My BoomBox

Hello everyone

Have you ever encountered a situation where you went with friends to the beach at night  or maybe some  friend's apartment and he had no  stereo system?

It happened to me, and it sucks! 

So , i decided to build one !    

although it weights 6.5 Kilo , You Grab it with both your  hands , put the music at Max and have the best time !


Enjoy!

Step 1: Shopping List

Materials :

1X1 meter of Plexiglas , preferable Transparent
screws & nuts - a lot!
12V 7 amp Batteries , preferred 2 for longer operation
Lepai Amp from eBay
12V Charger for the Battery -eBay
Speakers - i got the Pioneer 4.5" as Woofer / Mid-range  and a pair of Teac t20 Tweeters 
Volt-meter - ( not shown yet , but will be attached later )
Wiring for speakers
Iphone Dock
Aluminum Angles - comes in 3 Meter length - - for connecting the Plexiglas sides to each other

Tools :

Driller and electric screwdriver
Jigsaw - most important instrument - make sure you cut the Plexiglas with a refined saw (designated for steel)
Marker
Leveler
Calipers
A pair of clamps
Drill bits -  different sizes
Caliber
Tin snips + a pair of working gloves so you wont cut yourself 
Soldering iron - for the wiring
tin
Hot Glue

Time ,Patience , and lots and lots of Coffee !!

Step 2: Cut the Plxiglas

Start by planning the general size of your future to be Boombox.


Measure the inner diameter of your speakers , and accordingly mark it with the Caliber or some other ruler on the Plexiglas

Prepare the driller and and the jigsaw ,and off we go our way

Step 3: Cutting the Aluminum Angles

cut the aluminum with Tin snips .

* please be cautious 

Step 4: Drill Holes in the Aluminum and Plexiglas

Make sure you grab the Aluminum angles to some tight ground , only then Drill !

Use a special drill bit for metal, that way  the hole will be accurate and round , and  probably will take less time to drill.

Step 5:

after i finished the drilling , i took the Aluminum angles and attached them to the Plexiglas  with bolts and nuts

Step 6: Moved Forward

Continue  sawing slowly , be careful not to brake the Plexiglas ,it`s a very delicate material and it might crack easily .

Step 7: Strengthen the Boombox by Adding an Additional Middle Rib

Step 8: Prepare the Bottom .

since i plan to put two 12V batteries at the bottom , and they are heavy .we need to create a strong durable Plexiglas bottom.

I took two Plexiglas pieces , attached them to each other , drilled holes for the stand , and attached them to the sides with the Aluminum profiles

Step 9: Create an Upper Case Door , With Hinges

On top of the upper case i plan to put the Lepai amp and some Docking station for the iPhone

Step 10: Upper Look

I just put inside the Batteries in order to see if they sit properly 

Step 11: Last Steps of Drilling

before you take the Nylon off , it would be wise ( not like i did )  to finish with the Drilling . god forbids i`ll scratch it ;)

Step 12: Pealing Off the Protective Nylon of the Plexiglas

I pealed off the protecting nylon layer of the Plexiglas .

I had to unscrew all the bolts and nuts in order to get rid of the excess layers of nylon.

Step 13: Still Pealing Off

Step 14: Assembling All the Pieces Back Together

Without the Nylon

Step 15: Mounting the Speakers

Step 16: Almost Ready ...

all i need is to wire the speakers and tweeters do some  good soldering

Step 17: Hot Glue on the Tweeters

This thing sticks like charm!

At some point i decided to replace to old tweeters with a set of Teac T20 .

It was quite tricky the issue of releasing the grip of the Hot Glue from the Tweeters and the Plexiglas.

after Gooooogling for a while i found  a quick Cool way to remove the Glue

Alcohol ! 

 You just put  tiny tiny tiny little drop on the Glue and in seconds it releases it`s grip , like taking candy from a baby :)

Step 18: Soldering Ends to Wires and Connecting the Batteries in Parallel

Make sure that you did some good Soldering in here, we don`t want it to disconnect and perhaps make us some Short circuit .

I connected the batteries in Parallel in order to give me higher Amps . Total of 14 Amps
Still i will have 12 Volt direct and stable current

Step 19: Inside Look

Step 20: Charging Moment

After charging it for a few hours  ,the batteries gave me a reading of 13.2  Watts and 14 Amps

After 8 hours of playing the Boombox  i checked the Voltage with the Volt-Meter and the reading was 12.89 !!

 Amazing! 

Step 21: Done! - the Video ( HD Recommended ) - Would Love to Hear You Comments :) + VOTE

Comments

[Mavamaarten]

Looks awesome!

[mangomango]

This is pure sexy. I love how it's acrylic and you can see all the components

[RoeyLeon]

Thanks!

loved your work - Inventor-Deadmau5 Head

[mkaiwartya]

hi thanks foe sharing your ideas with us

[Gabse]

That looks like my pc-case (sharkoon acryl-showcase). Looks rearly cool, i like it.

[RoeyLeon]

Thanks!
it is actually the size of a Desktop computer ...

I`m thinking about mounting him a pair of wheels so i can roll it over from place to place instead of lifting it ;)

[Gabse]

God ideal :-)

[truliwicked]

If this isn't sweet...I don't know what is! I love to see electronics made with Plexiglass. Wish I had the tools, time and patience.

[RoeyLeon]

Thanks!
appreciate it ;)

Go for it , don`t waste time , invest in your self and start expressing your thoughts

[james.m.k]

Very cool!
Very nice looking enclosure too!

Takes me back to my post high-school days when a friend and I used to make and sell sub-woofers, mostly for cars!

[timpa97]

Here is one more

[EastWarez]

Nice build!!!

I love that you can see the internals

but to make it a bit more portable you should have used a like 2 of those in parallel i think you need 12v? than that would be an better option? Those car acid batteries are really heavy! but you choice =P Still a nice build!

[WillERoberts]

What is the bass like with this? By watching the video the bass almost sounds non-existent. But i assume that's just due to sound quality.

[RoeyLeon]

your right!


the bass is actually very surprising . it is very rich and soft and not cold and hard.

it is all due to the Reflex port location and the middle partition , it gives the woofers a better sound

[WillERoberts]

did you ever play music before you cut the reflex port?

[RoeyLeon]

Yep

and the sound was rubbish/

well at least the BASS was awful .

you must let the Membranes " Breath " they are moving in and out , and the whole concept of Acoustics is give the sound waves the ability to move freely in the box


either way , the sound is much better with a Reflex port \

[WillERoberts]

I've made an ammo box speaker (my profile picture) but i haven't put a reflex port on it. My problem is knowing where to put it, any ideas? i was thinking on the side of the box where the lid catch is but i don't know. There is a whole science of reflex ports, so any help would be appreciated!

[RoeyLeon]

Well you are right about the science issue of those reflex ports

to get the best sound we need to have a professional lab , with a few guys who know a thing or two about acoustics

first i have seen already your boombox and it`s awesome!

second , i would have make a small 3x3 reflex port between the speakers ( top side )

or a better way - on the internal side ( where the air freshener is )
cut a small 3x3 hole( even a 4x4 ) , put a round tube and get it to come all the way over the middle ( above the battery )

i read an article about tubing inside a woofer box and it`s very complex , but it`s better then just making a hole.

attached is picture

[WillERoberts]

I'm just a bit hesitant of cutting a hole as once it is cut then i can't go back. I have just ordered 2 more ammo boxes so maybe i'll transfer the guts into that one and put a port on it. I'll let you know how things turn out!

[RoeyLeon]

the pictures