Forums https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl AUDIO FORUMS >> General Discussion and Support >> Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl?num=1539721874 Message started by Lonely Raven on 10/16/18 at 21:31:14

Title: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 10/16/18 at 21:31:14 I know Palomino has built several bluetooth boomboxes, and I've been itching to build one as well. Has anyone else built one? Who was it that built the one with the great bass at Decfest? I remember something about a Dayton 2.1 amp, but I was so exhausted I don't remember anything else about it including who built it! I think it would be fun to use this thread as a show and tell.  :)   As soon as I get more info, I'm planning on adding it to my queue of woodworking projects for this winter.   :)

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 10/16/18 at 22:03:21 I have been eyeing the Parts Express website pretty closely since hearing the boom box. It used a 2.1 Bluetooth amp board, PVC pipe, a 6"? sub on one end and a passive radiator on the other end and 2 3" drivers handling everything else. I'm trying to figure out how to put my twist on it. Maybe 16" pipe with some 12's in it!! I'm sorry that I don't remember who made it, but I'm thankful that he let me play my music through it.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Dominick on 10/16/18 at 22:25:02 The gentleman who made it what is the one with the full beard  who camped out in the backyard overnight.   I unfortunately forgot his name.  The cigar I was enjoying put me in a semi euphoric state ;) The bass that came out of that unit was really good. Donnie.....Maybe try using those outdoor cement cylindrical tubes as the enclosure.   You could fiberglass over it to give it some rigidity. Just a thought. The last speaker box I made when I was in college was a ported bass box.  It housed an 8 inch single driver connected to a 60 W mono car amplifier.    It was actually not that hard, and produced really good results. Just remember to pay attention of the specs on the driver. In the paperwork, it should tell you the recommended minimum enclosure space.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 10/16/18 at 22:42:34 Dominick, You mean something like this? LOL I have 2 subs in my garage that use Sonotube!

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Dominick on 10/16/18 at 22:58:28 Donnie..... Hell yeah.....Great minds think alike!!  Now that is badass!!  I have an old spare Polk Driver laying around, I may need make this my winter project.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 10/17/18 at 10:03:01 If I did the sonotube thing, I think this time I'd go with PVC or whatever material they use when they run drainage along the highways. When I was a kid I asked a construction guy for a cut off and put a pair of 10" drivers in a 12" tube and used it in my early home theater setups (before I even owned a car otherwise it would have gone there). I've been kicking around the idea of doing that again if I can find a good cutoff of some 12" or larger tube again. That said, unless some large PVC falls into my lap like right now, I'm leaning towards something smaller and all wood. Maybe do a long throw 6" that can go down to 40hz in a small folded horn, then some of the sealed box Betsy speakers.   That might put it out of my budget doing all that, but it would be a fun experiment!   Hey! Maybe make a tiny imperial SO like that clear one we saw on the workbench at Decfest, and stuff a 6" in that! Ha! It would probably be the size of a mini-fridge then, but that would be fun to try.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Dominick on 10/17/18 at 12:34:53 A while back I had purchased a pair of low profile subs (I think they were Pioneers) that fit behind my two seater sports car.  Independently they were decent, but together they put out just enough bass to fill the car with great sound when the roof was off.   Maybe instead of going with one big slamming driver, building pair or two of smaller drivers housed in a minimalist enclosure,  and spread them out across the room as “sleepers”. I have noticed as I’ve gotten older my taste in the type of bass has changed. While I still enjoy the overly loud and slammin’ bass; nice low frequency and tightly focused bass is more enjoyable these days.   Now.... if we are talking about a home theater movie, then all bets are off.   I want an explosion to knock me off the chair!!

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 10/23/18 at 01:42:25 I of course have no idea what you mean by "knock you off the chair"  :)

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Archie on 10/23/18 at 01:46:38 That looks like something from "Back to the Future!"   ;D

