Best homemade boomboxes

[ScareDe2]

Here we are

A lot of do it yourselfers pretend to build the best sounding machines for cheaper than everything on the market. Who are they, how do their boxes compare with the commercially available boxes in terms of high fidelity reproduction, loudness, weight, look, features, durability, maintenance, reliability ?

Personally, I don't care much about weight or size as long as it's decently portable. I don't care about look, I do appreciate some features if possible like a tuner, AC cord, CD player, AUX and bluetooth but I can live without most of those options as long as I can listen to what I want.

 

[Superduper]

we don't do it because its cheaper. we do it because we are tinkerers, to customize, for sound/features and for the challenge.

 

[ScareDe2]

Is there a reputable seller offering superior sounding homemade boombox for cheaper than a DiamondBoxx?

Or just a video proving the point, demonstrating the higher sound quality attainable on a budget.

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

we don't do it because its cheaper. we do it because we are tinkerers, to customize, for sound/features and for the challenge.

Yep, price has nothing to do with it. It's the challenge that's the motivation for many. I personally deliberately build the style of box that's simply not available at a retail level.

The size of my bigger boxes is around the size of once available boomboxes like the C100F. I have sold 3 of my builds so far and made a small profit on them. Is the money I make worth the 4 days work it takes to complete a build? NO WAY! I do it for the fun of watching people's reaction when the bass drops.

I did a demo of my V5.0 box for some work colleagues and customers last week and got 2 confirmed orders. A local Boomboxery member has also placed an order for the latest V5.0 style box.

Each person has the ability to customerise their box with various options including a vu meter, USB charging ports (1-10 possible), battery size options etc. They also have the ability in the future to upgrade their box when new technology arrives. Upgraded amps, new tech BT receivers etc, etc, etc.

These people have told me they made the decision to buy a built box because it sounds a lot better than anything they can buy at the shops.

Sure, they could build their own (I actively encourage this to save me the hassle of building one for them!), but to date, nobody has shown any interest in going to the considerable trouble of building their own box.

So there is no 'pretending' going on here my friend. No failures, no breakdowns, no DOAs, just happy campers.

James....

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

Is there a reputable seller offering superior sounding homemade boombox for cheaper than a DiamondBoxx?

Or just a video proving the point, demonstrating the higher sound quality attainable on a budget.

Norm is on the case with an awesome, traditionally styled Boombox with modern tech - now that's a build I'm looking forward to checking out! Another forum member, hardmen has built some pretty awesome DIY builds - he uses his for outdoor public events to great effect.

I'm not aware of any other DIY builder that is selling completed boxes to the general public but I'm sure there are many out there - you just won't hear about them.

My suggestion is to build your own box. I can send you all the casing specs, EBay parts links etc. Allow 4-8 days of work (plus adhesive drying times). I can sketch a wiring diagram for you to make it easier. The sky is the limit, you can build EXACTLY the box you want.

Keep in mind though, these boxes are no joke. Most components used are intended for HiFi applications, not Boombox applications. That's why they sound so good. It's not rocket science, just build an outer casing, stuff the right HiFi components inside and away you go. Serious performance is available if you build them right.

Man, that would be awesome to have someone build the same box on the other side of the planet and watch a video of their reaction when they crank it for the first time!

 

[MyOhMy]

Yep, price has nothing to do with it. It's the challenge that's the motivation for many. I personally deliberately build the style of box that's simply not available at a retail level.

The size of my bigger boxes is around the size of once available boomboxes like the C100F. I have sold 3 of my builds so far and made a small profit on them. Is the money I make worth the 4 days work it takes to complete a build? NO WAY! I do it for the fun of watching people's reaction when the bass drops.

I did a demo of my V5.0 box for some work colleagues and customers last week and got 2 confirmed orders. A local Boomboxery member has also placed an order for the latest V5.0 style box.

Each person has the ability to customerise their box with various options including a vu meter, USB charging ports (1-10 possible), battery size options etc. They also have the ability in the future to upgrade their box when new technology arrives. Upgraded amps, new tech BT receivers etc, etc, etc.

These people have told me they made the decision to buy a built box because it sounds a lot better than anything they can buy at the shops.

Sure, they could build their own (I actively encourage this to save me the hassle of building one for them!), but to date, nobody has shown any interest in going to the considerable trouble of building their own box.

So there is no 'pretending' going on here my friend. No failures, no breakdowns, no DOAs, just happy campers.

James....

I love this post. If BB'ing isn't in your heart then you may as well step aside and settle for a cheap Chinese radio.

