High Powered Speaker Cooler Box Build!!

[Only The Best 10+ year member]

So I am going to be building a high powered speaker cooler box out of a coleman 70 quart "xtreme" cooler and my plans for the make of the speaker cooler consist of

the cooler which is

55"W x 28.1"L x 17.7H

the link for more info

Academy - Coleman® Xtreme® 70 qt. Cooler

1. polk audio mm651

6-3/4" 2-way speakers (pair)

woven honeycomb glass fiber composite woofer cone with butyl rubber surround

1" silk composite dome tweeter with swivel mount

certified for marine use

2.7-ohm impedance for extra power (compatible with all factory or aftermarket car stereos)

power range: 15-100 watts RMS (200 watts peak power)

frequency response: 40-25,000 Hz

sensitivity: 94 dB @ 1 V

2. a 10" polk audio db1040

270 watt RMS 540w max

86Db sensitivity

frequency from 28Hz-200Hz

3. Sony CDX-M30 Marine Audio CD Player XM Radio MP3 Boat Stereo Receiver

General features:

•marine CD receiver with built-in amplifier (17 watts RMS/52 peak × 4 channels)

•plays CDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs, including discs loaded with MP3, WMA and AAC files

•remote control

•flip-down face with switchable blue/red illumination

•works with Sony Marine Commander wired remote models RM-X55M and RM-X11M

Marine-specific features:

•coated circuit boards, UV- and salt-resistant paint

Audio features:

•EQ3 (seven preset tone curves and a 3-band equalizer)

•DSO2 for soundstage enhancement

Expandability features:

•compatible with optional satellite radio, HD Radio tuner, CD changer, Sony iPod® adapter

•inputs: front-panel auxiliary input

•outputs: two sets of preamp outputs with selectable rear/subwoofer output

4. polk audio dual tweeter that came off of a 6x9 polk audio speaker so I jumped on that deal.

5. two choices on an amplifier and I want the most battery life I can get and still be loud

- Rockford fosgate r600-5

** 50w x 4 @ 200x1 @ 4 ohms

** 75x 4 @ 300x1 @ 2 ohms

heres the link for more info

PRIME Amplifiers - R600-5 - Rockford Fosgate®

-old school viper 1100.5

** 75x4 + 275x1 @ 4 ohms

**125x4 + 400x1 @ 2 ohms

** 600w x sub channel @ 1 ohm

heres the link for more info

Viper 1100.5 Class A/B 5 CH. Stereo Amplifier

6. xtc foam speaker baffles for the 6.5" and 10" sub

XTC 6 1 2" Foam Speaker Baffle VXT60 Deep Baffle Fits Large Frame 6 1 2" 1pr | eBay

7. cross-flow fan

Xscorpion TF8

my plans for this speaker cooler box: Outside

are to have the head unit in the center on the large front side near the top with the dual tweeter right under it and the 6.5" speakers on both sides of the head unit and the 10" sub directly on the top in the middle

for the inside :

I plan to have the baffles behind each speaker silicone to seal each speaker from air + water and to protect them, as well as having the amplifier and battery on the bottom with all wires secured to the walls and sealed at the connections.

** im going to have plexiglass go over the amplifier and battery form fitted for the most amount of space silicone as well to seal the battery and amp from water and have the cross-flow fan next to the amp to keep it cool aimed towards the drain plug for circulation.** (is this a good idea or will it overheat or moisturize the amplifier?)

**Possible extras**

1. blue led light strip around the bottom under the plexiglass when the cooler is open to give light under the ice to see a blue glow under the drinks.

2. a 12v lighter accessory

3. bottle opener on the outside

4. strong latch and insulation on the edges

5. any other ideas yall have??

my questions are:

1. which battery should I get that would be last the longest and take up the least amount of space.

2. would solar panels be a good idea to add or will they be efficient enough for my use?