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 10/23/18 at 05:31:35 LOL, oddly enough, I've heard that more than a few times! I might have to paint it to match.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Dominick on 10/23/18 at 06:29:46 Now that is one gigantic boom box....impressive!! I can only imagine how that sounds!! I think I need to resurrect my old powered Bazooka Bass tube....I’m starting to feel “bass envy”.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 10/25/18 at 16:42:45 Ok, I've got more parts coming in. I've had the 2.1 amp for a few days now, but haven't been home much, so I've not even taken it out of the box yet. But since it's the season for me to be working inside the house rather than outside, I'm finally going to get back to reorganizing my garage so I can actually get at my tools and finish projects! And with that in mind, I did some poking around on Amazon and ordered the cheapest 14.8v LiPo RC car battery they have in stock, and a meter for it. I've decided instead of agonizing over what speakers to use, and hoping/waiting for that guy with the killer Boombox sticks his head in here, I would just slap something together with stuff I have on hand...then when we get more info I can just rebuild my boombox with better speakers, or if I really like my beater boombox, build a better one with tweaks learned from slapping my first one together. Yeah, that's a lot of stream-of-thought bla bla bla...I know, typical of me. But my point is I plan on slapping something together soon, and as we get more info, building a better box. And once Tom and I both build better boxes, I'm sure we'll be sharing parts lists, plans, and ideas with you all so you can build your own Bluetooth BoomBoxes. (I'll wait for Tom to come up with a clever name Ha!)

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 10/25/18 at 17:17:45 So has the challenge been thrown down? Are we planning a Boom Box off? I can see this going full nuclear. We need rules. How big can we go? Only using the little 2.1 amp? Is it still a boom box if it takes a semi to transport??   I need guidance or I could go overboard.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 10/25/18 at 17:27:40 That....is a great idea, Donnie! How about this - here is the amp I picked. https://www.parts-express.com/tps3116d2-class-d-21-bluetooth-40-amplifier-board-2-x-50w-100w-with-filter-and-volume-con--320-635 It's only $40 - let's say we start with that (or similar if you find something else you like), and it needs to be battery powered, and have enough juice to run at least 5 hours...think like a typical night around the campfire or grilling in the backyard or something. Beyond that...I guess we could call it open class. We can meet up this winter for some audiophile listening, show off our project Boomboxes, share notes, ideas, and post our adventures here in the forums. Sound good?

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 10/26/18 at 18:05:07 I've also decided my 1st Gen Boombox is going to be Plywood. I don't think I'll say much beyond that.   :)

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 10/26/18 at 23:37:07 I have my mind in full eviltron mode right now, devising a method of using drivers that I currently own. My 110 db garage stereo may be going on hiatus for the winter. 8" Silver Flutes, HiVi tweeters and 2 12" Goldwood woofers might fit the bill.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 10/27/18 at 14:19:39 Uh Donnie, it has to be carried by one human.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 10/27/18 at 15:37:39 Here are a few boomboxes I have built that are the well known boominator design.  https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/class-d/104402-boominator-stab-ultimate-party-machine.html Each one has 8 drivers (4 woofers, 4 tweeters).  The big one has 4 10" pro woofers.  The small ones use the aurasound neo woofers that Steve recommended as a low cost replacement for the Tang Band in the original DNAs. The smaller ones sound better than the larger one, but the large one was built for LOUD.  I have measured it at 109db.  Add a small headphone amp and it plays louder.  I have hosted beach dances in Michigan and filled the beach with dance music. They all use the same $20 t-amp and LIFEp04 batteries.  They will play all weekend.   I bought a little Bluetooth receiver and use that where I can get a signal to play TIDAL. What these lack is lower end bass.  I think around 80hz is as low as the big one goes and that requires some equalization.  That's why the one at the fest caught my ear.  Even at lower volumes it had bass in the 50hz range.  It was also light weight (the big one weighs 65 lbs). The first one I built had a subwoofer and it sounded pretty good.  Unfortunately the 2.1 amp didn't have any circuit protection and I fried it.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 10/27/18 at 18:41:07 I wonder why I would share a picture of a 7 cubic foot garbage can.....? Easily transported by one person. Garbage in garbage out.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 10/27/18 at 19:33:17 BOOM!!!!!

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by 4krow on 10/28/18 at 01:47:55  Dammit Donnie. This is just the sort of thing that compels deranged minds to build hopeless audio endeavors. MY plan used a 5 gallon bucket, and that is what made all the difference.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 10/28/18 at 02:19:00 My first plan was 2 5 gallon buckets. Then storage totes. Neither had enough volume for the drivers I am using. Then as I was looking at the Lowe's website  i had a epiffiny.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 10/28/18 at 15:25:09 We are not worthy

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 10/29/18 at 00:01:13 Wow, well, that does make it portable. This should be fun!