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

Seen these things?

http://store.theboomcase.com

HiFi speakers in an old suitcase! People pay big money (some into the $1000s) for these things despite the inferior performance offered by a Boombox with a leaky old suitcase for a casing!!
View attachment 28645

 

[duckman]

Seen these things?

http://store.theboomcase.com

HiFi speakers in an old suitcase! These sell big money (some into the $1000s) for these things despite the inferior performance offered by a Boombox with a leaky old suitcase for a casing!!

image.png

Yup, there are a couple of local types making these. I had one of them contacting myself and other buds (we deal locally in vintage audio to thin out our herds) and she acquired a few sets of drivers from us, but they ended up in a mish-mash of parts in a case with no regards to matching parameters of drivers and crossovers correctly, and as you state Jimmy, in ' a leaky old suitcase' for some serious $.

A friend went to a shop that sold these and cranked one up (the arse, ) only to see the sides of the case huffing under load. The guy said it had 100 watts, so one would expect a buyer to want to use it, right?! He was asked to not do that again, lol.

As far as the Diamond box versus the 'home maders' in a video goes, technically one has only the word of the poster to go on really, (we trust ya Jimmy ) so if the love and passion to do it yourself isn't there, kinda hard to figure it out as each person's build is so different and also the test enviroments. That and the cost to have someone build you one custom that isn't a bud? Yikes

I know, send Jimmy the cost of a D-box and he can do a side by side for us!

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

Yup, there are a couple of local types making these. I had one of them contacting myself and other buds (we deal locally in vintage audio to thin out our herds) and she acquired a few sets of drivers from us, but they ended up in a mish-mash of parts in a case with no regards to matching parameters of drivers and crossovers correctly, and as you state Jimmy, in ' a leaky old suitcase' for some serious $.

A friend went to a shop that sold these and cranked one up (the arse, ) only to see the sides of the case huffing under load. The guy said it had 100 watts, so one would expect a buyer to want to use it, right?! He was asked to not do that again, lol.

As far as the Diamond box versus the 'home maders' in a video goes, technically one has only the word of the poster to go on really, (we trust ya Jimmy ) so if the love and passion to do it yourself isn't there, kinda hard to figure it out as each person's build is so different and also the test enviroments. That and the cost to have someone build you one custom that isn't a bud? Yikes

I know, send Jimmy the cost of a D-box and he can do a side by side for us!

Nobody wants to build the casing. True, it's a lot of work but if you get it right, the casing will be just as important a part of the end result as the driver/tweeter/crossover/amp combo.

The dimensions/ volume of each speaker cabinet is carefully calculated to match the requirements of the driver. How can you ensure these requirements have been met with a 1950s cardboard suitcase??!

Well driven 8 inch drivers push a lot of air - if you go with a sealed set up, then you must have a solid, completely rigid and airtight casing around those drivers.

I'm not surprised the sides of that suitcase were bulging/huffing!!

 

[Reli]

I can't believe idiots buy those.

If you go on YouTube you'll see HUNDREDS of videos of Pelican case boomboxes. I laugh at those dorky little things, but at least they're better-built than those stupid leather cases!

 

[Ambience]

I personally can't stand the suitcase boxes myself. I see them on Craigslist all the time. No thanks. Probably the reason why I'm not fond of homemade boxes. However I totally get the challenge of making your own. Sounds like jimmy makes some serious boxes, and hardmens humongous boombox looks awesome!

 

[BoomboxLover48]

I want to throw up when I see those suitcase boxes. They should give a sliced lemon just to take a look at it.

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

I want to throw up when I see those suitcase boxes. They should give a sliced lemon just to take a look at it.

Seems to be a great business case though - they sell tonnes of those things!

It's pretty safe to say that I will never have a DiamondBoxx to do a direct side by side comparison with the V5.0 and YouTube videos are hopeless for audio quality testing.

So if you're interested in knowing what the V5.0 sounds like, imagine the following:

Take 2 mid sized, 2 way sealed floor standing speakers, stand them 1 foot apart and then crank them with a modest home AC amp - that's pretty much how the V5.0 sounds. As all internal components are pretty much mid home stereo spec, that's the sound signature of the V5.0.

Hope that helps the select few out there who give a ****!

 

[ScareDe2]

It's pretty safe to say that I will never have a DiamondBoxx to do a direct side by side comparison with the V5.0 and YouTube videos are hopeless for audio quality testing.

Yes but we can have an accurate idea based not only on the youtube sound but the analyse of the tester. Also you could do a side by side comparison with an Aiwa E9 and that would help me understand.

