So I built this...

steveinaz · May 19

Bluetooth 5.0, wireless speaker, using MTM .50 cal ammo box, Dayton audio, and Kicker driver components. It sounds great!

msg · May 19

Noice!

I've wanted to build something like this for a while now, myself.

Is this one of a pair with SDA technology?

billbillw · May 19

Looks nice Steve! I like how you store the paperwork inside too!
I'm sure you probably realize you'll need to keep an eye in those anchors holding tight since the expansion isn't within the case material.

msg · May 19

I heard Larry's Rings are on order.

mrbigbluelight · May 19

I'm calling the ATF

xschop · May 19

Where's the BH5?

nooshinjohn · May 19

This needs a review. Might I suggest Amir at ASR?

gmcman · May 19

nooshinjohn wrote: »

This needs a review. Might I suggest Amir at ASR?

He won't listen to it, will just hook a scope to it, show some distortion, then get the rest of his loyal members to give him the "way to go, good find, can't believe people listen to this stuff" scenario. Imagine how bad it would review...."sound" if it had tubes.

@steveinaz Nice work! Did you design the boards as well? Looks like a nice, clean build.

steveinaz · May 20

The BT amp board, battery/charging board, and rear panel are all Dayton audio products. They come with all of the ribbon connectors---it's plug-n-play pretty much. The amp I picked was the 2 ch 30w, it was on sale for $29! This will be our pool/beach boom box. I wanted something like the Turtlebox, but figured I could build something better for way less money. This was 1/2 the price of a TB.

Jstas · May 20

Sweet

I found a box of components to do something similar over the weekend. I got it in 2018 and apparently forgot about it.

Gonna build a bluetooth "boom box" with a 50x2 and 100x1 so I can put a small sub in it too. Got some Tang Band full range drivers and a Peerless sub for it.

billbillw · May 20

Jstas wrote: »

Sweet

I found a box of components to do something similar over the weekend. I got it in 2018 and apparently forgot about it.

Gonna build a bluetooth "boom box" with a 50x2 and 100x1 so I can put a small sub in it too. Got some Tang Band full range drivers and a Peerless sub for it.

Gonna need a big battery for that!

msg · May 20

It'll add ballast!

steveinaz · May 20

billbillw wrote: »

Looks nice Steve! I like how you store the paperwork inside too!
I'm sure you probably realize you'll need to keep an eye in those anchors holding tight since the expansion isn't within the case material.

The anchors are there just to cover the sharp screw points. Eventually I'll run bolts/nuts, but for now the screws are holding well. I left an empty area on the right side for the laptop "style" charging brick for the 18650's.

halen · May 20

Very nice!!! Would love to have something like that on one of my camping trips!

Now if @msg would also do one with a Yeti cooler that also stores ice and beers. Sign me up.

msg · May 20

I'll mass manufacture using Colemans with Yeti stickers, offer unconditional satisfaction, no questions asked, money-back guarantee, return shipping included. Take a bunch of orders with 30 day lead time, ship, then close up shop, and do it all again under a slightly different name!

That's a great idea, @halen, thanks!

Conradicles · May 20

Very cool.

billbillw · May 20

steveinaz wrote: »

billbillw wrote: »

Looks nice Steve! I like how you store the paperwork inside too!
I'm sure you probably realize you'll need to keep an eye in those anchors holding tight since the expansion isn't within the case material.

The anchors are there just to cover the sharp screw points. Eventually I'll run bolts/nuts, but for now the screws are holding well. I left an empty area on the right side for the laptop "style" charging brick for the 18650's.

I sorta figured that after looking closer. Have you figured out how long it will play on those 18650s? Also curious if you got the protected style batteries or not.

halen · May 20

billbillw wrote: »

steveinaz wrote: »

billbillw wrote: »

Looks nice Steve! I like how you store the paperwork inside too!
I'm sure you probably realize you'll need to keep an eye in those anchors holding tight since the expansion isn't within the case material.