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 11/01/18 at 19:54:40 I have a question. When you are putting your 12" woofers in your garbage can boom box do you hook the drivers up in parallel or series? Also how do you tame the resonance issues of thin plastic? Another problem is that it seems to roll all over the place on its own. This thing is crazy!! *Edit* While I was being facetious about how to wire this, I found out quickly that my sub amp didn't like a 2 ohm load, it is now a nice safe 8 ohms.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 11/01/18 at 22:14:31 LOL, that's so awesome!  I'm honestly curious and excited to see what happens, Donnie. I cleared off my tablesaw and made a little room in the garage/shop to hopefully get to work on my Boombox this weekend.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 11/12/18 at 21:32:13 Anyone figure out what sub was used in that boombox at Decfest?   I have a design in mind, I just need to figure out the bass drivers and pick up the plywood. I just had a revelation today and decided I will include a sub...I just need to find those drivers!

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 11/12/18 at 22:37:34 I'm going out on a limb and saying that it was one of these, I think: https://www.parts-express.com/tang-band-w6-1139sif-6-1-2-paper-cone-subwoofer-speaker--264-919 He also had a passive radiator on the other end. I think that the math says that the radiator has to be bigger than the driver, again, I think. You would think that I would get a book or something about speaker building since I've built almost 10 pairs in the last couple of years. A little knowledge might go a long way. Funny thing is that every pair that I've built so far sounded pretty good.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 11/13/18 at 12:25:23 Either that one or this one: https://www.parts-express.com/tang-band-w5-1138smf-5-1-4-paper-cone-subwoofer-speaker--264-917 And yes it was a larger passive on the other end.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 11/13/18 at 14:52:52 I wish those were more efficient for what I had in mind, but I think I might be going for that 6.5" sub.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 11/13/18 at 14:54:39 Seems that 2.1 amp will drive it from what I’ve read. Your battery is going to be key (and somewhat expensive). 12v is not going to give you much power in that amp.  24v would be more like it.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 11/13/18 at 14:59:44 I can easily drop an inexpensive 24v battery in. For my prototype I went with a 14.8v LiPo RC Car battery. We'll see how that works as my sub design is going to be really inefficient.   :P

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 11/13/18 at 15:27:46 I've tried about 4 battery types over the years.  Not a big fan of the RC LiPo batteries.  LifePo4 is what I have found works best.  Anything that works is fine for the test.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 11/13/18 at 17:09:44 I'm thinking 2, 12 volt  motorcycle batteries strapped in series will do it. I need to get my enthusiasm back up on this project.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 02/09/19 at 21:15:29 Well I'm getting my garbage can project up and running again. I just placed a big order with Parts Express for some 4" full range drivers and a 2.1 amplifier board. Unfortunately the amp is back ordered until March. I also ordered a couple of real cheap 12" subwoofer drivers and some other 8" Bofu drivers for other projects. I'm also finishing up plans for a pair of gigantic single driver speakers, the kind of thing that no wife would ever let into HER home.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 02/11/19 at 20:11:27 I'm very excited to see what you do Donnie! I'm still on pause, too much work stress right now - I don't want to go into the shop when I'm exhausted or angry - it's not very productive and I usually wind up hammering the wrong nail or with sharp objects intersecting flesh.   :P

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 02/11/19 at 20:38:15 I got my subwoofer driver last week.  Like Donnie, the amp is on backorder.  I did find what I think is the same thing for around $20 cheaper on ebay, but a long ship time from China.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 02/11/19 at 22:11:07 This is shaping up to be interesting. I can't see mine sounding great, but I can see it being loud! So far there are 2 12" woofers and soon to be a couple of 4' full rangers. I will have some work figuring out how to keep it from vibrating the lid off as it does now. Sounds like a job for duct tape! My order with Parts Express does have 2 12" subs in it, I paid upwards of $45 for BOTH, real quality stuff I bet. They may migrate their way into the garbage can. Trash in, trash out.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 02/12/19 at 12:39:37 Take notice gentlemen.  Donnie is redefining the genre.   A true trendsetter and visionary.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 02/12/19 at 22:07:32 Yeah I have visions. Just one too many motorcycle crashes does that to you.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 02/12/19 at 23:23:11 Things are now officially getting stupid. I'm in my element.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 02/13/19 at 18:58:44 Quote: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Reply #39 - Yesterday at 16:07:32   Yeah I have visions. Just one too many motorcycle crashes does that to you. LULZ. But I like "Donnie Vision" - it's like the grownup version of a 5 year old designing robots and stuff.  :)

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 02/15/19 at 23:24:25 Quote: But I like "Donnie Vision" - it's like the grownup version of a 5 year old designing robots and stuff.  :) I do seem to have fun with my little "projects". It seems as though my ideas end up being a little on the original side.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 02/24/19 at 17:22:10 I just opened a email from Parts Express, it looks like my amplifier board shipped yesterday. As soon as the weather breaks enough to make it semi-comfortable in the garage I will get to work. " I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part!"

