An independent Sprite

[fixthedoor]

Re: An independent Sprite

Made a couple upgrades this weekend.

My main issue was chuffing which occurred when using the receiver in my garage, since the Lepai doesn't have enough power to push it to that point (not sure what the technical jargon would be). Everything was disassembled yet again, and a 3/8" radius was used on both ports. I'm happy to report, after listening to the song which made the chuffing apparent, it's no longer an issue.



Weather stripping was added to seal behind the front baffle, which is a tad tall and holds the baffle about 1/16" off the box once tightened down. A recess for the weather stripping would remedy the problem but it would also weaken the glued in place T-nut mounts.



A handle is definitely needed for this thing so I locally sought out a low-profile handle. None of the big box home improvement or music stores had one, so a handle was scavenged from an old Crate guitar amp.







A recoat and a couple coats of clear are definitely needed. It's already showing some battle scars after only one quick lake trip. Even with the low power of the Lepai, this combo gets loud enough for my excursions. The volume usually doesn't make it past 9 o'clock as I'm not trying to bother anyone. So all in all, I'm very happy and am still scheming improvements.

[Paul Carmody]

Re: An independent Sprite

I picked up a chamfer bit and routed the speaker holes and outside edges. A small piece of mattress topper was added to the back of each driver cavity. Drivers are now rear mounted with old through holes filled. Rustoleum Hammered spray paint was used for the finish, although I wasn't able to get it to come out right.

That looks killer.

[kcburnes]

Re: An independent Sprite

Hopefully not breaking any forum rules, but if you are considering this build the Aurasound NS3 (equivalent to the ND90) is on sale over at Madisound now for $12.50 each.

Cheers!

[fixthedoor]

Re: An independent Sprite

Kanemack - Nice! I like the size of Paul's original design and have an itch to redo mine, mounting the Lepai on back like you did.

asmd - I love your boombox with the VU meters. I read your thread a couple times for some inspiration.

An update:

I picked up a chamfer bit and routed the speaker holes and outside edges. A small piece of mattress topper was added to the back of each driver cavity. Drivers are now rear mounted with old through holes filled. Rustoleum Hammered spray paint was used for the finish, although I wasn't able to get it to come out right.



Here you can see how inconsistent I was with the paint. The storage compartment door has a few coats with the last coat being applied 48+ hrs after the original couple. While, the rest of the box has multiple coats applied within an hour. I used one can, which I think could have done the whole thing right if I had taken a different approach.



Not the best photo to see, but it's the only one that didn't come out blurry. At this point I'm going to live with it for a bit before I do anything else for a few reasons.

1. Camping trip coming up for Labor Day weekend, and I won't have much time to futz around with it

2. The Lepai. I like the features for the price but it does leave something to be desired. I have an old Pioneer receiver (nothing spectacular) and the boombox can be turned up a fair bit louder before distortion (noticeable to me anyway). I'm not after a party boombox, only something that provides background music which the Lepai seems to be sufficient for. I'll know for certain soon enough.

3. Chuffing. I switched to a rectangular port, which has the correct area and length. My very uneducated guess is the port opening is too narrow (from a pico neo thread I read) and too close to the driver (I narrowed and lengthened the driver cavity). Although the latter I'm unsure of after looking at Paul's design again. EDIT: the current Ports thread actually really has me thinking about a rebuild.

4. Size. This thing is pretty small as is, but for me, the smaller the better. If this was the only issue, it wouldn't be worth redoing.

A couple other notes:

1. That cheap Chinese battery...who would have guessed I would only get one use out of it (sarcasm)? So currently I'm using two 6v 4ah Power Wheels batteries in series (see children's toys are good for other things besides getting in your way and keeping kids occupied). On a couple test runs I have powered the Lepai for 9+ hrs with the volume knob set to 10 or 11 o'clock. The batteries did not run out of juice, so I'm not sure how long I can run it.

2. I'm on the fence about the mattress topper as it did take away the boomy-ness which I kind of have a soft spot for (what can I say I've been conditioned all my life)

3. While I don't have the spray technique down for the hammered finish, I do like it because it does fill in the small imperfections thus keeping prep times down.

I have been listening to it a lot in my garage and really like this thing. In a couple weeks I'll get a better idea about how I feel about my modifications when I use it as intended.

[asmd]

Re: An independent Sprite

Nice work!
Lola Redux has become a conversation piece when folks come over with many of them asking where they could get one.

[kanemack]

Re: An independent Sprite

i love my sprite. it is perfect for my wife's trips to timeshares where the best hope for music is an alarm clock. i used the same amp but for simplicity, i mounted on the back of the enclosure. and a picture.

[fixthedoor]

Re: An independent Sprite

Thanks for dropping in Paul and thanks for the design, I've been enjoying it all weekend.

Another update:

Without charging the battery, I was able to power the Lepai for just under 6 hrs (I was always running spotify and using the timer on my phone). The defeat was on most of the time, and the volume knob was always around 9 & 10. The battery is a 12v 6800mah li-po battery I picked up from the rain forest site. It's nice and small and came with a trickle charger.



How the amp is secured:





The cover is slightly off and it's bugging. I should have made it a little long and then notched a couple hinge seats. The latch is a window latch.



With all the goodies loaded up. There's plenty of room left over for a larger battery



All closed up and ready for use





Still plenty of work left.

[Paul Carmody]

Re: An independent Sprite

Looking good so far. I'm enjoying seeing all the different ways people mod this design.

I was just using mine today in the driveway, while I painted the porch in front of my house. I forgot how much "boom" this boombox puts out!

[fixthedoor]

Re: An independent Sprite

Sticking with Paul's box design it's a super easy and inexpensive build (especially if you use the NS3s). I'm going to end up using it more around my house (garage and outside for yard work) than my original intent, which was camping. A 12v solar panel with a charge controller could easily be mounted to the top of the box as well. I'm considering adding one, but that's another $50 or so depending on the wattage.

[thekorvers]

Re: An independent Sprite

.

Pretty cool! Maybe I should jump on the bandwagon and build me one of these.

[fixthedoor]

Here's my take on Paul's Sprite, many thanks btw cause this thing kicks buttjoint! I still have a fair amount of work left, but I couldn't wait to listen to it.

Component-wise I used the parts for the Sprite, then added an LP-2020, 12v 7ah CCTV battery and a usb cigarette lighter adapter.

I increased the width and depth of the Sprite to permanently house the LP-2020 in front and provide a storage area at the rear for the battery and other accessories. The storage area will have a locking, hinged lid to keep things in place during transportation. Terminals will be located in back so the speakers can do double duty in my garage. I'm trying to make the unit self contained and very flexible. I may add a cigarette lighter instead of connecting the usb adapter directly to the Lepai.

Out of the 4 x 4 sheet of birch ply I used about a 26" x 48" piece. I think I could have made it work with a 2' x 4' sheet, but it would have been tight. Another thumbs down for big box birch plywood, which I purchased purely out of convenience.



The front



Where the Lepai will be mounted with through bolts



Double checking to make sure the baffle lines up as expected



My homemade ports (the little piece is there to keep things lined up while the glue dries



I soldered all connections except to the terminal. I routed a 9/16" relief to bring the Lepai closer to the face of the baffle.



The hex head through bolts with a washer and a lock washer. Hex head bolts are also used to hold the baffle in place.



Another pic of the front



It's current state