Did a first test run of the Amp today, everything works so far.

Also had the Boombox running of my LiPo Battery for 2-3 hrs and no signs of it getting empty yet.

Sounds pretty good already, but the top of the box (where the VU Meter and the Radio Station Meter is) vibrates because its a thin plastic that cannot be attached to the case a 100 %

But i guess i can live with a little vibration

Will post some more pics and a video the next days

fantastic work and quality pictires to well done 

Thanks! I will have to add some bassreflex tubes anywhere on the front or the back to have a little more pump in the lower/midsection.

When using the standard power supply there is a slight "humming" sound if you listen carefully, thats because the power supply is unregulated and relatively poor quality built.

When using the LiPo Battery it is silent, perfect, no humming or popping sound.

Also it seems to run endless with the LiPo Battery, i made a connector on the back to connect the battery (i did not integrate it into the case because it would be pretty hard to remove if it needs a recharge or rebalancing).

This is the Model i use "Turnigy LiPo 4S 5.0 (5000 mAh)" it has an rated output of at least 14.8Volts, when fully charged you get around 16.2 Volts, LiPos have the best response if you need high power output fast (like when a bass kicks in) without the lights going off

The Bluetooth also works like a bliss, i connected it Pre-Equalizer so i can use the Equalizer on the front to modify all sounds, also it gives it a little of the 80's Sound because of the way they built to EQ back in the days.

The Charging is automatic via a 5Volt Converter on the inside of the Boombox.

This is the bluetooth receiver i use "B Speech RX2 (Bluetooth 3.0)"

Radio is so much clearer now, i dont know if it is because of the parts replacement (capacitors etc.) or because of the other mods, but it sounds crystal clear now like playing a CD or something.

The VU Meter gives it some Disco Stompin' feeling, if you darken the room you will have your own private Party Lights on the Go

The Broken sides look good now, you cant really tell that half of the sides were missing, i will give it the last touch when the Bass Reflex tubes arrived and give the rear a final paint job.

So far so good guys

great project and great pics! i think you've set a very high standard as far as modding is concerned. only...

i guess i can live with a little vibration

...i hope the vibration you refer to is not as serious as in Springfield:

A lot of work has gone into this...very impressive...I need to hear this

Your project looks fantastic; very impressed!

thanks for all the kind words guys!!!

Will add a short video of the crown tomorrow. And another longer one maybe when it is completely finished.

Its an honour to be part of this great forum

Greets Patrick

Looks great RyuX! Loving your work, espcially the change of colour of the LEDs on the VUs, Cant wait to see this beast in action!

my project:

LOL

 I'm in the same boat Karlos LOL. 

hehe, nice project guys.. i like the RAT Style alot.. like those Rat Cars that are all rusty and stuff hehehe

So here is the short video, maybe you get an idea, but it is hard to capture the sound of a unit with the camera, tried some different EQ Settings so that you get an idea of the Sound Range and stuff.

Its still running on the first charge of my LiPo Battery, i think it will be easy to achieve 8 hours running time with decent volume (epic win!)

The Video is filmed in HD (1080p) you might want to change the youtube setting to that for a little better quality.

http://youtu.be/RbWOCvUWutg

great Vid and like you say it's hard to get an idea of sound through a camera but i'll bet it sound amazing in person! Also, I liked your hard trance videos! are you a Techno DJ RyuX? Great music for bombing down the motorway or when you're off your tits at a party!

@JT Techno

Thanks i am glad that you like it, i am pleased with the results so far, but still some work to do

@smeats1976

Hey, well you are right, i am a Psytrance DJ / Producer. I actually do alot of different stuff in my freetime.

You probably heard some Tracks that i produced on my youtube, or a DJ Mix i did.

I also do some Photography.

If you are interested: http://soundcloud.com/ryu-x    (Musical Project)

http://ryuxblog.tumblr.com/ (Photography Project)

http://chipmod.blogspot.com  (my previous electronic adventures blog)

I am really happy that you guys like my project so far will keep you up to date on my crown project.

Greets
Patrick

Hey!

