idea on the particulars of the speakers, and so the design of the enclosure is just winging it.
I need help with suggestions mounting the amp. Most of the DIY pics I see have the amp mounted so that the knobs and inputs are on the outside of the box. I am struggling with a good way to mount my amp board inside the box but with the controls and 3.5mm jack easily assessable.
The amp board I have has the volume knob (also on/off switch) and the jack at the front. Because I am using 1/2" (12mm) MDF for the construction, the knob and jack won't make it through.
I've got decent woodworking skills, I could stop dado a slot about 2" wide and 1/2" tall, leaving about 1/8"-5/32" material on the face edge, and then drill the holes for the jack and knob to poke through. I am hoping that it won't be to weak. I would then glue a small shelf underneath the board to mount the amp to using the 2 holes at the back. I would do the dado on a drill press with a 1/2" forstner bit.
Here's a pic of a board with similar construction to the one I got on ebay. The LED on the one I got is a tiny flush mounted blue one, but to my untrained eye, the rest of the layout is very close.
Last night, we went to the local Home Depot, and were looking for something maybe to use as a face plate. No one could point me to small sheets of acrylic or plexiglass, so we came up with a utility box cover for $1.50 to bring home. Very similar to this:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
However, the (2"x4") cover has a slightly raised profile, and as a result, I would need to probably go right through the MDF with the slot for the board. Will this affect the performance of my 'sealed' enclosure?
Another option would be to cut a smaller 3"x1.25" plate from the metal of this cover and glue it down as a faceplate for the amp . I would do most of the cutting with a hacksaw, angle grinder and hand file. My son would like to see the angle grinder in action.
Peter
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..
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I got the 'slot' for the amp board cut out without incident, see pic. I used a 5/8" forster bit. 
Anyone try running an equalizer app on their android or apple device. Would it help make a bad speaker sound better?
There are a bunch free on the Google play store. I may try a few when the speaker is completed.
Anyone try running an equalizer app on their android or apple device. Would it help make a bad speaker sound better?
There are a bunch free on the Google play store. I may try a few when the speaker is completed.
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