Boombox

Info

Trying to figure out a use for a car battery, Boombox was what I ended up with. Here, the battery is used to power a audio amplifier and accessories connected through an auxiliary cigarette lighter jack (f.ex. a peltier-cooled freezer bag). The Boombox has 6″, 4″, 2″ and 1″ speakers elements two of each, driven by a Lepai LP-168HA amplifier. This provides separate gain stages for bass (50W RMS) and treble (20W RMS) speakers with adjustable crossover and level controls per gain stage. Treble gain stage has also separate bass and treble level controls.

6″ (bass) elements are housed on separate compartments (front and rear). Front 6″ is sealed type whereas the rear 6″ is reflex type. The amp has both 3.5mm and RCA inputs and also a +5V USB power connector. The 3.5mm and USB connectors are routed to a iPod dock located in the front panel, allowing a single connection for both playing audio and charging devices equipped with Apple’s proprietary iPod connector. To add a bit of decoration, there are loudness controlled EQ visualizer transfers on both sides of the enclosure. Project completed in 2011.

Work stage posts

Part 1, background, ideas and speaker analysis

Part 2, enclosure design

Part 3, 6″ compartments

Part 4, side panels & EQ visualizers

Part 5, assembling what’s left

Part 6, final touches

Pictures & Video