3 Simple Ways to
Share What You Make

With Instructables you can share what you make with the world — and tap into an ever-growing community of creative experts.

PhotosPhotos

Share one or more photos of a project, recipe, or whatever you've made, quickly and easily.

Step by StepStep-By-Step

Share your step-by-step photos with text instructions of what you made so others can do it too!

VideoVideo

Share your how-to video. You'll need your embed code from a video site such as YouTube.

The ULTIMATE diy boombox!

The ULTIMATE diy boombox!
«
  • IMAG0222.jpg
  • IMAG0221.jpg
This thing is simply a gigantic ipod boombox......just way doper!  I wanted to fully build a blasting boombox for my garage and here it is.  The enclosure is made of 3/4" mdf and then I used some rattle can truck bed liner to paint it.  Yup, truck bed liner.  It came out so cool.  All the wire work would be a waste if you couldn't see it so I added a plexiglass cut-out on top and mounted the controls and buttons to it.  Also, it has a DC jack for charging and a 3.5mm audio jack to accept any audio source.  The amp has the ability to take a mic input as well so you can possibly plug in a guitar or a microphone if you feel like it.  Might be pretty awesome to plug in a mic and amp up your didgeridoo too!

Material needed:

-MDF 3/4" x whatever you want.
-plexiglass (I used some thin stuff from home depot)
-Wood Glue
-sand paper (I bought a multi grit kit from wallyworld)
-various little wood screws that you can scrounge up
-speakers (my sub is a pyle 8" and the mids/tweets are some boss 6 1/2" components.  Both found on amazon for a STEAL)
-amp (also found on amazon which was normally 280 bucks that I scored for 70!)
-momentary push button switches if need be (I got mine from ebay on the cheap)
-good quality wire (I had a spool of 18awg black and got the 18awg red and 12awg red from home depot)
-1/8" heat shrink (whatever color you choose)
-solder
-zip ties
-truck bed liner spray paint (I found mine at home depot)
-primer spray paint

Alright....lets do this! 


 
Remove these adsRemove these ads by Signing Up
 

Step 1Get the electronics

Get the electronics
I bought a Pyle PT1100 from amazon.  Its a 1000w beast.  Pyle makes their stuff very plain jane so its perfect for ripping apart.  The components inside are just like if I were to buy some diy amp kit but way cheaper.  The transformer would've cost me like 45 bucks alone.  The sub is a dual voice coil 4 ohm 8" pyle blue wave.  Mids and tweets are a component set from boss, so it comes with the crossovers too.  These are "good" speakers from a lower quality brands.  Any type you use will sound good when you good quality wire with good quality solder joints.  The sky is the limit on the components...I chose these due to the fact this just a garage blaster not a center piece in my home.
« Previous StepDownload PDFView All StepsNext Step »
68 comments
1-40 of 68next »
Mar 26, 2012. 7:48 PMThunder6322 says:
If i have a 600 watt subwoofer and to 250 watt tweeters(which is 1100 watts) do i need a 1000 watt amp or 2000 watt amp?
May 27, 2012. 10:48 PMASCAS says:
Not necessarily, all you need is to add is the minimum recommended amplifier power.
May 27, 2012. 3:51 PMASCAS says:
(removed by author or community request)
May 29, 2012. 5:04 PMThunder6322 says:
Where would I find that?
May 31, 2012. 7:56 AMASCAS says:
You can easily find one in "Amazon.com" simply type the amplifier your looking for (ex. 2x50w car amplifier)
Feb 17, 2012. 5:06 PMgucci113 says:
you can make a video? would like to hear how it sounds.
Feb 4, 2012. 1:29 PMantoon says:
nice !!! i want one of those but i have to little monney so ... :(
Jan 30, 2012. 10:28 AMmhartnett says:
any other cheaper ams that you could suggest, i really love the project but i live in ireland and the equivlent amp will cost me about 5 times as much!
Jan 24, 2012. 8:05 PMThunder6322 says:
I have damaged the solder points on another project. Could you tell me how to repair those?
Jan 25, 2012. 7:48 PMThunder6322 says:
Oh yeah and by the way, I am dealing with surface mount components. I am not having problems with this instructable ( haven't enough knowledge of diy audio yet), so is there any more information that you can give me?
Jan 26, 2012. 3:09 PMThunder6322 says:
I might have hit the wrong button on the post comment thing so this might be a repeat. I am replacing smd 0603 LEDs onto an xbox 360 RF module(power button). I was wondering how the LED would work with the wire connected to the copper trace considering the LED has to sit on it's side.
Jan 26, 2012. 6:21 PMThunder6322 says:
OK. Thanks for your help.
Jan 25, 2012. 7:42 PMThunder6322 says:
Thanks, this saved me a little money.
Oct 14, 2011. 6:23 PMbowmaster says:
Dang man, I thought I was the king of wiring, but you have me beat. I really like this, now I can make the boombox of my dreams. (dual 8" woofers [one each side], 3" midrange [one each side], and triple 2" tweeters [meaning three each side], for those of you wondering)
Oct 17, 2011. 6:47 PMbowmaster says:
Me too, it'll be a while. I have a few projects with higher priority.
Oct 16, 2011. 8:28 AMvov35 says:
Try reinforcing the lid best you can, and put some rubber padding around it so it doesn't rattle, and turn that thing up! With those large drivers it'll probably sound fine... turn down treble if needed.
Oct 14, 2011. 6:28 PMbowmaster says:
I can't imagine how loud this gets, considering my 120watt speakers hurt to listen to at full volume.
Oct 15, 2011. 8:17 PMvov35 says:
Most speaker systems hurt to listen to at full volume. It's really a question of too much high frequency noise being emitted. That said, these large drivers should deliver plenty of loud, pleasing sound, while the tweeters SHOULD be tuned to prevent that annoying painful tinny noise. I don't know if he actually went ahead and did that....
Oct 15, 2011. 9:07 PMbowmaster says:
It doesn't hurt because of the pitch, it's just super loud.
Oct 16, 2011. 8:24 AMvov35 says:
120 watts is not "super loud" while maintaining a properly balanced sound output. (not dissing your system, 120 watts is plenty for most applications; and can be plenty loud, at the expense of accurate sound.)