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 02/24/19 at 18:26:16 I was hoping to setup my new stainless steel firepit today, and work in the garage a bit...but it's like crazy windstorm right now.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lon on 02/24/19 at 19:25:57 Same here. In the heaviest of gusts part of an old tree fell over in the wild life preserve directly across the road from us. . . an interesting sight to see and scary when you think it might have been closer to your home. A big sound as well!

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 02/24/19 at 20:03:12 My amp is on the way too.   New stainless steel firepit?  Yukon ?

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 02/24/19 at 21:01:11 Yep! My Yukon finally arrived! Way too windy today to try it out. Grrr.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 02/25/19 at 23:13:04 I wa checking the tracking on my Parts Express amp board. It left Ohio, zoomed past my home in Illinois to Kansas. I figure that it will next go to Kentucky by way of Minnesota to finally arrive here late this week on the back of pack mules. Logistics, you got to love its efficiency.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 02/25/19 at 23:15:23 I'll check on mine.  I usually get things in a day or two from them.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 02/25/19 at 23:20:35 It went via USPS so it’s a crap shoot. Mine looks like it’s in a Chicago suburb.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 03/02/19 at 13:25:42 My amp board finally showed up last night, hand delivered by a hobo that was riding the rails and making extra money delivering for the USPS. So I now have all of the pieces for my boombox in my possession but the weather is still too crappy to work in my garage. Snow and single digit temps, it is March for heaven's sakes! It is all grey and blah outside, I hate this time of year. Weather rant over. The board is tiny with real small connections, I hope my clublike hands with arthritic fingers can get everything into place correctly. A $40 board is right on the line of being too expensive to not worry about doing something wrong and blowing it up. $10 no big deal, $20 a little concern, $40 it starts getting real.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 03/02/19 at 13:46:50 I got mine Wednesday and hooked it up to an old Boombox with the same woofer/tweeter combo I’ll be using in the new box.  For a sub I hooked up one of my DIY DM945s (my new sub driver is supposed to go lower).  I have to say I was impressed with the sound. I really like being able to adjust the treble and sub crossover/volume.  And the Bluetooth is way better than I had before. Great range.  Also with just 12 volts it was way louder than I need it to be. I haven’t cut any wood yet.  That will wait for warmer weather.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 03/02/19 at 16:15:12 Well I got antsy and hooked everything up on top of my desk. I wired into the 4" drivers and the 12's that are already in the garbage can. Then I stole the battery out of my BMW in the garage and fired the amp up. Not too bad, needs development and the 4's need to be mounted up, but acceptable. I'm wondering what 24 volts will do? And yes, I had a couple of McDonald's breakfast burritos and a large iced tea for breakfast this morning.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by ScottNC on 03/02/19 at 16:33:32 Gotta laugh, the “CUP” is the first thing that caught my eye in your picture. We’ll call it developmental supplements...like Wheaties, but tastier!

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 03/04/19 at 20:06:18 Mad Scientist food. I approve.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 03/12/19 at 13:55:36 Some progress is being made. Take that Donnie with your fancy smancy waste receptacle boom box.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 03/12/19 at 14:04:58

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 03/15/19 at 15:52:21 i will mount the drivers and glue it up this weekend.  Not sure if I will have the crossover built to give it a listen. Paging Donnie, paging Dr. Donnie.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 03/15/19 at 17:43:22 Palo, I'm shopping for some serious tools this weekend. I might be able to work a bit on the trash can.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 03/19/19 at 15:57:54 I made a lot of progress this last weekend.  I got everything but the lid glued up and gave it a try and found a rattle.  Drove me nuts finding it.  The sub puts out some volume and everything has to be really tight.  It turns out it was the port (even though it was screwed and glued.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 03/23/19 at 15:00:31 Alright, I have a question. I have a couple of different options for drivers in this crazy garbage can boombox laying around here. I originally bought a couple of full range 4" parts express drivers for this, but looking at what else I have laying around, I found that I have a pair of 8" GRS Boufu drivers also. I don't know what to use, really. The weather has finally gotten nice enough to actually stick my head out of my bunker and start doing things.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 03/23/19 at 15:15:26 I am working on mine now. Which 4” PE drivers? You certainly have room for the 8”. If you haven’t already played around with it you’ll find you have lots of flexibility with the amp to set cross over, tune the highs etc.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 03/23/19 at 16:26:21 Palo, These are the 4"s. https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dma105-4-4-dual-magnet-aluminum-cone-full-range-driver-4-ohm--295-590 Then are my old standby GRS's https://www.parts-express.com/grs-8fr-8-full-range-8-speaker-pioneer-type-b20fu20-51fw--292-430 I think I will start with the 4"s

