Spending a lot of time in the garden with the BBQ I decided that I needed a sound system marginally better than my laptop or DAB radio.
Taking inspiration from the various boom box tthreads, I've decided to put my own spin on it and have come up with the following.
Remit is that it's got to be reasonably portable, has to be cheap and use parts materials I have kicking about and as its only to be used in the garden it doesn't need any batteries, so will have a power supply running of mains electricity.
So here goes, bought the 2.1 channel class D amp ( sta508 with tc2000 chip amp supplying 2x80 and 1x160 watts). (Probably not RMS). Ordered a DC to DC step up unit that delivers 30 volts at around 10 amps from a 12 volt source. I have several 240 to 12 volt supplies that can deliver 5 amps, will one of these do to operate the dc to dc step up uniit?
For the drivers I have some JBL control 23's that came out of an office, they were used to provide sound at a projection screen. Plan is to run these as left and right and then use the third channel of the amp to drive an 8" JBL GTO804 sub which will work in 9 litres sealed or 19 litres ported box. I have this kicking about so won't cost me anything. Will need a coil to correctly filter the sub.
Design of unit will be a two part central unit with correctly sized compartment for the sub and a second chamber for all the electronics which will have a ventilation fan. The Control 23's are in THIER own cabinets and come with brackets so the intention is to have them as ears on either side of the central unit.
Input will be twin RCAs so I can connect DAB radio or laptop, will also have a 240v socket to connect radio or laptop, so I only need a single cable to power it all up.
Most critical will be the design of the sub enclosure so I will be mocking this up with some sacrificial enclosures to get it all sounding right before I commit to cutting any MDF. If it all works and sounds ok will add a pair of VU meters, as I really like the look.
I know this isn't real audiophile engineering but it's just my take on getting some boom boom in the garden with out spending a fortune
Will post up some pics as things progress, hopefully it should sound ok or at least better than my laptop.
Taking inspiration from the various boom box tthreads, I've decided to put my own spin on it and have come up with the following.
Remit is that it's got to be reasonably portable, has to be cheap and use parts materials I have kicking about and as its only to be used in the garden it doesn't need any batteries, so will have a power supply running of mains electricity.
So here goes, bought the 2.1 channel class D amp ( sta508 with tc2000 chip amp supplying 2x80 and 1x160 watts). (Probably not RMS). Ordered a DC to DC step up unit that delivers 30 volts at around 10 amps from a 12 volt source. I have several 240 to 12 volt supplies that can deliver 5 amps, will one of these do to operate the dc to dc step up uniit?
For the drivers I have some JBL control 23's that came out of an office, they were used to provide sound at a projection screen. Plan is to run these as left and right and then use the third channel of the amp to drive an 8" JBL GTO804 sub which will work in 9 litres sealed or 19 litres ported box. I have this kicking about so won't cost me anything. Will need a coil to correctly filter the sub.
Design of unit will be a two part central unit with correctly sized compartment for the sub and a second chamber for all the electronics which will have a ventilation fan. The Control 23's are in THIER own cabinets and come with brackets so the intention is to have them as ears on either side of the central unit.
Input will be twin RCAs so I can connect DAB radio or laptop, will also have a 240v socket to connect radio or laptop, so I only need a single cable to power it all up.
Most critical will be the design of the sub enclosure so I will be mocking this up with some sacrificial enclosures to get it all sounding right before I commit to cutting any MDF. If it all works and sounds ok will add a pair of VU meters, as I really like the look.
I know this isn't real audiophile engineering but it's just my take on getting some boom boom in the garden with out spending a fortune
Will post up some pics as things progress, hopefully it should sound ok or at least better than my laptop.
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