New project (first actually)

[john_smith_scot]

Hi guys, never modded anything before (other than my xbox), so hopefully this will go well.

I go to a lot of beach and garden parties and quite frankly I'm sick of the crappy little stereos that people put out and assume that that will do for the music...

This leads to the mod....I want to build a computer with two big a** speakers and a power amp so that I can just carry this in, plug it in and all my mp3's etc will be there with visualisations etc...

I'm looking to see if anyone has done anything similar or if anyone can suggest any problems I might run into...

Cheers

Oh and here are some CAD pics of the plan...

http://file031a.bebo.com/5/large/2007/02/07/13/3478671687a3523792689b501206707l.jpg

http://file031a.bebo.com/5/large/2007/02/07/13/3478671687a3523792737b483604233l.jpg

http://file031a.bebo.com/5/large/2007/02/07/13/3478671687a3523792771b602954814l.jpg

http://file031a.bebo.com/5/large/2007/02/07/13/3478671687a3523792814b745735504l.jpg

http://file031a.bebo.com/5/large/2007/02/07/13/3478671687a3523792860b664714551l.jpg

http://file029a.bebo.com/5/large/2007/02/07/13/3478671687a3523800224b187851581l.jpg

http://file029a.bebo.com/5/large/2007/02/07/13/3478671687a3523800275b831196671l.jpg

http://file029a.bebo.com/5/large/2007/02/07/13/3478671687a3523800330b849757473l.jpg

http://file029a.bebo.com/5/large/2007/02/07/13/3478671687a3523800380b413212314l.jpg

http://file029a.bebo.com/5/large/2007/02/07/13/3478671687a3523800432b714338130l.jpg

[Bucko]

The main issues I see are what affect the speaker magnets may have on the PC, the fact that the speakers look just like sub-woofers, so not really suitable for higher frequency sounds and finally what will power the amp?
It looks like a car amp, which while it's 12 volts, the computer PSU won't be able to supply the current required.

My suggestion would be have separate speakers that plug in, and maybe integrate a mains powered amplifier for them.

[john_smith_scot]

I was a little concerned about the magnetic field and the hard drive, going to encase the hard drive in a wire mesh, should scramble it. The speakers wont be quite that big, if i have any probs with treble i can through in a couple of tweeters, there is plenty of space. I know that is a car amp...couldn't find a model of the thing i actually wanted so thats just so that i can get positioning right in my head (the real one will take a splice off the mains going to the pc and lcd.

[Bucko]

I would also mount the CD drive at the top of the case. As there is a good chance this would be sitting on the ground, if it's higher up there is less chance of dirt/sand getting in.

What sort of dimensions is this going to be?

Another thing that may work is building an amplified box, but having a laptop sunken into the top. So all cables from it go inside to the amplifier, power supply etc, but gives you a keyboard and a screen that can be better protected during transport.
The laptop could be modded so it still goes to an external CD drive in the back, and some USB ports. Another opening on top could hold the wireless mouse for transit/safe storage too.

[john_smith_scot]

Good idea with the cd drive up at the top.

Dimensions are rough at the moment, approx 1 foot high by 2.5-3 feet wide by just over 1 foot deep.

I really want to build the whole thing in one box, there will be plexiglass over the screen to protect it. Planning on operating the thing just with the trackball so it will be superglued to the top and the keyboard can be plugged into the usb in the back when required, but i don't expect that to be that often. Primarily to be used for mp3's / divx.

[sirkillalot617]

First of all welcome to TBCS:D

I like the look of your idea as i was also planing on doing something like that when i finshed my current mods Good luck and i will be watching closly.

Sir K

[john_smith_scot]

Cheers, I'll upload pics as I go along, probably not going to get the chance to start on it for a couple of weeks though, just planning and researching just now.

[jdbnsn]

Not sure but I would take vibration damage into account when designing this. If you work around the magnetic issue, current needed, and large amount of heat produced by those auto amplifiers, I think vibration from the subs could be a problem. I would personally design it as separate compartments that stack/arrange together somehow. That would allow you to address all of these concerns rather easily.

