Untitled from nabooski on Vimeo .

My first instructable , I know there are dozens of these here, whatevs.
I wanted an easy DIY ipod speaker system for the job site.
I didn't want to order amplifires or other parts online.

Keep it simple stupid.
Build your own Portable and Rechargeable ipod boom box.
The battery lasts all day on a full charge and it sounds incredible.
The only thing I bought for this build was the soldering iron, everything else was sitting around.

Get a box. ( I used an old pine box that used to be a wine case.)
Dig those old satellite computer speakers outta the basement.
Steal the 6 x 9's from Mom's grocery getter.
While your there, snag that worthless battery booster (jump pack) from the trunk.
It would be pretty swell to have a soldering iron as well.
Clean off your table, turn on the light, grab a beer, let's go!

Step 1: Break Stuff

Pull out all the screws in the speaker units. These need to be the regular old 12v style, look at the words on the power converter. You might need a Dremel or small hacksaw to get the speakers and all wiring out undamaged. Be careful, don't cut any wires dummy.

Grab the battery jump pack. Disassemble. All we really need is the battery. I'm using a motorcycle trickle charger to recharge the battery. If you like you can pull out all the wiring and use the plug-in charger unit, if you want to get fancy you could gut the whole thing and have all the lights and buzzers. Again, be careful with the wires and connections. The reason I'm using the trickle charger instead of the plug on the unit is that I pulled wires out of the circuit board and damaged it during disassembly.

Step 2: Woodworking

The reason I chose the wine box is I believe the pine crate will resonate like the body of a string instrument and sound better than other boxes I had sitting around, it's the perfect size, and it's light and strong.

The original top (which is now the front) was too weak to mount speakers on, maybe yours won't be. Be prepared to cut a new panel from thin plywood.

Trace templates for your speakers and arrange them on the panel leaving room for air port holes and the controls from the speakers.

When you like what you see, draw it on the inside face of the panel and get out your jigsaw and make some saw dust.

Take some scrap wood and mount the battery in the back center of the box. the speakers are heavy and I used the battery as a ballast to lower the center of gravity and keep it balanced so it's easy to carry around.

Mount your speakers in the holes you expertly cut and mount a plate to install your speaker controls.

Drill holes for audio wire and charger wire to feed through.

Step 3: Wiring

Note that the speakers have positive and negative poles, keep it straight.
Wire the car speakers to the computer speakers and solder the connections.
Take the power cable from the computer speakers and connect to the battery.

Step 4: Turn It Up

Screw the speaker face plate on the box.
Plug in your ipod or iphone or mp3 player or super cool retro walkman.
Turn it on and turn it up.
That battery is supposed to be able to charge and start a car, it's more than powerful enough for hours of your silly hipster music.
Enjoy.