Ammo Box Speakers

This instructable will demonstrate how to turn a .50 caliber ammunition box into a sweet set of speakers that can be used with your mp3 player, laptop, or any other portable device.

This set of speakers is rugged, compact, easy to take on the go, and LOUD!  The whole project will cost about $50.00 usd. and can be completed in an afternoon.

Step 1 Materials

Most of these materials can be purchased locally, but I chose to get some of the items online to cut down on costs.

Heres what you need:

1.  One .50 caliber ammo box- http://www.joesarmynavyonline.com/servlet/Detail?no=5984
2.  Two 4" speakers- http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PL42BL-4-Inch-Two-Way-Speakers/dp/B000230LBI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1291250695&sr=8-2
3.  2 sets of speaker wires- these will come with your speakers typically
4.  12 volt amplifier-http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.34406
5.  3.5mm panel mount plug- http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062450
6.  12 volt illuminated toggle switch- http:// http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=206249312
7.  Computer power supply- a broken one is ok for this, as you will just be using the plug and cord.
8.  Egg carton foam- I had this piece of foam from some type of packaging.
9.  1 3/4" desk grommet- these can be found in the hardware store or office supply store.
10.  12 volt power supply- this is the kind of power supply that a laptop would use.
11.  Two 4" computer fan grates.
12.  3.5mm male audio to rca audio
13.  3.5mm male to 3.5mm male audio cable
14.  cheap little tripod from the dollar store
15.  various hardware.

Comments

[mloopz]

your vise look very practical, is there an instructable for it?

[Kardolf]

I could be wrong, but it looks to me like the "vise" is actually a bar clamp, probably something like http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=365-114&utm_source=googleps

[fordf150man]

this is beast im building a big one with 2 6inch soeakers and a little sub i found on the internet

[capeman29]

If anybody is looking for a great AMP/Battery combo for this project, i have had wonderful luck this setup.

Battery
http://www.amazon.com/Hangar-12V-Battery-Charger-Combo/dp/B0006OBOFK

Amp
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=320-304

The 7ah battery runs the amp easily over 48 hours without needing a charge... could be longer, i still haven't run it out. The battery weights about 7 pounds, making the box a nice and heavy manly man's stereo! haha.

Im no expert on electronics - was wondering if the batter wired straight to an amp like this needed any sort of regulation or protection - can you damage an amp by running the battery down to voltage below amp-spec?

[hivoltage]

I built my own ammo can speakers inspired by this instructable! they are battery powered though and portable. a 3s 2200 mAh LiPo battery pack provides power to run a 15w tripath ta2024 amp.

[jjoffer]

Did you install a bass tube? or does it sound just as good without it?

Thanks

[hivoltage]

I didn't add a port because its hard to know where the port should go, length and diameter of the port, ported enclosure interior volume requirements, all things that affect the tuning of the box. when you buy a speaker or subwoofer box, typically these parameters have all been set appropriately by an engineer. incorrectly designed enclosures can actually negatively affect sound quality. I didn't want to mess around with any of that, plus sealed enclosures sound good as well with less hassle.

[jjoffer]

If I can get good quality not to mention with less hassle, without the tube that is awesome.

Btw what did you use to make your power button? I'm assuming that is what the red light is, in the top right corner.

Thanks again

[hivoltage]

Yeah a correctly ported enclosure will have better low frequency response, and maybe higher volume, but sealed enclosures are decent too and simple to do correctly. The light on the front is just a power indicator, I found it on an old industrial panel that was destined for the trash, along with the rocker switch on the side of the case that switches power to the amp. I just swapped the actual lamp inside over to a red LED since the original lamp was rated for 240v. I like the industrial look it gives the speakers, and it doesn't waste much battery power since its just a single LED. A lighted vandal resistant switch would look cool too, but this was free :)

[bcretty]

What kind of speakers are those and how do you wire the battery pack to the amp?
Please show pic if possible.

Thanks.

[hivoltage]

The speakers are a set of kicker ds40. I highly recommend a ta2024 based amp for battery powered speakers since they have great sound quality and are almost 90% efficient. This amp (as well as most amps designed to be used in cars) requires 12 volts so I used a 3 cell lithium polymer battery pack like those commonly used for RC cars and planes. These batteries provide 12.6v when fully charged, dropping off to around 9v when drained. This corresponds conveniently to the working voltage range of the amp I mentioned above. I just wired the battery directly to the amp, the same way you would connect any power source to it, with a switch in series to turn it on and off. To charge the battery I just remove it from the ammo can and place it on an external charger, but they sell some small balance chargers for LiPo batteries if you wanted to permanently install it in the can. I love this thing! Its made many trips to the beach over this summer, blasts music loud when you need it to, and runs for nearly 8 hours on a charge with a 2200mah battery.

[bcretty]

Thanks for all your help. I plan on getting the Sure 15w x 2 ta 2024 board. http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?PartNumber=320-308 Will also pick up the battery you mentioned and charger.

[hivoltage]

Hobbyking.com has great prices for the batteries, get one at least 2200mah, no need to go higher than 15c rating on it since the amp doesn't draw much current. They also have a US warehouse so if you pick one of the ones stocked there shipping is cheap and it arrives fast.

[bcretty]

Cool thanks. Could you post a pic of your battery inside your ammo can. This is my first diy electronics project so this is all new to me I'm having a friend who worked part time at radio shack years ago help me out on this one.

Thanks again for the tips.

[jlokken]

I've got all my stuff ordered can't wait to start working on this.

One question though, do I have to add the bass tube?

[patdoherty]

i made this over the summer, based off of this http://gizmodo.com/5486045/thodio-a+box-bulletproof-speakers-are-perfect-for-your-bunker
i put entirely way too many batteries in it so it last about 3 days on one charge. and i made the drunken decision to take apart the center speaker from my polk audio system and i used 2 of these amps
http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=UAM2
i spent a lot more then i had planned on but it turned out looking and sounding really good.

[jjorgensen2]

I would also really love to see some pics from the inside of this little guy and where did you get the speakers and grills! Thanks, Jason

[jdavidson6]

How did you wire them?

[patdoherty]

well i built the two amps which come with rca jacks, so i just go ta 1/8" to rca stereo cable and hooked one channel up to one amp and the other up to the other then one output to each speaker. then i have the batteries running to a switch the turn it on and off, on the back i have a jack for charging. there is no volume control, the volume is controlled by the device you hook up.

[Jayzers]

Modified it a little more as why I'm re-adding a photo, insulated round the speakers & round the lid to remove any vibration or rattling & added a hole on the front, too let the sound out the box so too speak. Might improve it more;

[orasca]

Awesome little project. Now that I made one, I have friends that want one too. I bought speakers that came with grills and made it DC with a 12V battery internal. Going to try to make with that is AC/DC switched next. Plan on using it is the desert and in the garage.

[reddragon]

Nice one, like the amp u used could I use a 500 watt amp? Would it be possible to make this both battery powered and plug-in?

[ajensen13]

Battery and plug sounds awesome but I would need instructions cause I'm stupid :)

[reddragon]

That's what I'm trying to get cause I'm electrically challenged

[ajensen13]

Maybe add a LED UV Meter? Sounds like it would look cool. Thanks

[aliebnick]

i've been waiting almost month and half for kinter amp from china. any other suggestions as to where to get?

[bassbindevil]

Search eBay for TA2020 (or TA2024) amplifier. (If you get the $12 TA2024 board you'll have to add a volume control, but that's a great little amp for the price.) 10 watts doesn't sound like a lot, but that's about the same as a "high power" car stereo head unit.

[capeman29]

I got this one from amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Lepai-Tripath-TA2020-Class-T-Amplifier/dp/B0049P6OTI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315002055&sr=8-1

Works great on the cheap.

[mitchellofmv]

Just finished mine :) Sounds AMAZING! All of my pieces are the same as instructed except for the speakers. Pitched in a little and got a nice pair of kickers ;) Thanks a lot for the awesome instructable.

[Orkekum]

Awesome....<3

I know where i can get different sizes of ammo boxes, yes, even very big ones, and smaller.

Only problem is.. to find a amplifier that is by size small enough..


Should get the box first before wondering about such.

Battery and outlet operated, how about, you can use battery only, and while you connect the chord, it charges the built in battery at the same time.....

[jdavidson6]

The ammo can you say to use is a .50mm Cal ammo can but your pictures show 10 Grenade, Hand.

[64bitgenius]

ammunition in or out? XD

[ShadowBlade72]

I have everything ordered and will be building one of these here shortly. Question though, would it be possible to build another one to use as bass?

Have one box with the two mid/high speakers and another one with a nice sub in it. Any suggestions for an amp that would fit in this box and power a sub?

Also, how could you hook them together so you can have a 2.1 system?

[harryl]

Hey mate this is Harry from a land down under,
I've ordered pretty much all the bits to make this, and I'm just wondering about two of them: #7(Computer power supply) - What type of power supply? And where can I get this? (A link would be great :D) and #10(12 volt power supply) - Pretty much the same questions as #7 ^
Cheers bro, great instructable btw
Harry

[ttoudouze]

i used this for the 12 volt power supply http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0023Y9EQC as for the computer power supply, all you actually need is the IEC C-14 socket out of it you can try to just find that component by itself. i found it at http://www.futurlec.com/Plugs-IEC.shtml

[harryl]

all good, i finished the project a month ago, all i did was cut a nice hole in the back for an extension lead, and added something like the bass tube depicted in the picture to the hole

[lawn_mower_man]

If you don't mind me asking, but why splice the rca cords? can't you us the mp3 input right next to it? Or do you get a better quality with the way you mention?

[ChrysN]

Have you seen this: http://www.thodio.nl/english/products/abox

Someones copies you and is selling them for $475us.

[stangus]

Wonderful idea!
I created mine a litte different. It's powered by a selfmade 2x22W amp. that leaves enough space for a battery. So you have a portable speakersystem. The battery lifetime is over 40h and you can reload it.

[harryl]

what batteries did you use?