Another Boombox Part 2

Designer:
Don A

Project Category:
Portable Speakers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
Another take on the retro boombox using a passive radiator instead of a port and Boston Acoustic speakers instead of ADS as in Part 1.

Design Goals:
Incorporate a SB Acoustics SB15SFCR-00 5×8 passive radiator with Tang Band subwoofer and Boston Acoutics Micro90x speakers. I also used the 5 cell PE battery board LBB-5V for more volts to the amp.

Driver Selection:
264-917

Enclosure Design:
Enclosure was increased to about 7.1 liters for the woofer/passive radiator and separate similar size sealed enclosures for the Micro90x speakers as the originals.

Enclosure Assembly:
Same 1/2″ Baltic birch plywood with dados to assist in assembly.

Crossover Design:
Crossovers from Boston Micro90x were used.

Tips & Tricks:
This time I used a switch to turn VU meters on and off since there is no switched outputs on the battery board or amp.

Conclusion:
Passive radiator is the way to go with the Tang Band 5.5″ subwoofer. It will go louder before distortion sets in and it seems to sound better to me. The Boston speakers sound great with this design even with the weird tweeter mounting I had to accomodate. I really didn’t notice an increase in output level with the higher voltage going to the amp but battery seems to last longer.

About the Designer:
Degreed electrical engineer and avid woodworker, have been building speakers and audio components for 30 years.

Project Parts List: