[adityaprasoon]

Looks fantastic, thanks for sharing.
How difficult was it to join the planks to make the sides? Did Fevicol did a good job of making it sturdy?

[NST440]

Originally Posted by jkrkrish

DIY: Carpentry for converting Car Audio to Home Audio System

Few months ago while selling my old car, I had removed the Pioneer head unit and four Sony X-plod speakers which I had installed in it.

Great DIY I must say, I have a set of speakers, amplifier and sub woofer lying at my home and would love to implement such artistry on it.

Could you please elaborate a bit on the SMPS , it’s purchase link and the wiring etc. used for the same, probably a diagram of sorts so that I don’t goof up the set up.

I am a noob when it comes to Electricals and a little help would be helpful.

Cheers.

[sukhbirST]

Boy, this is some interest in carpentry . Many DIY like these, is what makes this forum great. Congrats to nice job done, though quality of sound, only you can experience.

[jkrkrish]

Originally Posted by adityaprasoon

Looks fantastic, thanks for sharing.
How difficult was it to join the planks to make the sides? Did Fevicol did a good job of making it sturdy?

The Fevicol brand sells glue for joining wood (I have given the link in my post), and there are many other brands too. Joining is the easiest job, and the joint will be very strong. But, choose planks of nearly identical thickness, and it will save futher effort required for planing. Suggest, watching basics /tips on woodwork in Steve Ramsey's you tube videos.

[jkrkrish]

Originally Posted by NST440

Could you please elaborate a bit on the SMPS , it’s purchase link and the wiring etc. used for the same, probably a diagram of sorts so that I don’t goof up the set up.

I had used a compact 12V, 15Amp SMPS from Tridev. I have given it's link and its drawback in my post. Wiring is simple, the input AC supply and DC output terminals and their polarity is clearly marked over it. You, can try some old lap-top charger too, if it matches with your head unit ratings

[IP_Man]

Great thread. In eighties, it was common practice to use car stereo as home music system. Thanks to the superb audio quality and base response due to direct coupled output (No coupling capacitor).

Originally Posted by jkrkrish

[u] After many iterations finalized on 12V, 15Amp, SMPS from Tridev. It gives a mild hissing audible sound (seems the reason is its switching frequency is the audio range), but that was the best I could find.

You may try 10,000 MMD/16V capacitor parallel to the SMPS output. It will reduce ripple and improve voltage regulation at loud volume.

Also, please check that metal body of the car stereo is connected to DC negative.

Regarding speakers, superb execution. My only grouse is symmetric dimension of the speaker that do not help reducing internal reflections.

[Guite]

It's a nice effort. There are not many people who take up carpentry as a hobby. I have enjoyed carpentry since I was a kid. Growing up in a village, we had all the material resources to pursue this hobby.

There are two things I noticed:
1. The head unit box does not seem to have any holes for heat dissipation.
2. The speaker box should have a hole (port) for releasing the pressure generated by the back of the driver cone.

[Amrik Singh]

Originally Posted by jkrkrish

I had used a compact 12V, 15Amp SMPS from Tridev. I have given it's link and its drawback in my post. Wiring is simple, the input AC supply and DC output terminals and their polarity is clearly marked over it. You, can try some old lap-top charger too, if it matches with your head unit ratings

Please note that most of the Laptop Chargers output is around 18V whereas the Stereo requires 12V.

[sandeepmohan]

Nice work.

Fill some speaker cabinet sound damping material such as Polyfill. You will likely notice an improvement in bass response, if this matters to you.

[IP_Man]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Nice work.

Fill some speaker cabinet sound damping material such as Polyfill. You will likely notice an improvement in bass response, if this matters to you.

It won't improve base response but certainly help reducing harmonic distortion.

Trick to increase base response, embed a small tube that act as bass reflex port

[shrinz.vivek]

Originally Posted by jothishX

Nice and clean build. Didn't know pinewood planks were available on amazon. I built this basic setup few years ago from two blaupunkt speakers I had lying around and a 6 inch woofer on the back, with the whole unit being driven by a super-powerful yet mini class D amplfier sitting on the top. A basic diy bluetooth speaker.
Attachment 2281809

Hey jotishX. I have been struggling to build something like this from many days. I have 8 car speakers which my uncle removed from a WagonR and i20 as he wanted to upgrade. Since these are stock OE speakers removed immediately after buying the car they are of good quality although low performance.
I have some experience in building speaker boxes in wood, but absolutely no knowledge of amplifiers. I have almost decided to buy a 1000 rupees ready to use set from SP road and just screw it on the box.
But I really want to fix the amplifier board inside the box to make it look like a portable PA system.
Can you please share how to find such mini amplifiers? Is it plug and play? I know basic soldering, but know nothing about resistors, capacitors etc...

[jkrkrish]

Originally Posted by IP_Man

It won't improve base response but certainly help reducing harmonic distortion.

Trick to increase base response, embed a small tube that act as bass reflex port

Thanks.
Though the 3 dimensions of speaker that I made are different, I could not follow the guidelines w.r.t to the ratio of the 3 dimensions for the box, and nor the off-centre positioning of the speaker on the panel, since I may end-up with large speaker enclosure. I am seeing even the reputed brands to donot follow this rule.

As suggested by you, I will try to insert a bass reflex port in the 2 larger speakers (rear speakers) that I will be taking up.

Thanks again

[Amrik Singh]

Originally Posted by shrinz.vivek

Hey jotishX. I have been struggling to build something like this from many days.
But I really want to fix the amplifier board inside the box to make it look like a portable PA system.
Can you please share how to find such mini amplifiers? Is it plug and play? I know basic soldering, but know nothing about resistors, capacitors etc...

You can get Amplifier board circuits on Amazon. These come with Volume, Bass and Treble controls. But how do you intend to give input to the Amplifier?
Again, Boards are available that have FM, USB and SD Card input that can give output to the Amplifier circuit.
However, installing a Car Stereo would not necessitate additional Amplifier or Input Card.

[jkrkrish]

Originally Posted by jothishX

Nice and clean build. Didn't know pinewood planks were available on amazon. I built this basic setup few years ago from two blaupunkt speakers I had lying around and a 6 inch woofer on the back, with the whole unit being driven by a super-powerful yet mini class D amplfier sitting on the top. A basic diy bluetooth speaker.
Attachment 2281809

Thanks Jothish,
Your speaker setup looks fantastic.

Did I misunderstand!. That, the two speakers and the additional woofer sharing same box( i.e. internal space) but placed on opposite sides. If this is so, you may not be getting the best audio out of it.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by IP_Man

Trick to increase base response, embed a small tube that act as bass reflex port

I am not so sure if porting a box fitted with a car loudspeaker will add any gains at all. You generally port the box to increase bass. That driver is hardly ever going to move. My idea of filling the box up with acoustic material was to tighten bass, which is limited from a driver of that size. In its current state, its going to ring, produce a hollow bass response.