The anchors are there just to cover the sharp screw points. Eventually I'll run bolts/nuts, but for now the screws are holding well. I left an empty area on the right side for the laptop "style" charging brick for the 18650's.

I sorta figured that after looking closer. Have you figured out how long it will play on those 18650s? Also curious if you got the protected style batteries or not.

The batteries look bigger than 18650. I would guess 21700 or so with green sleeve likely by Samsung?

Jstas · May 21

18650's come in many colors, it's not necessarily indicative of the size/type. It's more indicative of the brand and the mAh ratings.

But if that battery module holds three 18650's, though, then that's a 12v power supply.

18650's are 3.7 VDC Li-Ion so 3 of them gets you to 11.1VDC, not quite 12v but serviceable for a portable stereo box. Should last a few hours with three 2600 mAh batteries and the t-class amplifiers. They really don't draw that much, especially when you're using efficient drivers.

And I'm not going to need a big battery either. The kit I have came with 26650 5000mAh Li-ion batteries, five of them. At 3.7VDC each, that's 18.5VDC, plenty of juice to run a 210 watt t-class amplifier circuit for casual listening at the pool or something. Plus, the battery board will run off of an external 21 VDC power supply too.

steveinaz · May 22

Don't know yet how long the 3 18650's will play, but I've run them so far for about 4.5hrs. I don't think these are the "protected" type, they are Li-Ion--this is actually my first device that uses 18650. I Bought them from Parts Express, along with the battery board.

SeleniumFalcon · May 22

Nice job! Would the sound benefit from some damping material added to the enclosure?

Jstas · May 22

I was thinking that too, Ken.

In fact, I have about 8 pounds of polyfil that I was planning on stuffing in the chambers I make for my box. Was also going to cut some "triangles" to nail/glue into corners to kill standing waves. To build the enclosure effectively, it would end up being cumbersome to move around so any trick I can pull to increase the efficiency while reducing the size of the enclosure will be an overall benefit for portability.

It won't be ideal but then again, this isn't going to be for critical listening.

But, with the drivers I got for it, they will show a pretty quick drop under about 70 Hz if they are in a smaller than ideal enclosure. Hence the reason I grabbed the sub. That should reinforce the bottom end so it doesn't sound like an expensive transistor radio.

Jstas · May 22

Oh, also, if you go out to Parts Express and look at some of the customer submitted projects, a few people lined the inside of plastic ammo boxes with Dynamat to help dampen vibrations.

I'm planning on building mine out of plywood so I'm not going to worry too much about Dynamatting it.

mrbigbluelight · May 22

One shouldn't have to worry sbout portability if one is married. 👍

Jstas · May 22

Yeah, well, if I made the enclosures for mine to recommended enclosure volume, the enclosures alone would total about 1.5 cubic feet. That's a box that is 18 inches wide by 18 inches tall by 8 inches deep for the internal dimensions. Add an inch and a half in width, depth and height to make up for materials and you're at 19.5 x 19.5 by 9.5. That a sizable and heavy box to walk out to the pool with. Especially when you factor in the materials plus the drivers and electronics. Even worse when the pool is about 600 feet way from your back door. That's a long way to walk in flip flops with 45 pounds of entertainment and still manage to hold on to your beer.

billbillw · May 22

^^^
Just make a rolling cart for it. Sound can't be compromised

halen · May 22

Okay. 18650 batteries. What size are the speakers? They looked bigger in picture. I may have missed the post somewhere. I read Jstas went into detail about the Lithium Ions.i will not go much into that part. But I have to ask. Do you have a balanced charger for it?
I would love to build one myself and have as a project with my son.

I will reach out offline. Will be a fun experience for myself and 5 year old.

SCompRacer · May 24

Nice work Steve!

SeleniumFalcon · May 24

A very high caliber build!

VR3 · May 24

I see what you did there

steveinaz · May 26

SeleniumFalcon wrote: »

Nice job! Would the sound benefit from some damping material added to the enclosure?

It's not ported, so I figured it wouldn't matter. Let me know if that is wrong. The ammo "can" is actually made out of plastic.

So I built this...

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