Boom box ghetto blaster bike -alert traffic in a cool way?

T

thedarlington

100 W
Joined
Mar 27, 2010
Messages
214
Location
el paso texas
hi i was in downtown yesterday on my bike and i see a cholo on a lowrider style trike, one of those oldschool schwins with 2 6x9's and a car stereo probably powered by a SLA 12v, it was pretty cool too bad the guy was too busy lookin tough dogging everyone

it got me thinking, and i saw this on instructables today, anyone else thikning about putting sound on your bike? i tried it last week with a little ipod speaker, it was set pretty low because i was going pretty slow and walking, well it sure got ALOT of girls lookin, but furthermore, it can actually get kinda dangerous riding sometimes, you have no idea how distracted most people are when they walk/drive, i have a bike bell but im sure ringing it would annoy/piss off most people taking it the bad way, plus it gets tiring for me each time

http://www.instructables.com/id/Battery-Powered-Mobile-Party-Sound-Systems/step3/Efficient-amplifiers/

anyone know about these cheap t class amps on ebay? maybe a cheap monitor speaker to pair them up with? im thinin just going used but its kinda hard knowing exactly what ur getting usually
 
DeeJay has always put tunes on his rides.

One of his more recent gigs: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16695
 
nice yea i was just checkin out that post but seems to have died, but it seemed more people would since we'd already be carrying around the battery packs since its a good thing to be heard coming when u pick up some speed atleast at close distance
 
I believe that Justin at Ebikes.ca sells amplifiers for bikes.
otherDoc
 
Dunno if 2x 38W qualifies as "boom box" but I see a kit two channel amp for $30 then ya need speakers... Leaning more towards these for $250:
105_big.jpg

4" PCX402 Coaxial Full-Range Speakers • Built-in Weatherized Amplifiers & Standard Stereo Mini Plug; No External Amplifiers Needed • 46 Watts Peak Power, 32 Continuous into 4 Ohms @ 13.6 VDC per Speaker with High-Gain Input; Total System Rating: 92 Watts Peak Power, 64 Continuous
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tks
LocK
 
I have a motorcycle stereo on my trike. I love it. Below is a thread of my install and the website where I bought it.

http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/showthread.php?p=622237&highlight=wired+sound&page=9

http://www.motorcyclespeakers.net/shop/dwg-waterproof-bullet-speakers-177-prd1.htm
 
thedarlington said:
so is this thread officially dead now?
i posted one on general ebike talk about these new t class amps found on ebay for like 15$, anyone seen these?
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I have one, it works great.

Pushes my Klipsch towers to where you need to speak very loudly to hear one another. Runs off a 12v 1a wall wart, but I ran across a 1.8a supply so I use that5371_243887475367_712775367_8089916_3150264_n[1].jpg
 
Looks like a TK2050 based unit would work best on an ebike though as it takes a 12v - 36v input (24v for rated output 100wpc).

That plus a "marine" (water resistant) coax speaker would be great, and cheap.

Just put the amp in a water tight Hammond enclosure (the 1 piece extrusion type with the rubber gaskets on the end plates) and maybe heat sink compound on a spacer to mate to the case.
 
isnt that ebikes.ca price right around what a kicker competition amp goes for? the tk2050 seems nice, too bad i dont have more experience with those type amps, im gonna start huntin down the swap meets for cheap amp/car radio, it seems a decent head unit should power som nice 6x9's, might even simply take the one off my car since i rarely drive it lately
 
thedarlington said:
isnt that ebikes.ca price right around what a kicker competition amp goes for? the tk2050 seems nice, too bad i dont have more experience with those type amps, im gonna start huntin down the swap meets for cheap amp/car radio, it seems a decent head unit should power som nice 6x9's, might even simply take the one off my car since i rarely drive it lately
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there really is no experience to be had with these amps, it's just missing an enclosure. There is + / - in, line level in and speaker out. That is it.

The nice thing about these is you could just do a 3.5mm in jack and use whatever MP3 player you have on your person, or toss it in a saddle / rack bag and your done.

If your worried about water you could just put in in any enclosure and toss it in the bag also. They run very cool.

The $15 ones would work, although the TK2050 would be less hassle if you're running 36v or less, once you run more you'd need a DC-DC converter anyway.
 
so i was just looking at my set of pc speakers and thought, anyone considered using these? it had already ocurred but brushed it off since theyre wall powered, but i forgot the fact that they run a DC brick, making it easy for one to simply hook a bunch of AA's in a box, plug that thru the DC plug, and youre cruising in style, added bonus that these can usually be had for a couple bucks at goodwill usually, especially the ugly old white/beige ones
 
im going to try this, i got an awesome deal on some rechargeables, if anyone else is interested, the flea market by my house sells pretty good used pc monitor speakers for like $2, dont know what shipping is, will post up some pics soon
 
I think the residents in the cemetary that we ride in might complain about the noise :shock: In all seriousness one of the ways I know that a car is around is by the tire and exhaust noise. I would hate to miss that at the wrong time!
otherDoc
 
haha, well thats 1 way others know ull b around, toyota was even considering adding an 'engine' sound cuz people kept running into priuses and wanting to sue, stupid story i know, but seriously tho i have had my couple times where i did kinda wish people could know i was coming
 
I've used the 2024 t-amps for years, and it's a great little low distortion tiny amp that will run directly off of 12V. More power really isn't needed, though what is needed is reasonably efficient speakers. Big bass generally requires more power because you have to move a lot of air, but there are even ways around that by using one of the software algorithms like used with MaxxBass and others, which amplify the harmonics of the bass fundamentals and fool our ears into believing the lower octaves are being faithfully reproduced by the speakers. It's not reasonable to carry the big woofers and power needed to play bass you can really feel on a bike, but small 4" high efficiency speakers plus only a few watts can drive concert level sound at the less than 1m your ears are from any mounting location on your bike down to frequencies of 80-90hz. Add in some processing and the music sounds full.