I'm sitting in the middle of a 505 watt logitech system, which isn't painful to the ears until turned up well past 400. This is because the drivers used in the system have a good surface area and are capable of reproducing sound at these power levels without of any problems.

The thing is: most systems are designed to have a good balanced frequency output within the normal listening range. Maximum volume is beyond that, and the speakers in your system cannot displace enough air to reproduce the lower frequencies as well, thus the volume begins to only effect high frequencies, which in consequence, hurts your ears.
Oct 16, 2011. 1:28 PMbowmaster says:
Oh no, go ahead and diss my system. I got it at Big-lots for $25!!!
Oct 12, 2011. 10:05 AMtutdude98 says:
how big is box?
Aug 14, 2011. 2:17 PMPreCast says:
amazing job!!!!
Aug 14, 2011. 10:21 AMbishopdante says:
Now *that* is how you do Wiring. Smooth job!
Aug 9, 2011. 5:41 PMgunsintransit says:
Awesome job! Looks like you would do good work wiring aircraft also. Too bad this was only a garage model. I wonder what it would have looked like if it was meant for your entertainment center. I give you a gold star, sir!
Aug 8, 2011. 8:13 PME_MAN says:
Cool, simple, but definitely cool!
Aug 8, 2011. 9:30 AMmrworf says:
NICE!!!
Jul 31, 2011. 9:08 PMssgsteiner says:
Great job! looks beautiful too, I have a 12v DC/ 120v AC amp (40watts, but pushes my large PA speaker ) that i have been thinking of doing this with. You definitely set the bar pretty high. just need to do this with a car amp and a battery and you can rock anywhere.
Jul 31, 2011. 7:49 PMqwertyboy says:
Oh wow, I'll vote just because of that epic wiring job. Very nice setup you've made there. Good luck!
Jul 28, 2011. 6:39 PMspikec says:
Awesome project! Sorry if I missed it, but you show cutouts on the front panel for tweeters - what kind did you use? Also how did you wire up the speakers to the amp?
1-40 of 68next »

Pro

Get More Out of Instructables

Already have an Account?

close

All Steps Viewing
View all steps of an Instructable on the same page when you're a Pro Member.

Upgrade to Pro today!
8
Followers
1
Author:SDgeek
I void warranties....