[xmastree]

You mentioned glueing a trackball on top? Why not mount it flush?
Use something like this (http://www.nsi.be/GK50.htm) or this (http://www.itacsystems.com/panel.htm)

Oh, and you'll need a USB port so others can connect their thumbdrives or MP3 players.

[armadilloben]

id love to see someone market an emp proof jagunda hdd cage and like sell it to the military or sumtin that was made out of lead lol

welcome to the forum john

[john_smith_scot]

Hi guys, thanks again for the welcome.

The custom trackball looks really good, in and idea world I would want to use something like that. However, on a pretty tight budget, and I have a black trackball lying in the house.

Regarding the usb for thumdrives/keyboards etc...there is already a plan for one in the back, you should see it in the diagrams. Although I think Bucko's idea with the high mounted cd will also apply to the usb port, don't want sand getting in there.

Regarding the vibration, I have thought about this, I think I'll use a second cd drive and run the OS off a live cd, probably a custom version of Ubuntu or Knoppix, that should protect the os. Obviously the mp3's are all backed up so although I'll keep the hd outside of it when not in use (magnetic field wise), if the worst happens I'll just throw a new one in, they are cheap enough anyways.

I am more than a little concerned about heat, the MB that I plan on using is a micro atx with a passive cooling system and a low wattage psu. Most of the heat will be from the monitor and the amp. Any suggestions on how to disapate this? I'm trying to avoid leaving too many holes in the case as I know sand will just collect in them.

Once again cheers guys, seems like a nice little forum.

[Ironcat]

I am more than a little concerned about heat, the MB that I plan on using is a micro atx with a passive cooling system and a low wattage psu. Most of the heat will be from the monitor and the amp.

That heat is going to be the least of your worries... you're forgetting about the ambient temp.
Right now, your computer is working it's little butt off to cool down all the air coming into it, and that air is coming from inside your nicely air conditioned house.
I don't know about your house and beach but my home is usually around 74F and the beaches here can easily get above 90F. So that's another 15 degrees or so you need to add on to your cooling...
Beach sand traps, absorbs, and holds onto heat... that's why sea turtles love it... it's also why we have the frantic "ooh aaah ouch" dance down to the waterline. If you're going to be setting that thing on the sand, even with a blanket, you should probably add another 10 degrees just to be sure.

[Bucko]

Good idea with the cd drive up at the top.

Dimensions are rough at the moment, approx 1 foot high by 2.5-3 feet wide by just over 1 foot deep.

No probs!

Going on those dimensions perhaps the speakers to use would be a set of car speakers. A set of either 6"x9" or 7"x10" speakers would work well.
The only thing to consider there is what the recommended resistance is for the amplifier.
A lot of mains powered amps use 8 ohm speakers, where as a lot of car audio stuff is 4 ohms.
If you use 4 ohm speakers on an amp that recommends 8 ohms, there is a good chance you'll burn out the amp.

As Ironcat says, ambient temperature will be a big factor in cooling this rig.

For what you are aiming to achieve, I'm still not convinced a PC based system is best. For the knocks and shocks this may get in transport and use, you risk bumping cards loose on the motherboard on what is really a fragile system.

If you dropped the screen and just went with audio, you could build a better system from car audio parts.

If you got an MP3 compatible CD head deck you could have quite a bit of music playing on a burnt CD. Carry a few CD's if you really do have a lot of music.
You could run a transformer to convert mains power into 12v where available, while still having the ability to run power off a car battery at a remote location, or a cord running to a car to run of its battery if close by.

You could mount the amplifier at the top with the amp case (which is the heatsink for it) poking through the top.
To stop people mucking with the head deck you could recess it back a little and have a lockable perspex cover over it.

(excuse my rough MS Paint work)

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/5665/roughyl1.png (http://imageshack.us)

Some foam stick-on weather stripping on the door and it would stop any sand getting in too.

It would save any magnetic interference with the computer from the speakers, be more robust and handle higher temperatures more easily.