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 03/23/19 at 22:24:55 Well I bolted it together it today, wired it all up and played it. There is a need for a LOT of development in the future. I'm not 100% on how the amp will be mounted and what to use for a power source. Oh yeah, I might have a little resonance problem. It shakes like a Chevy Caprice with 6 15's sitting in front of a liquor store at midnight. Boomrrrrrrrratttttttllllllleeeee!!!!!! Hmmm, maybe a lot of expanding foam? Or build some wooden backers on the inside.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 03/30/19 at 21:52:12 I spent a hour or so working on my "Industrial Waste" boombox today. It turns out that one of the batteries for my new hand drill powered it up nicely, 20 volts of DeWalt power! Stuffing it full of pillows and towels seemed to get rid of some of the unwanted resonances. There is still a lot of development needed in this area. I took it out into my yard in the rain and sleet to see how it worked outside. Not too shabby, maybe a little too directional, maybe more drivers pointing in more directions are needed. If it would only warm up for a couple of days straight!

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 04/05/19 at 14:13:37 I am pretty much done with mine.  As I may have mentioned before its a boominator mini on the sides with a .5L ported sub cabinet using a Dayton Audio 6.5" sub driver.  Same 2.1 Parts Express amp that Donnie is using. The mid drivers are Aura NS6 (out of production) and tweeter is a Dayton Audio NDF16 crossed at about 4K.  Some people have come up with alternate drivers since the NS6 is hard to find. Here is the boomintor mini thread: https://forum.speakerplans.com/boominator-mini-development-thread_topic74610.html I am very happy with the sound.  Deep bass, nice mids and decent highs from the Dayton Audio tweets.  My kids have officially endorsed the bass for their thumping exaggerated bass that's in 99.9% of their music. Some of that is due to the amp's power and flexibility.  Great control of the cross-over point, and the ability to adjust the treble are big helps. I don't think I will run it off more than 12V, but I could if I wanted to. The amp box on the top is a little kludgy,but it can be removed and used separately if I add speaker taps.  While its not as loud as my full boominator builds with the sensitive PA drivers (>100db), it has deeper bass, sounds better and is really light in comparison.  I tested it last weekend and it will fill the beach in Michigan withsound if I want it to.  I was concerned the bass wouldn't carry but it does to a certain extent.  Certainly if you are close to it.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lon on 04/05/19 at 14:24:53 I don't know what I would ever use something like this for, but if I did I would want to have one that looked as nice as that! Great job.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 04/05/19 at 14:29:18 Thanks Lon.  I spend a lot of time outdoors in the summer and like to have halfway decent sound while I am out there.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lon on 04/05/19 at 14:34:13 Oh I understand that, I spend time outdoors in the summer as well, just don't do recorded music then. (And if I did I'd have to listen to my wife's Judds and other country pop discs and no thanks!) Occasionally I'll take one of the two Martin guitars outside. . . .

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 04/05/19 at 15:04:33 This is my fifth boombox build and probably the best.  I have two others with essentially the same drivers that I am thinking of adding a sub cabinet to and giving them to my kids so they don't use this one. The smaller ones are fine but lacked bass under 100hz.  The big one goes a bit lower but is 65lbs and doesn't have as good a sound quality. Granted, they are no garbage can builds, but I am still proud of my work on these.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lon on 04/05/19 at 15:06:49 They look great, definitely appropriate to be proud.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 04/05/19 at 17:22:14 Palo, I am impressed! Your skills are staggering. I may move away from the garbage can build. There are too many problems to overcome. But then again overcoming problems is kind of what I do. In the last few weeks various wood working tools have shown up in my garage, I have tons of drivers and the amplifier already laying about.... The best feature of the garbage can is the wheels and handle that make it easy to move about. Maybe the spirit of the garbage can is what needs to be persued.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 04/05/19 at 17:52:36 Thanks Donnie. I was hoping that you would bring it to the next fest!

