ghetto blaster for bike?

[aireekah]

Hey smarties! I want to know what you've used in the past for music on yer bike? I'm going to have a basket and want something that fits comfortably in it, while still allowing room for other things. I had this weird little kid's mp3 player before, but the speakers are now shot... and I've rolled with a boom box like this one: , but found it to be kind of awkwardly large and always wanting to jump out of my basket. If I bring that again, I'll be prepared with bungees.... but I would like to bring something a bit more compact, that still had decent sound and volume. I don't want to mess with a huge car battery or anything like that... not this time around.

I'm overwhelmed with options on Amazon.... Thoughts? Zanks!



** edited by the grammar faerie

[aireekah]

Oh, and if you know where I can find a miniature pony that will fit in my basket too, that would be rad.

[Elorrum]

This is a sweet little amp that can run on AA batteries. can run just about any speakers, your choice. They sell this amp as guts only if you want to put it in a cookie tin or something.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=300-380

[aireekah]

Rad, thanks!

[Laf']

Please don't feel compelled to share your music as you bicycle about.

[Elderberry]

Definitely agree with this. Or get earphones for your boom box.

Please don't feel compelled to share your music as you bicycle about.

[aireekah]

I hear what you're saying. I do try and be respectful of other's ears.... This is mostly for ambient music when I'm with friends and slowly roaming or stopped at some random place deep playa. That, and the whole portable dance party machine thing. If it's bothering you, tell us to shut it, and I'll toss a kazoo at you. Then maybe we'd have a 'zoo off and forget there's quiet music playing in the background... and then someone will tell us to shut it, and we'll megaphone, and... and....

[MikeGyver]

My first thought is a MP3 capable battery powered alarm clock. Usually pretty small, put out decent sound and you can plug your music into it.

[Laf']

I do trust you to be respectful, and even if you're not I suspect you won't be the only person assaulting my eardrums.

(I almost said, 'the only a**hole assaulting my eardrums' but 1) the visual is disturbing and 2) I don't mean to call you names. You sound like a hoopy frood, and no one is an a**hole unless and until they act like one.)

[Hoolie]

I made a bike mounted sound system one year. Controlled it from my ipod which was mounted to my handlebars, and used a small amp and a couple speakers which were mounted on a rear rack. It ended up not working so well. I was constantly passing sound systems and other sources of noise that were much louder and more powerful than mine, so my music was often drowned out. So, unless you have a lot of power, or are in a quieter area of the playa, it may not work the way you would expect.

[Hoolie]

Ah, I knew I had a picture somewhere. I made this from parts I had around. The ipod is held inside and old drill bit case. I mounted two small speakers to some decorative boxes I found, and hung them from the rear bike rack. I used one of the little amps that Elorrum referred to above. It's inside one of the speaker boxes. Inside the other speaker box is a battery. (While the amp does run on AAs, I had it connected to a larger, longer lasting battery.)

[Elorrum]

Love that, Hoolie! I made a little boombox for my sister out of an old recipe card box, with that t amp's guts. put a little grill on it cut out of a wire mesh waste paper basket, didn't get a pic though.

[Hoolie]

Ha, cool! Yeah, those little T-amps are great. You can make a stereo out of all kinds of things.

[aireekah]

That's rad, Hoolie! Have you brought other mini sound systems that worked better? I'm not expecting to compete with sound camps... while having a super power womp on wheels would be awesome, that's not what I'm going for this time around. Trying not to spend too much... What kind of battery did you use?

I love your boombox, Elorrum! What did you use for speakers?

[aireekah]

Have you guys ever messed with this one?

Lepai Tripath TA2020 Class-T Hi-Fi Audio Amplifier
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=310-300

It has a bit more wattage going on and comes with a power adapter. (Which is something I want for using this set-up in my art studio.) Do you know how I could make it run off of batteries?

Thanks a lot, any input is super helpful.

[Hoolie]

That was my first and only attempt at music on wheels. As long as you're not expecting anything real powerful, that kind of setup should work fine.

I have not used the amp you linked to, but it looks good to me.

I used a 12 volt battery similar to this one:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... 3274063580

It's a rechargeable battery, so you would need a charger of some kind in order to keep using it after the burn. While it's not huge (around 6"x4"x3"), it's still got some pretty hefty weight to it. There are other many other sizes to choose from, so you can get whatever suits your needs, like one large capacity battery that lasts a long time, or two or three smaller capacity batteries that you can swap out.

Connecting a battery like this is when things start to get a little tricky. You want to make sure the amp has a DC-in plug. (DC is the current that batteries run on. I see the amp you referenced has a DC-in plug on the back.) Then you take the wall outlet plug that is included with the unit, cut off the wall plug end, then strip off about 1" of the plastic sleeve off the wires. Then you plug the connector end into your amp as normal, and connect the bare wires at the other end directly to the terminals on the battery. That is the real tricky part, because if you cross the wires (that is, connect the wrong wire to the wrong battery terminal) you will fry the amp. (Meaning, totally kill it. I have done that before.)

In my case, I found an old wall plug unit that fit, so I didn't have to cut the one that came with my amp. You might also be able to find a simple cord with the right size connector and bare wires at an electronics store.

[Elorrum]

That lepai amp is fine too. they both use the tripath chip. I have a lepai I'm playing with that has a subwoofer output... lepai 388

Speakers. I've found deals online as takeouts. these flat ones are kind of neat, from t.v.'s I think. If you are shopping for a bare speaker that size, try to get one specified as full range. or see if you can get rear surround system speakers... usually they are small.

I've had good luck staying with the white strip side of cords to positive. get a 12V wall wart at goodwill and cut the cord off. keep one whole to run your stereo when you have AC power. 8 batteries AA up to D = 12V you can get a plastic battery holder at radio shack, if you don't want to buy a 12 battery.