• Take 30 seconds to register your free account to access deals, post topics, and view exclusive content!

    Register Today

    Join the largest Oakley Forum on the web!

Is anyone good with audio tech and electronics?

Rustpot

Rustpot

M Frame Lover
16,599
7,673
Clarkston/Romeo MI
Looking to do a little project and build a portable speaker box. I'd like some advice with component selection and shopping.

Basically I'm looking to do an ammo can speaker build, somewhere between the $50 basic one that's been around for a while and the $500 "professional" models with blanking plates and bluetooth and all that jazz.

ammo-can-speaker-box.jpg
 
Rustpot said:
Looking to do a little project and build a portable speaker box. I'd like some advice with component selection and shopping.

Basically I'm looking to do an ammo can speaker build, somewhere between the $50 basic one that's been around for a while and the $500 "professional" models with blanking plates and bluetooth and all that jazz.

ammo-can-speaker-box.jpg
Click to expand...
@Installking comes to mind for some reason
 
If your going to use an ammo box definitely line the entire unit with dynamat or similar product or it will sound horrible even with the most expensive speakers. Better yet would be to line it with 1/2" mdf and then the dynamat so at least you will have a base to mount everything to on the inside.

Probably the easiest bet for the build though would be to look for a used decent quality portable unit and then just scavenge the internals for the build. It would be a cheap way to get all the bells and whistles like Bluetooth, sat radio, and possibly even a dock on the side or lid for your iphone or whatever you plan on using.

The unit you have pictured looks like it has a set of focal two ways installed ( I think lol ) and they make some very high quality speakers. If you do plan on using a donor unit and changing the speakers for something better just make sure you match the impedance on the donor unit or it can cause a few issues.
 
Yeah I understood about 1/3 of that.

I wasn't planning on scavenging off a host unit mostly because I don't have one and don't know where I would find one with tech that would be good. I don't need anything fancy. I could make do with a 3.5mm jack, but bluetooth would be advantageous.

Basically I'm looking for build advice. The instructables how-to is several years old and most of the home-made stuff is just based on that set of instructions. I want to make sure everything I'm looking at is compatible and of sufficient quality or power. I understand electronics enough to be dangerous, but knowing watts, amps, voltage, and just being able to know this is all going to jive... not so much.
So that's ~$50 right there. I was also looking at these two items;
So for just shy of $100 it would be a pretty decent project. The only real janky part would be wiring the bluetooth's power in since I'd cut in from the 120v straight to the power cord (not interested in cutting into that to find a ribbon cable common over a central positive wire and having no good way to splice in). I'd get wire and terminals as well as adhesive-backed foam sheet from work, would be pretty much plug and play with very little solder if I can get away with spades everywhere. I have... a few ammo cans I could use. Was thinking the Fat 50 for a bit more real estate.

I have a wireless bluetooth speaker, it resides mostly in the shower and is paired to an old iPhone dedicated to playing music on that device. I don't have a good way to play music on the patio, in the garage, in the living room, etc. Size isn't a real concern, so long as I can pick it up and move it with relative ease. Battery powered would be ideal, but likely a whole can of worms I don't want to get into.

Do you have a better suggestion for any of these items, or a lead or link or idea about a broken one with which to cannibalize?
 
For the room you have to work with in that small of area there are several "small" 12v car audio amps that would fit. But you will be very limited on power supply for it without a battery making it rather heavy. I just installed a very cool Bluetooth(Jl audio mbt-cry)receiver in my golf cart that controls volume and tracks power and all that but pricing there is an issue too $70. By the time you put something like that together you are probably just as easy to purchase something..... my .02


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
From a quick look at your list there are some good parts and bad parts. Input, power supply and interface will work fine and if your worried about heat from the power supply you could always section off a part of the ammo box and build ducts that will channel the outside air to the fan and then send it out of the box. For powering the bluetooth unit you can always open the lid on the power supply and take power directly from the input terminals.

The amp and the speakers I'm afraid will be insufficient for any kind of quality though. The amp is only rated at 2x4 watts which won't be enough power, preferably you would want something at least 40x2 watts. As for the speakers boss is not a very good brand at all I'm afraid and you would be much better off even buying a good quality used set off the bay.

I'll dig into this more when I get back home in a few hours though and hopefully I'll be able to point you to some better options:D
 
Something like that will definitely work better for sure. As far as speakers go I'd stick with any of the bigger car audio brands even if you want to keep the price down, brands such as pioneer, kicker, jl audio, jbl, and such can all be had for a very good price while still delivering good sound quality. Brands such as boss, Pyle, are usually carried in places like Walmart and are not worth even the cheap prices they sell for.

I did find this when I was doing some looking around

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GE1MIGM/?tag=oakleyforum04-20

It's an amp with integrated Bluetooth already built into it and with the way the front panel is designed it would be easy to have it nicely mounted through the side of the ammo box giving you access to all the controls. Not the greatest quality but it would do the job and it does come with a remote as well. I'll keep looking to see what else I can find though.

Sounds like a nice project! :D
 
I think at this point I want the lid coming down and leaving the amp face exposed in a cutout. Weld up a standoff bracket and put it right next to the handle.

I'll be calling a shop on Monday and seeing if I might just be able to have the whole box laser cut and have the interior done with an insulation spray, which would cover all of the edging of holes nicely and add a bit to the insulation factor. They're busy now, so that might be a down-the-road alternative.

My main challenge is going to be able to cut nice holes. I'll also call a panel shop and see about how many different punch sizes they have, and maybe they'll have some good ones and I can get it all done with a hydraulic knockout tool.
 
If your looking to cut nice holes check out milwaukees hole hawg bits, pretty much the same as a regular hole saw but they use 3 or 4 carbide cutters and give a very clean cut when used in a drill press or a mag drill. Holes turn out like they were cut on a milling machine. Main problem with using a punch is being able to clamp the piece solid on both sides to eliminate any distortion from the punch and with the way an ammo box lid is designed it might be quite the challenge.
 

Latest Posts

Back
Top