I have a number of amps with below 10W output that the uninitiated never believe don't have multi-hundreds of watts output. That's because they're paired with high efficiency speakers (needed because I do like to listen to my 70's classic rock quite loud). For stuff like Pink Floyd or newer stuff with heavy content in the bottom octaves, the subwoofer fills in, but it only uses more than a handful of watts for movie effects.

How is this possible? Rip off marketing is how they sell consumer, because they convinced most that WATTS is what matters. The not well known fact is that each doubling of power increases SPL by only 3 decibels. A doubling in perceived loudness needs a 10db increase, or about 10 times the power. I use high efficiency speakers that put out between 94db and 98db on a single watt (some even more), while speakers sold with typical multi-hundred watt systems are often in the 70's in efficiency. That means with just 4 watts my speakers are putting out an ear splitting 100db+, but a speaker with an efficiency of 79db/watt needs 128W to get as loud as my little 4 watt amp. Typically there's so much distortion long before 100W that it sounds like total crap before you can even get it loud as my low power amps. That's how a multi-kw home stereo system of today won't play even as loud as the 30-40 watt systems available in the 70's before the solid state amps took over? You young guys don't really think you listen to music louder than us teenagers of the 70's do you, despite the crazy high outputs claimed by your amplifiers?

If you look at the distortion info on those higher power Tripath amps, the same holds true, so just like our ebikes, stick with efficiency. The little amp is enough and won't kill your battery. You just have to search for speakers to match with them using efficiency as a guide, and there are actually quite a few good sounding car speakers with efficiencies of 90db+ if you look and listen for them, and that won't break your budget. Even without the bass processing system, you can find 5 or 6" speakers that can make reasonable bass with the right enclosure. Then if you're a real basshead and need more bass on your bike, the choice is either large woofers or a smaller high excursion woofer and a proper bass reflex enclosure.
 
wow thats a hell of an answer john! thanks for clearing up efficiencies i always thought it was the db u wanted to worry about, glad u explained all that, so ok, im definitely interested in what you said about 1 watt to 4 watt speakers pulling off massive sound with not so much distortion, bass i can forego because im mainly looking at size & costs, just something small not skull shattering but something to keep you entertained while riding that i can turn it up every now and then, what low watt speakers would you recommend? sorry if i sound like ive never heard of such a thing, but i really havent, and yea i know these days speakers and amps are total crap, i rmember when i checked out the new digital sony xplod and thinking what the hells the point of going digital if youre gonna lose out on the sound, how would you look up this type of speakers?
 
hollisterco said:
wow thats a hell of an answer john! thanks for clearing up efficiencies i always thought it was the db u wanted to worry about, glad u explained all that, so ok, im definitely interested in what you said about 1 watt to 4 watt speakers pulling off massive sound with not so much distortion, bass i can forego because im mainly looking at size & costs, just something small not skull shattering but something to keep you entertained while riding that i can turn it up every now and then, what low watt speakers would you recommend? sorry if i sound like ive never heard of such a thing, but i really havent, and yea i know these days speakers and amps are total crap, i rmember when i checked out the new digital sony xplod and thinking what the hells the point of going digital if youre gonna lose out on the sound, how would you look up this type of speakers?
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In terms of efficiency it is the db rating of a speaker that you're looking for, though it's typically not listed unless you're buying raw drivers. That rating is how loud it is with one watt at 1m distance. The marketing hype for speakers is the watts, ie power handling, which is basically irrelevant except for subwoofers. In fact, you would want to avoid speakers that can handle lots of power, because they will be very inefficient. Speaker selection is a very personal thing because tastes really vary, but the one sure way to find what you like is to go listen to a lot of them, compared side by side, and playing music you like that you brought with you, at the volume you prefer.

Before I could even think of pointing you in a direction, what are the speakers for? You said size and cost. For small size and budget some computer speakers actually sound pretty good, as do some replacement speakers for cars and electronics.
 
boom%20bike%202.jpg

"AYHCHMS"

All you haters can hear my stereo.

This was my Lite Loud and Cheap experiment powered by Sure T-amp-24v.
The finished two 10" pro speakers with neo magnets and 24 tweeters weighs 26lbs.
Only $200 and boom goes the neighborhood.



Working on a 1000 watt version that I will put into a trailer with 2 15" to tow behind my E-scooter.
 
wait.... this bike system just posted, was real? i just looked up that amp board and it seems like it is, i gave up on the idea of a small stereo and am now looking for something to cause more of a bike party kind of thing, ive found best speakers are the portable pa speakers, and currently looking for the t amp, you guys are years ahead of the rest of us
 
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