I installed the Bass Reflex Tube today, and thought to myself, why not install my high end tweeters i have left from a different project (i dont use that very often)

So i removed the tweeters from my old project and installed them into my Ghettoblaster.

Well the sound improvement is immense!!!

Also adding a Bassreflex gave the Bass more room and a better overall feeling.

Its turning out as a awesome Box, still running on the first charge of my LiPo (i played around 10 hours already). This Box will be awesome in the Summer

I could easily run a little outdoor party with the Blaster alone now.

The red light that comes out of the bassreflex tube is from the power led of the Amplifier

Funny thing is that i would get more bass out of it when having one Bass Speaker connected with a reverse phase (plus and minus swapped).

This does not make any sense sound wise, but it is funny, must be because of the reflections on the inside of the case (a lot of obstacles in the way).

With the new tweeters and the current settings i can hear stuff inside of tracks i already now that wasnt there before when playing on conventional speakers.

Almost as good as my monitoring speaker setup in my homestudio

The vibration on high bass impact is not that bad, mainly the casette decks lid and the buttons/switches that are vibrating (you cannot change that, because those parts were supposed to move )

So far so good

This is great, I really like the way you document your work and the quality of the photos.

Thanks really appreciate it i am glad that other people also seem to like the same stuff that i do

I attached the LiPo Battery to the Case now, gives it more portability (and the battery is not flying around no more).

Charging is easy, just disconnect the LiPo Connector and hook it up the charger.

What can i say.. still running on the first charge (about 12 hrs now), i wonder if this battery ever will get empty ?

Greets

Agreed, I actually have a sharp GF-77Z shell I wanted to do something with but it will have to be well executed like this mod. I may have to mock up some renderings for the mod first.

That is a great result Ryux

I knew this was gonna sound amazing as

i ve seen your video and it really turned up nice !

Wish i had the time and skills to mae something like that.

hi RyuX! Just after your opinion on amps and speaker combos, last time I built a box I used a cheap TA2020 AMP and Alpine car speakers and it was ok but could be much better! Can you recommend an amp and speakers that would be easy to install (as only have a very basic knowledge of electronics and soldering) and not too expensive please?

Thanks for your kind words, well if it is about time and skills, just take your time, and the skills will get better the more modding you do

thanks for watching

@JT Techno

Dont worry, the LiPo's Maximum Voltage would be around 16-16.2 Volts. A power Supply of the 80's would jump around +/- 1 or 1.5 Volts all the time (because most are unregulated). So you will be fine with a 4S LiPo (14,8V).

The Connector i used is specifically called a LiPo "T" Connector (because of the T Shape).

A Good charger can also be found on ebay

It is called IMAX B6-AC (or B6SAC). It can charge almost anything.

LiPo, LiFe, Pb, NiCd, NiMh, LiIon - all up to about 20Volts.

The T Connector can be soldered to the Batterys Terminal.

I did so, and i attached the connector to the case by simply drilling holes to stick it in and glue it with a 2 Component Glue (Epoxy).

You might want to check out ebay to find a used LiPo because they can be pretty expensive when new.

I got my 5000 mAH Turnigy for 38 Euro. The T Connectors for 3 Euro. And the Charger for about 30 Euro, all on ebay.

Be sure to NOT buy some cheap 4S LiPo because the Power Rating that the chinese are stating is most of the time pure bullshit (they say it has 6000 mAh but it only has 2000 mAh, for example).

You will be good if you look for Turnigy LiPo's, most of the better ones come in hard plastic cases like mine.

Hope that helped a little.

Greets 

Hey smeats1976

Well this questions is not so easy to answer. There are so many factors that will make huge differences interacting with each other soundwise.

Where do you want to install the parts ?

I myself also bought a pretty cheap amp, but i was lucky and the chinese guys used some decent AMP IC's on this one, when buying 10 pieces of the same AMP from china, you might get 3 different Amplifier IC's. 2 of them maybe total crap, one of them pretty good.

It would have been easier to get a high power amp, but you got to keep in mind high power amps draw more current, your battery wont last that long, and it will get really hot and also will be alot bigger than a weaker amp.

I choose my amp to be able to drive my speakers, but also save battery.

The best thing to do is, choose a amp you can afford, most of the amps for around 30-40 Euro will do, read the amazon reviews, and choose wisely.

Like i said most manufacturers built there amps with whatever parts they have flying around at the time (talking about chinese amps of course).

Any amp that is suitable (12Volt Car Amps) will have to be connected to Ground, to Battery or Power Supply PLUS (+) and Remote (that turns the amp on).

Also you have to connect Audio Signal Input, Low or High. LOW would be via Chinch (you can take that signal by soldering wires to the headphone output) or connection via HIGH Input (not all amps have that) that can be connected to your old speakers amp output (L-R   +/-).

When choosing speakers you have to be very careful, those the diameter and the depth of the magnet fit inside my box ? does the frequency range cover everything to the point where my tweeters kick in ?

When choosing a compo system you can be almost sure the frequency range is covered, you also get some crossover networks to connect to.

I only used the crossover network on the tweeters and connected the bass speakers directly and parallel to the crossover networks (tweeter).

That is because the tweeters have 8 Ohm resistance, and the speakers have 8 ohm resistance. when connecting them both to the crossover network they will stay 8 ohm resistance.

Most of the Amps have a power output like this:  50 Watt @ 8 Ohm, 100 Watt @ 4 ohm.

That means if you connect them at 8 ohms resistance you can only get half of the power of the amp, by connecting them parallel and having 4 ohms you will have double the power (to assume that the amp can handle 4 ohms, this should be stated in the technical data sheet).

So its not very easy to answer your question. you will always be good with well known manufacturers, when choosing a compo system or amp, be sure to read all the reviews you can find on the net before buying.

I can only say that the "Polk Audio" tweeters really made a huge difference in sound.

You might want to spend a little more bucks for better speaker compo system, but also keep in mind, if it is too strong, will your case be able to handle it ?

Greets

Patrick

Ok finally the battery is empty now, got it down to about 9 Volts (so you can see how big of a tolerance the Amp and the Boombox got to still run).

It is rated at 15 Volts, plays at 16.2 Volts all the way down to 9 Volts.. god praise the 80's

Doing my first recharge now. Pretty happy that it was running for so long, only thing is the charger cannot autodetect the LiPo 4S with this low voltage so i am doing a manual recharge now.

Wow this is an EPIC project!! I really appreciate the dedication.  All said and done it's really a sleeper.  One would never know the beast you created until you release it's roar.

Thanks for the info Patrick! I though you may have a favourite brand of amp and speakers but I suppose every build is different and it's a cas of trial and error.  I am tempted to use Northener's idea and take a 5.1 surround sound system to bits and fit it inside a box!

Hey

Well yeah there is no real brand that will always give you the highest quality out of every box. It depends on the volume of the box,  the material used, the amp / Speaker combination, the EQ etc.

Its always good to read reviews and choose something with the best Ratings across different scenarios (different cars etc.)

The 5.1 Idea is not that bad, its inexpensive and the quality should be ok for most boxes. But keep in mind that all of the 5.1 Stuff i know wont reach more than 10 Watts RMS (all speakers together).

But maybe thats better because your case wont suffer that much

Greets, Patrick

Hey Jon

Well at first i got to say something more on the LiPo, i read some threads that some of them go up in smoke when handled wrong, if you want to be one the safer side you should get a LiFePo4 or a Li-Ion Battery i guess. I will stick to the LiPo because mine got a hardcase and is not under alot of stress like a normal LiPo (they are used for RC Car Racing and stuff..)

On the Voltage Converter you should look for something like this:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/2907169...id=p3984.m1497.l2649

Then you have to connect the 2 pins of the USB Cable that hold the 5V.

Looking at the male side of the USB Connector Pin 4 is GROUND and Pin 1 is +5V.

if you dont want to have it internally charged, which should also be no problem at all, just fit it somewhere on the outside where you can hook up a USB Wall charger to the unit, once charged it will last at least 12 hours or much longer.

So internally charging it is not really needed, i might remove that feature in mine because those china converters tend to have some ground issues and they can cause a interference and give bad humming issues.

