Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

The building your own portable soundsystem thread

Yeah, a little further reading suggests that it's not a clever thing to do if I want good efficiency. There's a much wider choice of 8Ω drivers anyway. I will buy my cases first, then see if it's possible to match drivers to the volume of the case, for a bass reflex design.
 
fractionMan said:
Be aware that bass reflex designs require bigger boxes.
Click to expand...
I just eyeballed the volume of my old upright speakers, and reckoned it to be about the same as a wheelie suitcase :D. Case first, then drivers to suit the case.
 
One problem you'll find is that cheaper drivers tend to not have published parameters winisd requires for working out box sizes. Trial and error is required :)
 
I think the amp in mine has died, it cut out the other day, then started working again. Now it's cut out again.

I charged the battery for 3 hours to see if it was that. The first time it cut out I took the power cable out the back for a while and then put it back in. This time that's not doing the trick.

Do those lepai ta2020 amps do that a lot??
 
ViolentPanda said:
No, but they seem to have a reasonable rep around the hi-fi forums. Seems to be similar innards with some bigger caps thrown in, which is pretty much what some of the the hi-fi bods do with their Lepais etc anyway.
Click to expand...

I might try one out.

What I'm worrie about is that the amp is ok and something else is messing up and I don't realise.....

I'm pretty sure it's the amp though, everything powers up, and in comparison I'd imagine speakers are much less likely to go wrong
 
sim667 said:
I might try one out.

What I'm worrie about is that the amp is ok and something else is messing up and I don't realise.....

I'm pretty sure it's the amp though, everything powers up, and in comparison I'd imagine speakers are much less likely to go wrong
Click to expand...

As long as you've checked your soldering etc and made sure all your external connections are ok, then it's pretty much got to be the amp.

You have checked them all, haven't you? :D
I once made the mistake of using crimp spade connectors to wire a speaker in, only to have the connector work lose at an inopportune moment. Most embarrassing. :oops:
 
Well they're crimped on, but when they've got before there was still sound coming out. It was obvious the spades had slipped off.

I read a review on amazon with someone having the same problem
 
Looking at it with a fresh brain this morning, it doesnt look like it would work..... it switches be european and US voltage for the power, but the battery ive got is 12V
 
I've jsut bought another ta2020, but I didnt get it off ebay this time, so i can send it back if it goes wrong.
 
fractionMan said:
I tried loads of little amps but the TA2020 always turned out to be the best sounding and most efficient.
Click to expand...

Ive read lepai quality control is hit and miss though, often they're fine, but they send out quite a lot of lemons too...

Anyway, lesson learned, buy electronics from somewhere you can return it easily.

I was thinking about getting a rivet gun and riveting everything in again.
 
376392_422697217768298_1941666990_n.jpg

First of five off the production line :)
Note: External controls. Also external phonos which complement an internal connection, so you can choose between putting the MP3 player inside for portability, or outside on a long cable for tune choosing. Battery charging socket also external (bottom right)
 
Cheers :)
Already got buyers for 4 of them, and hope to make more!

I used the cheap drivers in the end. I found some tests which showed the LP-2020 amp couldn't do much more than 7W per channel into 8 Ohms without clipping, so heavyweight drivers would have been a waste of money. It's still plenty loud enough.
 
Nice..

Ive got a load of people who've asked me to make them one, but I want to refine it first and get it with inputs and controls on the outside just like that.

Finding cases for next to nothing is the bugger I have though.
 
I played two market traders off against each other and got it down to £27 each for the cases. I'll probably pay him £30 next time round, cos they're excellent cases and I don't want to rip him off.
 
Crispy said:
View attachment 21032

First of five off the production line :)
Note: External controls. Also external phonos which complement an internal connection, so you can choose between putting the MP3 player inside for portability, or outside on a long cable for tune choosing. Battery charging socket also external (bottom right)
Click to expand...

I'm impressed. Given how many people are making these for sale (Etsy seems to be flooded), you've obviously given a lot more thought to ergonomics and looks than a lot of 'em.
 
fractionMan said:
Be aware that bass reflex designs require bigger boxes.
Click to expand...

Makes it a bit difficult to find a full-range driver small enough to pull off a small speaker box. I'm currently looking at some 75mm, 85mm and 100mm drivers! I'm trying to figure a pair to go with the TA2020 pcb I bought from Arjen Helder that'll sounds as good with a D-class as my little Goodmans with a rear-firing bass port do with my Lepai. Why? Because it's cheap fun! :D
 
http://www.maplin.co.uk/flight-case-triple-pack-with-dividers-513879

Has anyone used these cases to build in? Im wondering whether I should buy 3 of different sizes and try building a couple.....

Also, I've been approached with a plan of building a soundsystem walkabout setup for festi's next year, a carriage which we can fit about 2 or three people in, and a pretty booming system (like doppler if anyones seen that).

Anyone built anything like that before?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Humberto
Hank Williams - Feel free to add your own
Replies
21
Views
386
Humberto
Humberto
Kaka Tim
Best Platform for uploading your own music?
Replies
8
Views
296
mojo pixy
mojo pixy
mojo pixy
Bands / artists you own the most music by
2 3
Replies
64
Views
2K
Serge Forward
Serge Forward
Voley
  • Poll
How many Band T-shirts do you own?
2 3
Replies
68
Views
2K
Lazy Llama
Lazy Llama
kalidarkone
The " What music genre is this? " thread.
2
Replies
35
Views
833
kalidarkone
kalidarkone
Back
Top Bottom