Making a portable sound system

[fractionMan]

Any advice on the best way to do it? I'm busy collecting the bits right now.

I'm bidding on a couple of 10" powered speakers and keeping my eye out for an old pram or trolley to stick them in. I can use a couple of my boat batteries to power it. The only other thing I need is an inverter.

So, anyone done this. Pros/cons of various approaches?

 

[Crispy]

No need for an invertor, surely? The powerd speakers will be running DC internally, so just bypass the transformer
For my money, I'd rather go with normal speakers and a T-amp, which takes 12V DC straight from the batteries

 

[pk]

You can use inverters or bypass the transformers in an old amp so the battery powers it directly...

 

[pk]

Er, yeah, like Crispy says.

The guitar practice amps are good for trolley/lead acid battery work.

Inverters take much juice to run, shortens battery life...

 

[fractionMan]

Good idea bypassing the transformers, I'll do it if I can.

I did consider going down the class T + passives route but it seemed like a bit of a faff. For a start, I'd need a bunch of class T amps to get any volume. The largest around is about 25w iirc. Plus extra wiring etc. It'd be nice just to be able to plug them in when they're at home.

 

[fractionMan]

Ok, so there's the TA2022 based class T amp at 90wrms per channel, but they're 150 quid. (unless you build it yourself 53 quid for the board - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TRIPATH-digit...ltDomain_0&hash=item3cb2da25c6#ht_7929wt_1240)

The speakers I'm looking at getting should be 150 quid second hand, with amp included.

 

[southside]

Has there been a puff of smoke followed by the pungent smell of solder and silicon frying yet?

 

[Crispy]

Good idea bypassing the transformers, I'll do it if I can.

I did consider going down the class T + passives route but it seemed like a bit of a faff. For a start, I'd need a bunch of class T amps to get any volume. The largest around is about 25w iirc. Plus extra wiring etc. It'd be nice just to be able to plug them in when they're at home.

Ah, well it does depend how much power you want to draw, yes

But T-class amps are the front-runners for efficiency whilst still sounding good. Didn't think they got that expensive that quickly though :-/

 

[fractionMan]

Ah, well it does depend how much power you want to draw, yes

But T-class amps are the front-runners for efficiency whilst still sounding good. Didn't think they got that expensive that quickly though :-/

The little ones are about 40 quid at the mo. I've got one for home use and it's

The speakers I'm looking at are 90w each.

 

[Crispy]

Yes I remember the thread - which is why I was about your OP!

Is it possible to run each channel through both channels of the cheap ones, thus doubling your power?

 

[fractionMan]

Yeah, but you still end up with 40w per amp - I'd need 4 of them for the same power.

I guess I'm thinking easy + simple == good here.

I'm trying to find out more about the db technologies basic 100 speakers to see what kind of amp they've got, but no luck so far.

 

[Crispy]

180W is quite a load, and will need quite a lot of battery for a useful running time! I think we must be thinking of different definitions of "portable"

 

[fractionMan]

lol, yeah. I'm planning on having 1, maybe 2 115ah batteries to power it. Or the genny

Any trolley recommendations?

This looks good: http://www.selections.com/GF7749/ga...iate&utm_source=webgains&utm_medium=affiliate

Pnumatic tyres, 18 quid and it works both ways:

 

[Meltingpot]

Cool thread (I like the idea of a pram-based sound system in particular)

 

[fractionMan]

I'm gonna have a bass baby

 

[sunnysidedown]

Here in Sydney at the last RTS do, there was a load of portable soundsystems made from those large green wheelie bins, fucking loud they were and easy to get around.

check 'em out: http://www.wheeliebinsoundsystems.com/community.html

 

[fractionMan]

Here in Sydney at the last RTS do, there was a load of portable soundsystems made from those large green wheelie bins, fucking loud they were and easy to get around.

check 'em out: http://www.wheeliebinsoundsystems.com/community.html

Looks good. Cheers

 

[sunnysidedown]

Looks good. Cheers

The website's a bit shit - I was expecting to find some instructions on there or something.

If you watch the vid you'll see one at 7:20, no one could get near it due to the loudness, and they guy carting it around was wearing ear plugs

 

[fractionMan]

The website's a bit shit - I was expecting to find some instructions on there or something.

Yeah, me too

 

[fractionMan]

Just checked, wheelie bins are about 50 quid

 

[pk]

Just checked, wheelie bins are about 50 quid

You can find hundreds on the streets for free on Tuesdays!

 

[fractionMan]

Hmmm

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I made mine using a 500W amp designed for a car, hence 12V electrics.

Couple of large car batteries wired in parallel, hook up a couple of big speakers, plug an ipod into the amp and off you go.

 

[fractionMan]

I love car amps. I just read a listing:

Cougar 2-Channel 1200W Car Amplifier - Bass boost, Stereo/ Mono

1200W max. is equal to 2 x 100W RMS

lol. you what?

they're all like that:

4 x 30W RMS power - equivalent to 600W max.

etc

 

[fractionMan]

I made mine using a 500W amp designed for a car, hence 12V electrics.

Couple of large car batteries wired in parallel, hook up a couple of big speakers, plug an ipod into the amp and off you go.

What do you move it around on? Are they car speakers mounted on something or readymade cabs?

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

What do you move it around on? Are they car speakers mounted on something or readymade cabs?

Just lug the bits around, it would easily all fit on a hand cart. Use two 12"/1" PA cabs.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

What do you move it around on? Are they car speakers mounted on something or readymade cabs?

Just lug the bits around, it would easily all fit on a hand cart. Use two 12"/1" PA cabs.

 

[Boycey]

i currently have the wood cut for half a davey t booty bassbin + appropriate 15" bass driver, a beyma 1" compression driver and horn, a soundlab 30wpc car amp and a boss 12v active crossover...

need another amp for bass, a mid driver to run ~200Hz-2-3kHz (thinking announcement horn) and workshop time for the build...

 

[fractionMan]

Thinking that if the auction falls through I might build my own I just found a pink 12" driver lol

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

A good investment is a decent solar panel to charge up the batteries