[john_smith_scot]

I know that practically Bucko is right but it just wouldn't have that wow factor, and since when has practicality every stopped any of us?

Regarding the ambient temp on the beach, think you are 100% correct, heat gets up to 115^F here (middle east). That being said, that would be too hot for us to be out in, when this is being used it will be at night on the beach so probably 50-60^F temp. Its true though, if this was being used in a garden then that could be a big problem, that will be during the day.

Mounting the amp so that the heatsink its outside the case could help a lot. Bucko, i'm not entirely sure what you mean with your diagram...

Regarding cards getting disloged from the mb, shouldn't be a problem, there will be no card, its a micro atx with onboard video/sound etc, thats why i'm using that one.

I'll redo the cad drawing taking all this into account and upload them again in about an hour.

I think we are making progress with this, thanks for all your advice guys, check out the new diagrams and let me know what you think...

[john_smith_scot]

Ok, as promised, here are the updated model photos, bear in mind these are in an ideal world, money may affect some of these...

Anyways, think this covers most peoples suggestions...

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0039/24691a5cddf4425aaa0b53f3dde84f9e.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/large/0039/79e5e3ca6a8c4429b56863ab0de37fe7.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0039/8ac9197ebda649e58f7899fa4c58d8c9.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0039/d56b7ceba8054998877f5fc1f5d04997.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/large/0039/ec3a6907a77840ae9a9d7cbca2eac10a.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/large/0039/2df7d70123fb49c8be3f3b04cecfa416.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0039/f00c33c6dc644d2aac5a81fc0761e93c.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/large/0039/0c9cb32c8c2e4a0ba8c6246e4e468c30.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0039/d0dda0d337854831841fd6f12bda7758.jpg

As ever, any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated...

[simon275]

Nice fan grill on the fan would look a treat as it stands out quite a bit. Maybe make it so the panel hinges from the bottom forward so you have more internal access.

[john_smith_scot]

Think you are right about the fan grills, would probably try and spray them red though to stay in keeping with the look. (Might actually try to put a couple of red cathodes inside as well, could look good.

Regarding the front hinge, I would just be a bit concerned about it holding up the weight of the lcd...suppose I could mount the lcd on the base, but if I do that it will still restrict access. I would hope that once this is built that I will not have to do anything internally anyways (fingers crossed)

[Bucko]

Bucko, i'm not entirely sure what you mean with your diagram...

Well it was clear in my head... :redface:
What I was saying was to do with using a car head deck:


To stop people mucking with the head deck you could recess it back a little and have a lockable perspex cover over it.

Some foam stick-on weather stripping on the door and it would stop any sand getting in too.

Here's the pic labeled for you. Imagine a side view of the case:

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/3784/roughyl1ps9.png (http://imageshack.us)

So that is the head deck mounted and the angle bit to the right is the perspex door and lock. So when it's closed it's flush with the case and that's where the foam stick on weather stripping would come in to seal that little recessed box where the head deck front would be.

I hope that clears it up. It doesn't really matter if you are using a computer though.

[xmastree]

you risk bumping cards loose on the motherboardCards? What cards?
For this job, a board with built-in audio and video would be adequate. Unless you're a real audiophile, in which case you wouldn't be using MP3s in the first place. ;)

[john_smith_scot]

Cheers Bucko, I get what you mean now, yeah that would work, but want the wow factor, plus I can use this for divx/dvd's etc...

(Future mod (money no object) could be a box that docks on the top containing an lcd projector! home cinema, all over the side of your house!)

[john_smith_scot]

Xmastree, hi, actually have the mb I'm going to use already, its a micro atx board, onboard video + sound (5.1, not that that will make any difference in this project)

Regarding the whole audiophile thingy, yeah, don't really care for this application, people will be drunk, music should be loud with strong bass, thats about it ;)

[john_smith_scot]

Hi guys, still looking for input on this, unless you have all run out of ideas (and yes that was a gauntlet)

[xmastree]

I wonder if this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/track-ball-assembly-electronic_W0QQitemZ220079394782QQihZ012QQcategory Z42899QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220079394782) would work in there?