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

DiamondBoxx and Exos9 are not available to the Australian consumer. (Not yet anyway)

Anyway, I'm not really interested in buying either to tell you the truth. I don't get much enjoyment going into a retail store and buying something off the self - something everyone else has.

I like to have stuff that's unique where possible. Boombox collecting is a bit like that - nobody in my circle of friends and work colleagues has a Sanyo GF-9696 or a Sanyo Mx-720K so that makes these radios special! All of our high end, 35+ year old boomboxes we all collect are survivors - still cranking after all these years. They deserve respect!

When I buy stuff like a leather belt or a dog collar, I don't go down to a local store and get some Chinese crap belt / collar. I go to a local leather craftsmen and buy a one off, last forever work of art. Hand made is best.

If I want a new fence put up, I'll build it myself and do a far better job and use superior materials than a commercial fence builder could afford to use as he's trying to make money, I'm not.

If I want a new tech, kick arse, heavy duty Boombox, I don't go and buy one, I build one from scratch - it's far more satisfying to be at an all-night raging party knowing a box I built is supplying the tunes! (I've used some of my boxes at numerous local piss ups already when I don't want to risk one of my precious classics).

People up dancing, drinking, having a great time and we all know a party without music is no party!!

I don't really care if the expert guys at DiamondBoxx can build a great sounding box and make it smaller and lighter than anything I can make. I'm an old school, non policitally correct, 6 foot 1, Aussie male and I don't mind lifting a 17 kilo Boombox!!!

Each to their own.

Support your local craftsmen!!

Peace out.

 

[ScareDe2]

Have you put your V.5.0 to test with brutal boosted bass songs like TropKillaz - HIDEHO? I am still breaking in the diamondboxx to get a warmer sound and I noticed a small noise, sort of a trembling paper (commonly called a "fart" in the speakers community). I don't know if it's normal I did not get any answer from the CEO or other DB users yet. I know the DB woofers are relativily small I am not sure they were intended for that kind of songs. All others bass heavy songs are played correctly I think, only a few brutal ones make the woofers do that noise.

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

Is it the woofers making the noise or the bass ports? - 80% of the sound comes from the ports when the box is at resonance. Try plugging up the bass ports and you'll notice a substantial drop in bass response. Small speakers in a sealed cabinet tend to be light on bass.

Could be a 'choofing' noise if it's coming from the ports.

I've tested the V5.0 with heavy 808 based songs + a lot of dub step tracks. As the V5.0 isn't ported, the only sound heard is coming from the speakers.

The drivers make no abnormal noises when they are at full excusion during bass hits. The thing to remember is that a sealed system like the V5.0 doesn't result in a lot of cone excusion as the sealed cabinets limit this movement thus producing a tighter, more controlled form of bass. I do loose around 3dB in loudness though by elimating the sound coming from the rear of the speaker from the soundtrack.

Maybe your drivers are overextending resulting in mechanical noises from the voice coil/spider.

Is the strange noise coming from both channels?

Edit: Just tried the Hideho track on the V5.0 - wow, fun track! With the bass and treble knobs set to flat, it has its usual thumping bass but as I turned the bass to 3 o'clock, the bass started to hit extra hard - the low frequencies really started to affect my ears!

No strange noises were heard during the test - the drivers were working extra hard though!
Your DB probably goes deeper than the V5.0 though with its ported setup.

Might have to buy that track.

 

[ScareDe2]

You have tried the bass boosted version? There is 2 versions.

It's hard to tell where the noise comes from, I think it's the surround of the speakers, one side does it, sometimes the right side sometimes the left side, very hard to tell cause it plays loud. I did try to put my fingers and apply gentle pressure inside the ports but it did not prevent the "fart" occuring. It only occurs with brutal bass boosted songs with at least 50%-60% volume. I just want to be sure nothing is broken and that the DB was just not intended to reproduce such brutal songs. I'll stop playing them I guess, that is sad cause I love some bass bombs from time to time.

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

I'm not sure at what frequency the ported system is tuned to but if the track you are playing has high levels of frequencies that are below the resonant cabinet frequency, then the speaker will act like it is in free air - meaning you may have excessive cone movement and thus, increased levels of distortion.

So in other words, if the cabinet is tuned to say 60 hertz and the track you playing has fat 40 hertz passages, then the speakers will flap around excessively as there is no 'springyness' to the internal air below the tuned resonant frequency.

The 'fart' noises can also be caused by excessive air speed around the port openings. This can be corrected by flaring the port openings - something the designers of the DB didn't do.

So you're probably asking more of the DB than the designers intended.

 

[Reli]

I'm not sure how the Telefunken puts out as much bass as it does, with those really small, non-ported, plastic speakers.