building an ice chest stereo

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benjdow
benjdow Posts: 3
edited May 2010 in Car Audio & Electronics
Hello, I'm building an ice chest stereo to take to pool parties, bbq's, etc. I plan to install 4 speakers total, but I can't decide if I should use 4 (M6691) 6X9's or use 2 (M6651) 6.5's and 2 6x9's

Any reccomendations?
Post edited by benjdow on
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  • Installer4life
    Installer4life Posts: 256
    edited April 2010
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    6X9's will be a better solution for what you want to do. What are you going to do for power to the system. Power supply or battery. Your money might be better spent on a large portable system...
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  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited April 2010
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    I have one with 2 6x9s powered off a cheap marine radio and it sounds great for what it is. It gets PLENTY loud and has a good amount of bass as well.

    I used it floating down the river and people as far as you could see were jamming out to it. We were getting requests, it was pretty cool.
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
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  • arun1963
    arun1963 Posts: 1,797
    edited April 2010
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    hey guys pass the stick this way. Sounds like its potent stuff. ;)

    pics please? Just curious what this contraption looks like.
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  • audiobliss
    audiobliss Posts: 12,518
    edited April 2010
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    DSkip wrote: »
    Surely this isn't something you built if its actually completed....
    Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
    George Grand wrote: »
    Jstas wrote: »
    Simple question. If you had a cool million bucks, what would you do with it?
    Wonder WTF happened to the rest of my money.
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  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited April 2010
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    DSkip wrote: »
    Surely this isn't something you built if its actually completed....

    Ouch!:p

    Mines in the attic right now. I'll snap a couple pics tonight or tomorrow. Like I said, its a CHEAP jensen marine radio. In fact, it doesnt even have a cd player. But we just have it hooked up to an ipod the whole time.

    The speakers are our CHEAP OEM replacement boat speakers.

    It got more than loud enough for everything we needed.
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
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  • arun1963
    arun1963 Posts: 1,797
    edited April 2010
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    Does it also double up as a functional cooler? :)
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  • RuSsMaN
    RuSsMaN Posts: 17,987
    edited April 2010
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    I HAVE to see pictures of this.
    Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
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  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited April 2010
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    arun1963 wrote: »
    Does it also double up as a functional cooler? :)

    It wouldn't be too hard to have it as a cooler at all...but mine isn't. When we floating down we needed dry storage for IDs, shoes, shirts, phones...etc. and its a smaller ice chest and we had wayyyyy more alcohol than it could hold.
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
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  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited April 2010
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    Here's the pics...nothing fancy.

    Cheap pyle radio with Aux in on the front (wish it had one on the back though)

    eabaa3d1.jpg

    Side with the Magnadyne OEM replacement 6x9s
    60a1b3f2.jpg

    And the inside...I let a buddy of mine borrow it and he broke the switch in the upper right hand corner. That switch is connected to the battery one on side, then to the radios ignition on the other...flip the switch, radio powers on.

    Of course he ghetto rigged it, which is all the speaker wire in the bottom of it...I was pretty pissed that he didnt fix it before he gave it back to me so i didnt even bother to fix it. The aluminum bracket on the bottom screws to the inside and holds the battery in place. The tupperware thing is what we kept the ipod in to make sure it stayed dry. It had a remote that I had in a plastic ziploc type bag, but it got wet as it was a crappy bag and it doesnt work anymore :(

    We had a couple more tupperware containers in there for phones/wallets/keys as well. Also awesome to have the handle and wheels to roll it around. All the rednecks out floating the river thought that was the best thing theyd ever seen next to putting a tarp in a truck bed and a boat motor on the tailgate and calling it a jacuzzi.

    f5302339.jpg
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited April 2010
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    That's awesome!!!


    Now, someone needs to get one of those motorized cooler/scooters and turn it into an icechest stereo/scooter/cooler!!
    The nirvana inducer-
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  • benjdow
    benjdow Posts: 3
    edited April 2010
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    I live in San Antonio and float the river often...but plan to make this one for pool parties only. We have a boombox, but a lot of the time we can't find a place to plug in.

    I'm building this one with good components. I ordered 4 M6691's. I'm still trying to decide if I want to mount a 10" sub on top like boomcooler did with theirs, but that would be a lot extra because I would have to get a 5 channel amp. I'm not using a head unit...I plan to mount an IPOD dock on the top of the cooler and connect directly to the amp. The dock will have a remote control as well.

    Here's a DIY
    http://www.keithsibson.com/2009/how-to-build-a-stereo-cooler/

    sellers
    http://www.boomcooler.com/

    http://www.tubintunes.com
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  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited April 2010
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    Hooking up the ipod straight to the amp is a great idea as well.

    You also dont have to get a 5-channel amp. You could get a 4-channel amp and put the 4 speakers on the front 2 channels and bridge the 3rd and 4th channels on the sub.

    I was throwing that idea around for a while...but I decided to get 2 more 6x9s instead and put them on top...it had plenty of bass.

    I used a Kinetik 1400 battery. Lasted 6 hours down the river and started the wifes car...haha. I had jumper cables just in case.
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
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  • benjdow
    benjdow Posts: 3
    edited April 2010
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    Cody,

    What do you think about 4 6x9's and a sub. I'm really unsure about throwing the sub into the mix...don't know how much of a difference that would make.

    Do you think I would get enough power with a 4 channel amp set up that way with the sub? I wanted to use the polk PA500
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  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited April 2010
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    the amp will have more than enough power. As far as adding a sub. My 2 6x9s off radio power had plenty of bass...but I guess its just how much bass you want.
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
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  • Stratos201
    Stratos201 Posts: 1
    edited May 2010
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    I am finishing mine right now. I will post some pictures in the next week but I used a JL Audio CL-RLC which is a driver/preamp that boosts the signal from an mp3 player and sends is directly to the amp. For the amp I used an MB Quart Discus DSC450 which puts out 50x4 channels @4ohms. I have it mounted on the back inside wall of an IGLOO Cube with 1/2 spacer keeping it off the side to keep it a little cooler. I am using 4 - Polk Audio db651 6.5" Coaxial Marine Grade Speakers. You will want to make sure that you run the 'remote' wires from the JL Audio driver and Amp to a toggle switch so they don't run all the time. I stuck the deep cell 24m battery out of my boat in it. I have built one almost exactly like this before and sound awesome. Two things I suggest. It sounds better to use an amp and skip the stereo. For what most of us want to spend on a project like this it is the best bang for your buck. Also, "marine" amps are not waterproof, they just are more water resistant than regular car audio amps but are about 40% more, use a regular amp and just keep the lid closed or mount it inside a tupperware container within the cooler and run the wires through. Hope than helps, and remember its the attention to details that make the difference in a sweet cooler and something that looks like a drunk monkey put it together.
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  • dee3152
    dee3152 Posts: 19
    edited May 2010
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    is there any other in fo on how to a ice chest with subs?
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