[Drew]

That looks like the one on the mock-up....

Is it just me or does the trackball with the 2 big buttons look like an old arcade machine?

Cool concept, and fair play for sticking to your guns!

Who needs something reliable and practical and dull?

We can have something tempremental (sp?), fragile, impractical and very very cool!

Good luck dude!

[xmastree]

Nothing wrong with old arcade machines (missile command anyone?). They were built to take a beating without breaking. This unit sounds like it may have a hard life too, so I'd build it tough.

[john_smith_scot]

Actually guys the trackball is off an xarcade 3d model...so you're sorta right...

Regarding the whole tough thing...hell yeah, this thing is going to wish it was never born...sand...dust...heat...knocks in the back of my car...and probably drunken people poking at it...

So yeah tough is how it will have to be built...now where did I put that arc welder... ;)

[john_smith_scot]

P.S. in all seriousness, friend is the workshop manager for a company that builds custom electric cars here (like golf buggies), if they don't have the tool it probably doesn't exist...hmm...serious power tools

(They do actually have an arc welder, but I'm a little scared to use that.. :( )

[Foxtrot9000]

hey man i really like the idea behind your mod. i have actually been wanting to do something like this for a long ass time but i dont have the money =/
there is a forum that i have been a part of for many years that has to do specifically with cars and computers (sorta the same idea you have) and i am 100% positive that if you lurk around there you will find any and all answers to any problems you might have (e.g. hooking your computer into a car amp, power, touchscreen)

i am not trying to advertise for there site but i do think it would be a help too you

mp3car (http://www.mp3car.com)

to mods: i am sorry if this is in breach of the rules set up here, if posting this link is a problem then please delete this post and pm me.

[john_smith_scot]

Okay took FoxTrot9000's advice and threw this up on the other forum, they came up with some good suggestions, a couple of them have been implemented here:

P.S. Get the feeling this is becoming a bigger project than I first imagined...

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0040/370587ef378347a1b3a27459007175e9.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0040/f4ecf37af0ea4752988c1561da23378d.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0040/b44ece301c9d41108282f94c8fa7113b.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0040/a39927019f6d470690853200ff8dd758.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0040/7c80669a2b964d09ac59f048bfe0908c.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0040/5ec59ebfa2df4b30a1c54d005e5a28c4.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0040/35b642af0bde4bccb6df12ffb86c1eb7.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0040/2d142081946b4ec9b3452663317c0723.jpg

http://media.twango.com/m1/original/0040/4f0f99947d274ed0b0d93adf0f6a1fe2.jpg

[Redundant]

If it's foldable like that, where will you route the wires to the speakers? If they are external wires, they will eventually break from the bending.

[Drew]

Looks like it'll take travelling a bit better like that.

+rep for keeping going with SketchUp. I gave up.

I suck :(

[Bucko]

If it's foldable like that, where will you route the wires to the speakers? If they are external wires, they will eventually break from the bending.

It will take a long time though. Think about wires going into a car door, they last and last and last, plus I bet a drivers door will get more use than this ever will.

[xmastree]

Plus, you lose all the space behind the speakers, they won't work so well in those small enclosures. The wires will break from all the bending, and the whole thing is generally weaker.

[Nagoshi]

I dont think your current fan placements will do anything... since both of them are located on the upper side of the box and your motherboard is on the bottom, it won't get much air. Maybe you could, like, place both of your fans on the top, and make a funnel with the one blowing air in, that will be directed to the motherboard... cooling the CPU and crucial mobo components at the same time. And the other fan would draw the air from the case outside, don't need a funnel for that one.

And underclocking the CPU would be a nice thing to do, since you don't really need speed for listening to MP3 and it would kill any kind of heat produced by the motherboard if you reduce the CPU voltage too.

If you don't mind losing some performance from your fan, you could use a screening tissue to block any dust entering the case from the fans. It will interfere with the air flow, but if you can keep the case cool (or if you can use more than 2 fans actually, or bigger and more powerful fans) it could be a solution. Screening could also be used everywhere where there might be a hole between the exterior and the interior of the case.

