# cooler boombox help



## aztik (Jun 20, 2012)

hello im a noob to this forum. i need some help. im trying to build a cooler boombox to take out camping,beach,river. im trying to figure out which marine amp/speakers to get. i want to make it light as possible. what size battery to use? sub or no sub? i want a bass. should cooler be vented for amps? fans? im thinking 2 6.5 speakers and maybe sub. i want to get it right the first time. im not trying to spend alot of $$$ learning from my mistakes. i guess thats why im here.any help is really appreciated.


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## for2nato (Apr 3, 2012)

is this going to be like an ice chest build?

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## aztik (Jun 20, 2012)

Yes trying to if i can get some help


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## for2nato (Apr 3, 2012)

I think the main thing here is to go as efficient as possible. A battery will only play a system for so long before it all shuts down. More batts means more weight. you could possibly run the whole system in 3 channel mode off of a fosgate mini 300. Using maybe a tangband 6.5" sub, and a pair of 6.5" coax mids. With a passive filter for the sub. Its titally doable.
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## aztik (Jun 20, 2012)

Thanks for the help., I wasnt really expecting to pay about $260 just for the amp and sub. Isnt there a cheaper alternative? I do like how compact they are. As for the battery how small can i go? How would a lawn mower battery work? Is there a big difference in how long the battery lasts compared to a car battery?


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## for2nato (Apr 3, 2012)

There will be a difference in storage capacity, so also a difference in run time. Another route would be just a deck running a couple 3-way 6x9's. A lawn mower batt, or even 2 of them would keep you going for a while. But again all that is varied by how loud and long you run it. The main thing in this situation is yiu will want to go with a marine or deep cycle batt. That way the constant drain and recharge doesn't famage the cells

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## sjr033 (Dec 30, 2011)

As for speakers, I would look at the Polk Audio DB line. Marine cert, sensitivity is 91-93 & price is respectable on Ebay. Depending on how elaborate you want to get, you could add a solar charger to extend the play time.


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## aztik (Jun 20, 2012)

fort2nato again thanks. would a deck and 6x9's give a lot of bass? can i go with amp and 6x9's for bass? i would like a battery that can give me about 8 to 12 hours of play time if possible. i guess i would play it loud but not loud enough where you cant hear anyone speak 10 away from ice chest.
sjr033 thanks for your help. ill look into polk marine speakers. does a solar power charger help the battery enough to get extra hours of use?


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## for2nato (Apr 3, 2012)

Yea if put into an enclosure you should see similar response to an 8". The cone has a similar surface area. The difference being full range sound going to it instead of just sub bass. But people rocked 6x9's for decades before subs were introduced to the car audio world. 
A solar charger would be like a trickle charger. Not going to give you "hours" more. But will extend the play time by maybe an hour or two. From memory, and trust me when I say its been a while, we used to get about 4 to 5 hours of play time in my buddies room with a full car battery hooked up to a deck and 2 sets of 2ways. But we werent cranking it all the time. And gear is a lot more efficient now days.

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## sjr033 (Dec 30, 2011)

Being that this is a beach box, not in a car with cabin gain and wanting "a lot of bass" you are going to have give something up. Cheap or Light or Last a long time or A lot of bass.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

forget the boom boom. 

1 it's going to suck power (low battery life)

2 nobody is going to give a **** but you

3 it's going to suck because the outdoors is rather void of transfer function, the rules of car audio and subs will never apply

4 it's going to be much heavier.

I like the 6X9 idea.


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## Dloe65 (Jun 22, 2012)

Dig it


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## goodstuff (Jan 9, 2008)

Consider an Ipod as your source over the deck, but then you would need an amp so it might be an even trade off.


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## LBrines (May 10, 2012)

Perhaps the link Page Redirect will help. I've been looking at building something like this for quite some time. The design at Parts Express seems pretty solid and the designer chose high efficiency drivers to help alleviate the amp/battery problem. I've also been looking at utilizing a solar panel to charge the battery.


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## The A Train (Jun 26, 2007)

the podzuma is a perfect design for the op. and to be quite honest, i would ditch the whole solar panel idea. from my research you will need a rather large panel to get minimal usage out of it. plus, that would increase parts costs quite a bit.


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