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 04/07/19 at 17:49:53 A friend came over yesterday evening and we took in the warm weather and the sun sitting out on my patio. I wheeled the boombox out and blutoothed it to my laptop and started playing it. After we stopped blasting it and lowered the volume to a nice conversational level the sound bloomed. Nice bass and easy to listen to. No ugly resonance or anything bad at all. It played for a good 3 hours on one drill battery, so I'm going to stick with DeWalt for power. There are still many ideas to try before I quit on it. I now have a table saw and router with a hole jig and a bunch of other tools, perhaps the quality of my builds can step up to what I dream up. I'm cleaning my garage today, getting rid of a winter's worth of crud. My garage system is being downsized for a few weeks until I finish up some humongous speakers that are 2nd in the queue. My beloved quarter wave subs are going to a friend's place so that he can annoy his neighbors.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 05/10/19 at 19:24:12 I guess I am starting Boombox Mark II now. I picked up a little Parts Express Blutooth board, just 50 watts X2 with no sub-woofer output. It is now wired up and hooked to my garage speakers. The best battery I have used so far is for my DeWalt 20V rechargeable drill, plays for hours. I took a count of drivers I have available laying about, somewhere around 8 pairs, something must be able to work! There are ideas rattling around in my head for what comes next. We shall see. The amp is tiny, the size od a pack of cigarettes.   My speakers are huge, the size of a good sized man or perhaps a gorilla.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 05/11/19 at 16:40:27 Sometimes you just grab the first thing you see and run with a idea. The highest quality Boombox goes with any decor. Note the asymmetrical duct tape job holding the drivers in. Asymmetry is all of the rage in high end design in Europe, or possibly Antarctica, I always get them confused. It sounds pretty good, not as good as the Garbage can in back to back tests, but come on what is a cardboard Dayton Audio box to a Garbage can?

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 06/12/19 at 14:14:59 Impressive Donnie.  The tape adds a certain some thing something. I like my boominator mini with the sub so much (and my kid keeps stealing it) that I am tacking on a sub to a previous boominator mini build.  I am basically gluing a sub cabinet to the bottom of the original cabinet. The cabinet is around .66L and will be double ported and tuned to around 38Hz.  I am looking forward to the comparison to my original.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 06/13/19 at 16:15:07 BTW Donnie, I think you and I are the only ones reading this thread.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 06/13/19 at 17:15:11 Well Palo, only the cool kids are doing this.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lon on 06/13/19 at 20:02:47 Ha! I'm reading. . . just don't have anything specific to offer. Don't use or know much about boomboxes these days, don't DIY, and admire the skills of both of you. Bet a few others are reading as well. . . .

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by ScottNC on 06/14/19 at 01:20:15 👋I am

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 06/14/19 at 01:53:53 I always figured that the only people who read anything I wrote were invalids and shut ins. Like people in iron lungs or or perhaps being held against their will by nefarious characters.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Dana on 06/14/19 at 04:44:23 I read all this stuff.... Don't kick the plug!

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by lazb on 06/15/19 at 15:50:21 Yeah, me too!

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 06/26/19 at 21:06:51 I attached a sub cabinet to one of my existing miniboominator bulilds (because I liked how the other one sounded).  This one has a bigger cabinet and is double ported.  I don't know why but it seems louder and definitely has deeper bass.  Cabinet tuned to 38hz vs 42hz for the other. Last night my daughter was using the basement where my listening room is so I had to stay upstairs and I listened to this and was quite content.  Its fun to hear that much bass out of a small box.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by ScottNC on 06/26/19 at 21:31:45 Nice👍🏼!

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Donnie on 06/26/19 at 23:47:58 It looks professional! You have upped your game.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 06/27/19 at 00:34:16 Trick photography. I had to go with wood over cardboard.  I leave the true artistry to the gifted ones.

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Lonely Raven on 07/02/19 at 23:03:11 I'm still reading this thread too! But my shop (what's left of it after I sold most of my tools) is in the back of a vanline truck. So...this is what my shop is moving into! Ironically, the garage doesn't have any power I can use for my tools. So I'll be working on upgrading the houses circuit panel and running 220v out to the garage to start my new shop! Till then, I'm living vicariously through you guys!

Title: Re: Who has built a Bluetooth Boombox? Post by Palomino on 07/03/19 at 03:14:38 Weird you got no juice.  Did you sell the big saw?

Forums » Powered by YaBB 2.2.2! YaBB © 2000-2008. All Rights Reserved.