Finally, you could use a CD drive stealthing strategy, like hiding it behind a flipping panel to reduce contact with the outside, and with of course a small button to still allow to use it. If I have the time, Ill get a picture of those that came with my new computer.

[john_smith_scot]

Ok guys think that we are getting there now...

The speaker wires will go from the front right on the left speaker and front left on the right speaker, there will be holes drilled in the front with rubber seals to protect them, the cables themselves will be insulated with heat shrink tubing (queue the hair drier) these cables will then feed into two identical holes in the front board and then up to the amp internally.

The CD and USB port will be moved to the front of the unit (probably to the right hand side of the lcd.

The positioning of the carry handle will be moved to reflect the new centre of gravity from the case redesign.

Regarding the fan placement and heat issue, I don't want to place the fans any lower as this may suck in more sand, the mobo and proc that are being used are using a passive cooling system and are both low power devices (they were scavenged from a shuttle pc) so cooling shouldn't be too much of an issue, there is a lot of open space in the box and heat rises.

Think this is almost ready to get the boards cut.... :twisted:

[Indybird]

Hey I really like where this mod is going, ill try and stay updated!

EDIT: where can I get the picture of the car on your screen?

[john_smith_scot]

sorry no idea about the car on the screen, it was part of a model for an lcd that was in the sketchup 3d warehouse. But the res was quite low there.

[Bucko]

Just looking at your design, that is still a lot of empty box to be carrying around.
If you mounted the motherboard vertically, you could make the box smaller, needing it only as wide as the amp or power supply. The CD player could go in the side to ensure it fits.
By having the motherboard vertically, cooling fans could be mounted to actually get some airflow across it.

So it would be shaped more like this:

http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/185/2d142081946b4ec9b345266at9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[john_smith_scot]

You are right about the less space thing, but the two amps are going to generate a lot of heat, hence I think the bigger space will allow it to disapate better.

[Nagoshi]

then you are going to need the two 120mm fans in the box...

[Bucko]

You are right about the less space thing, but the two amps are going to generate a lot of heat, hence I think the bigger space will allow it to disapate better.

Most of the heat will be coming off the top of the amps in the open air anyway. Good fan placement will keep the air flowing through at a good enough rate to keep the rest cool anyway, so you may as well build it to be more easily transported seeing as that will be it's main purpose.

An extra fan or two now will pay dividends when it comes time to lug that thing around, put it in and out of a car etc.

[john_smith_scot]

Hey Bucko,

Think you are probably right, however, I would rather add a couple of extra fans and keep the size the same, I appreciate what you are saying about lugging it around, however I've checked out the hardware for this and its a bit on the pricey side (around 1000 pounds) so I think better safe than sorry is the way to go.

On the audio side, this is what will be in there...

AMP #1
Powers 18" Low Frequency speaker (to be built inside main unit)

AMP #2
Powers 2 15" Woofers and two tweeters with funnels (to be built in the rotating boxes, these will be on slip hinges with about 8m of extra cabling in each, so that they can be placed in the corners of the garden when there are a lot of people)

[xmastree]

You know, you don't need two woofers. One is enough.

You could make it smaller, screen on one side, woofer on the other.

[jdbnsn]

Holy ****! Are you putting an 18" subwoofer in that thing? How do you intend to power this contraption? If you are thinking about using this box outside on a portable basis, it won't last long with that workload. My car has a Rockford Fosgate 1800Watt amp pushing 2 12" subwoofers and it can't keep up well. I have actually burned up 2 alternators before I realized the workload was too much for my stock alternator. Keep in mind that this is 12v with the engine running, if you are just connecting to a battery it's going to be a short party. I do think that the enclosures you have come up with address most of the initial problems eveyone came up with, I had mentioned separate cabinets but never thought of swivelled end pieces like that, it has a nice look. I don't think heat will be a huge issue for you since you have moved the dissipation surface of the amplifiers to the exterior, good thinking. Have you measured the magnetic "reach" of the speakers you are using? May be a good idea in case it screws with the CPU/HDD. Although I admittedly haven't read the whole thread, I assume you have considered vibration causing your cd's to skip? Looks cool so far!
Jon

[Nagoshi]

I don't remember where I saw that... but there is a formula to calculate the right lenght of the funnels depending on the frequencies you are aiming to hear.

