I built/renovated this insane boombox

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

I guess I have a thing for shoving loads of overkill electronic equipment into novelty boxes.

This time it’s an old boombox from 1986. I found it on the street in 2007, and have kept it ever since. While it was slowly dying at one point it served as a brilliant stereo distortion unit (sample pack of that here: boombox - pCloud).

Here’s what I did to it:

  • Gutted it of All internals, replaced with a 100W Bluetooth amplifier and a very beefy battery pack
  • Replaced the old 8W full range drivers with some 50W woofers, a pair of tweeters and a crossover at 4khz on each channel
  • Cut off the top of each speaker enclosure and added a plastic junction box on top to increase the cabinet volume
  • Designed and 3D printed a couple of transmission lines/bass ports, tuned to 45hz, mounted on top
  • connected speakers with (badly) coiled jack cables as they’re detachable

Here are the pics:

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IMG_20210818_1521504032×3024 3.21 MB

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IMG_20210818_1522044032×3024 2.79 MB

IMG_20210818_152230
IMG_20210818_1522304032×3024 1.76 MB

IMG_20210816_173503
IMG_20210816_1735034032×3024 2.3 MB

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IMG_20210809_1526243024×4032 1.61 MB

I finished it today and its utterly mad. Much louder than expected and the sound is great. Can’t wait to take it out for a road test on the weekend!.. And also I might build another one just for fun.

Update - I made a video:

44 Likes
#2

Don’t forget the cardboard boxes for neighbourhood breakdance competitions :muscle:

Great work man

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#3

Super cool! I’ve always wanted to nab a vintage boombox and use to mix in some subtle re-amping for mixing in with “lo-fi” (but really just fuzzed out) hip hop.

Everything i can find locally is stupid expensive for what it is, maybe i can check out eBay.

2 Likes
#4

Power up the bass cannons! This is awesome, man I love recycled/upcycled equipment.

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#5

Since I’ve been thinking about doing another one I did peruse ebay a bit and there are loads on there.

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#6

Thanks! Yeah agreed - I’m all about repairing and upgrading things.

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#7

:eyes: That’s totally wild. I had one of them!
Will you come round to mine :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: route thru my tat?

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#8

Have you seen this for inspo

https://images.app.goo.gl/dyG972bjoQFBQv416

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#9

Screenshot_20210818-211351_Samsung Internet
Screenshot_20210818-211351_Samsung Internet1560×720 123 KB

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#10

Haha that’s a beaut! Also, don’t tempt me with your tat. I’m very susceptible to tat.

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#11

I love this so much. I am inspired. I think it’s time for some sort of boombox project.

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#12

I’ve got Kid Acne saying “louder than the fucker on the cover of “Duck Rock”” stuck in my head now. You’ve made a thing of beauty there!

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#14

The best part? AutoReverse!!!

:wink:

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#15

Brixton briefcases FTW! :wink:

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#16

Sweet on so many levels, kudos!

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#17

I might have to get my crew back together, see if they’ve still got their grey and maroon nylon hooded jackets so we can practice a few windmills :grinning: those were the good old days

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#18

You make some cool stuff man. Love it when people do crazy things like this. Have you seen the fishure price? Kinda want to make one

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#19

Justdoit.gif

Cheers mate! And I hadn’t seen that until now - bloody genius. I’ll wait for my kid to grow out of her one and then I’ll commandeer it.

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#20

Here’s a little video I did recently to accompany an interview that’s going up on Blokas Labs’ website soon, breaking down the build in some more detail:

4 Likes
#21

This thing is smart. You should get some impulse responses out of it! Maybe even get someone to create a VST version of it for those of us who would like to re-amp their sounds. :smiley:

1 Like