I will keep my eyes open on a better alternative than LiPo. I have like 4 LiPos around my room, i didnt know that they can be dangerous before, but well i guess most of the damages are because of wrong handling like pulling the cables to hard and causing internal short circuit or damaging the cells themselves.

I also changed the crossover networks to POLK Audio today (also from another project that i had spare).

Much better frequency response in the midrange now.

I also found a Ground Loop Isolator (High Low Converter Type) and hooked that one up before the chinch. This fixes almost any issues of the standard power supply humming and bad behavior

Wanted to hook up another Amp (little stronger one) for test purposes yesterday, but it seems that this Amp was not able to handle the 16 Volts supplied by the LiPo, and also the 14,9Volts of the Power Supply.

It was humming like shit, so also choose your amps wisely, some of them are only built to operate from 11V-13Volts (most common in a car).

I also ordered a Voltmeter that i will install on the back of my boombox to be able to monitor the state of the battery (because you should not drain them too much, its not good for the batterys capacity).

Have a nice weekend, Patrick

Heyy !!

I got really lucky today at the local battery shop.

I was shopping around looking for a replacement for the LiPo and i found this bad boy:

There was a discount and i got this for only 20 Euro!

Good thing is, i can charge it with my charger, and awesome thing is, it fits inside the case !

the only thing left outside is the bluetooth receiver and the connector where i connect my charger.

The Performance of this battery is really nice, almost same voltage but operating from 12-14.8V just like the Boombox is supposed to (so no overpowering anymore).

Installed this one pretty quick, and rewired all the stuff, also rewired the amp and the crossover.

What else can i say, i am so happy right now with this box!

The new battery is cheaper, better voltage range and even better Amps per hour (LiPo was 5000 mAh and ultracell is 7000 mAh).

What an amazing day, now enjoying the fruits of my work

Hey!

My box is also rated 15V, but old electronics like 80's ghettoblasters usually dont mind some volts less.

A fully charged 12V Battery has 14,8V.

My box worked till the battery was down to 9,5 Volts (remember my box was rated 15V also like yours).

Using batteries like this is way safer and cheaper than the LiPo stuff.

You can use the same charger like i do, it goes about 30-40 euro on ebay and it can charge everything upto 20Volts (LiPo,LiFe,Pb Lead,NiMh,NiCd etc.)

Charging my new battery with my charger is very easy. I just connect the connector to the backside of the box, run the Pb Charging program, it will charge the battery to 14,7Volts and stop then.

Hope that helps

Greets, Patrick

Glad i could help

Good luck with your project

Firstly, epic work there. exceptionally well done Ryux  

...& now:

Look at this picture, just look at it.

If any mainstream manufacturer made an iPod dock that looked like this & that sounded as good (or at least as good as a Kaboom, Sharp GX-M10, etc.), they would make plenty.

• The Kaboom's continued success & the recent appearance of rivals shows there is a real market for quality, loud boomers.

• The success of the Lasonic 931i (& a few others) shows there is a real market for the proper retro look.

Combine the two? Kerching.

...IMHO  

Dudes why so difficult with those batteries? Get 10 recharegable d-cells from Lidl and put them in the original holder. They are 4500 mAh, just slightly less than the LiPo one. Putting a lead batterie in a box is not really efficient too. These beasts are way to heavy for the small amount of energy it holds and ment for stationary equipment.

Nice about the d-cells is that they will also fit in your next box 

I think by now you must have discovered that completly draining a lead battery two or three times, kills it. Would like to hear your experiences with using the lead bat.

Almost the same project that I made on my Unisef SZ5000 SS (I found mine in a dumpster, with guts totally smashed and burned).

So I put a new amp and battery inside, but using the same woofers.

The final result:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=25dKTneCuYY

But your project looks WAAAYYY professional and better than mine...

Congrats.

Cheers.

only just found this mod topic,and i can honestly say its the best thing to happen to the sz5100,sounds (and looks) to me like youve turned a turd into a tornado of sound,so for all that effort,time used and energy consumed i take my hat off to you,congratulations

Hey, loving this thread. 

I own the Unisef version of this box and they really are fantastic. 

Looking forward to seeing your finished product!  

Heres a pic of mine..