And I totally agree, a 18" sub is total overkill... you could go with a single 10", and 6x9 good quality car speakers for the whole system, and it would kick more ass than many stock audio system from any car around here.

[john_smith_scot]

Hi guys, its not going to be used in a car...it will be on the beach and at garden parties, i.e. it will either have mains power or it will be running off a petrol generator. It was never intended to be run off the car battery. JDBNSN, how would I calculate that reach? And regarding the vibration, I'm not intending to use the cd when the unit is playing music, that more for software installs, copying the odd set of mp3's etc, all the mp3's will run off the hard drive, at one point I considered using it as a DVD player but I think you are right about the vibration, don't think that would work out too well.

And regarding the overkill, I don't believe in such things, if peoples punny human eardrums can't take it, then they shouldn't stand so close to the literal "boom" box!

P.S. You should have seen the guys faces at the audio place when I showed them the plans and the speakers that I wanted for it, they were drooling!

[jdbnsn]

Ok, I have to admit that I am a bit on the overkill side when it comes to audio myself. My only concern here is that it's just so much power consumption that it won't be reliable. And an 18" subwoofer generates enough pressure to warp the hood of a car, so what effect will that have on your PC components. As for calculating the magnetic field, I don't know if the classical physics equation would directly apply here. A good person to ask may be Slug Toy as he is pretty interested. Since this magnet will be ring-shaped and have electricity applied to it, it may have variable dimensions. You can actually purchase small devices that look like voltmeters which will detect and quantify electromagnetic field strengths, but they are a tad pricey. If you want to go the cheap route, try hooking it up to the amp and running them at variable levels while holding an old/cheap TV tube (can probably get a small TV off craigslist next to free) with a blue screen in different positions behind the magnet. Watch the screen for color warp and you will be able to see visualize the field. You may want to get the advice of someone more educated about electronics and magnets though. Consult Slug Toy for the physics equations, and probably Airbozo for the practicality of testing. Good luck!
Jon

[john_smith_scot]

To be honest, i'm not that concerned about the pc bit getting ruined, I've got an old one lying around that will be used, so if it gets wrecked, then it gets wrecked. I'm more concerned about the speakers and amps as they will be brand new, oh and the lcd, I guess that much pressure could in theory crack the lcd panel?

Think I can do all the calculations I want, at the end of the day the best way to find out if it works is to put it all togther outside the case and slowly add the components one at a time and see how it reacts, starting with the sub as I think that will be the most likely to cause problems.

P.S. What do you mean about the 18" warping the hood of a car? What on earth did you do? You gotta tell me, sounds like a great story...

[jdbnsn]

I think an 18" sub could definately damage and LCD screen, but you should be able to minimize the threat if you design the mount to absorb vibration to the best of your ability. I have seen only 2 systems that had 18's. One was a single RF 18" in a Geo Metro, it was hilarious because the pressure inside the car was more than anyone could handle without ear protection. The pressure caused the roof of the car to resonate with about 1-2" displacement and we would let it bounce a basketball at least a foot in the air. The other system was a home enclosure, designed be a friend who had a ridiculously expensive home stereo (I'll try to post some pics of it when I get home). He had built his theater on the side of the house where his deck used to be so there were sliding glass doors which he left in place as the entrance. He powered 2 18" drivers at the rear of the room with some amps that I cannot remember the name (possibly advent?). Anyway, he was showing off the power of his system one day and it shattered the damn sliding glass doors! I wasn't there when it happened, but saw the damage later. (Of course he could have been lying and smashed the door to impress us). Anyway, the point of all of this is that size subwoofer creates an enormous amount of turbulence, so just keep it in mind with your design.

[Nagoshi]

Oh, and you have to think about something that you did not thought about...

all these speakers need to blow some air out when they resonate, by the inside. Where are all that air will be blown? You will need more free holes to blow all that air out. And all that pression is gonna build up a tornado in your case, so you will need one hole behind each speakers or its going to damage your motherboard.

And I know it's not going to be used in a car, but a car stereo can pack alot of sound when going to the beach, probably more than needed. And you are going to use way more than needed, have you ever thought about the sound being too loud for you to come by your box and change the music? happened to me once or twice, my ears had a bad time this day. lol.

[john_smith_scot]

Yeah you are right enough about the blow holes, was planning on cutting them in the top of the speaker boxes, think about a 3" diameter on each should do it, I don't think the main case will need one for the sub though because of the two fans that will be running in there (that might just be trial and error though).

Regarding the too loud thing, funnily enough someone mentioned this to me last night...I think the best solution could be the simplest one, put an IR port on the front and setup winamp with that, then just use a remote to skip/increase volume/decrease volume/mute.

[Nagoshi]

The fans will overspin because of the air forced through them, and you may screw them.

[john_smith_scot]

Can't really think of a solution for that...I really want to keep the sub in the main box otherwise I'm going to ruin the look of the thing. Do you have any suggestions to get around the fan thing?

This is maybe totally off the wall but if the sub is going to be sucking air in and blowing it out, if I cut the blowhole at the top of the case, then wouldn't it push all the hot air out? Hence I wouldn't need fans? I think this is pretty unlikely but if it did work it would be a nice bit of overlapping tech.

If the fans did overspin, would be kinda funny getting the flying fan of death...lol

[Nagoshi]

LOL

Actually, you could "isolate" the sub into the main box, like, shielding the sub from the inside and it would have its own hole. No air would be allowed in the box from the sub.

But actually, the no-fan solution could be a way to do it, hence if you decide to put all the speakers in the same box you could simply make a bigger hole and manage to get all the air out by cooling the whole stuff. Hence, if you actually want to do it, you could even put the amp(s) in the box to save some space and they would be cooled by the speaker's resonated air. LOL. Or, maybe sink them half-deep in the box, so they could be cooled a bit from the inside and have the "heatsinks" outside, making a design and allowing them to cool in a better way.

Someone should correct me in what I said, and I must say that the air "produced" by the speakers is not hot (or shouldn't be) since it's only the result of the speaker membrane resonating.

And, by curiosity, what are you finally planning to put in it?

[jdbnsn]

I would isolate the sub from the electronics for two reasons. 1) so you can more accurately control ventilation of the cpu side, and 2) you don't need ports on a subwoofer. I have tried building boxes both ways and have been much more impressed with the bass when there is no port, just sealed box. The very best bass I have achieved has come from a sealed fiberglass enclosure built within a sealed wood(particle board) box.

[jdbnsn]

I said that I would try to post some pics of my friend's home sound system that blew out a glass door but found that I don't have any stored. Although I do have some pics of another friend's theater that is damn nice as well, I'll post them here for entertainment purposes. If you feel you don't want them in your thread just say the word and I'll pull them.

Here is the main system rack (there are more amps behind this wall that cannot be seen). This is actually only two channels, L and R only and he later added a Brysen 7.1 processor and more amps.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f395/jdbnsn/misc/3.jpg

His turntable cost more than my PC
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f395/jdbnsn/misc/4.jpg

In the middle is my old Veldodyne 15" servo controlled self powered subwoofer, at the time I bought it there wasn't much better but now it's old news. He bought it out of charity as I was collecting money for a trip to China.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f395/jdbnsn/misc/2.jpg

Here is one his front channels, all connected together he runs these with only 1 watt (don't ask me to explain how this works but believe me when I tell you, I didn't know that sound could be this loud and clear)
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f395/jdbnsn/misc/1.jpg

I never got a chance to see it with the theater screen installed, but I stood in the middle of the room while he did some sound tests and holy ****! I am certain it could be heard for miles.

[john_smith_scot]

That looks sweet!