3. if the solar panels aren't a good idea then what would be a good idea for the charge?

thank you for your help in advance and I will continue to post pictures throughout the build and share my experience and steps with you all. I hope you enjoy the build

Click to read more...

 

[Full Tilt 10+ year member]

Are you talking about putting the subwoofer in an enclosure which will go into the cooler, or using the plastic cooler as the enclosure itself?

 

[Only The Best 10+ year member]

using the cooler as the enclosure itself as well as being able to make the cooler usable for holding drinks

 

[Full Tilt 10+ year member]

using the cooler as the enclosure itself as well as being able to make the cooler usable for holding drinks

You want drinks inside a cooler that a subwoofer is also inside of...

I'm really confused on this whole idea. Either it's way too late for me to be up, or you need to make some sort of drawing for this to actually seem logical to me.

 

[Only The Best 10+ year member]

but keep in mind that there will be a foam baffle behind the subwoofer sealed to the top to keep it safe unless there is an alternate way to have this executed?

 

[Only The Best 10+ year member]

You want drinks inside a cooler that a subwoofer is also inside of...
I'm really confused on this whole idea. Either it's way too late for me to be up, or you need to make some sort of drawing for this to actually seem logical to me.

yes you are correct... each speaker is going to be sealed so that water/ice/drinks cant damage the speakers and or head unit.

 

[Full Tilt 10+ year member]

So, each speaker/sub/head unit will be mounted on one face of the cooler, and then sealed off from the remainder of it, which is where you'll store the drinks.

 

[Full Tilt 10+ year member]

How do you plan on making a true seal to the top when it's going to be flipped up and down so easily?

 

[Only The Best 10+ year member]

So, each speaker/sub/head unit will be mounted on one face of the cooler, and then sealed off from the remainder of it, which is where you'll store the drinks.

yes exactly besides the last part. there will be more than half of the cooler to be used for holding drinks. I have put everything in its place to check for the space availability and it will all work... im just looking for more ideas and/or corrections to a flaw in my ideas

 

[Full Tilt 10+ year member]

yes exactly besides the last part. there will be more than half of the cooler to be used for holding drinks. I have put everything in its place to check for the space availability and it will all work... im just looking for more ideas and/or corrections to a flaw in my ideas

Okay, well, if you truly have the room for it, then I guess go for it. It's a unique idea, I just don't know how well it's going to work in a real application. You'd have to make sure everything was sealed very well; one leak and your entire thing could potentially be toast. You'd need room to keep some sort of battery or other power source in/with the cooler, as well.

To be honest, after a power source, a head unit, speakers, and amplifier, and a subwoofer all go in there, I'd be very surprised to see you have half of the room that cooler has to offer. But like I said - if you truly want to put in the work, go for it. However, I think some are probably made out there that would just be easier to buy than to actually make.

 

[Only The Best 10+ year member]

How do you plan on making a true seal to the top when it's going to be flipped up and down so easily?

insulation along the edges of the cooler where it closes as well as a sort of home-made "come along" latch so that it will be securely tight and "legal" for the river because the coolers must be latched to go on the river.

keep in mind the seal is not THAT important considering the amplifier will be sealed off from everything else as well as the speakers being marine and they themselves will be sealed from the back

 

[Full Tilt 10+ year member]

insulation along the edges of the cooler where it closes as well as a sort of home-made "come along" latch so that it will be securely tight and "legal" for the river because the coolers must be latched to go on the river. keep in mind the seal is not THAT important considering the amplifier will be sealed off from everything else as well as the speakers being marine and they themselves will be sealed from the back

Okay, I'm gonna be brutally honest, I don't see a floating sub, speaker, head unit, and battery as a very good idea whatsoever.

 

[Only The Best 10+ year member]

Okay, well, if you truly have the room for it, then I guess go for it. It's a unique idea, I just don't know how well it's going to work in a real application. You'd have to make sure everything was sealed very well; one leak and your entire thing could potentially be toast. You'd need room to keep some sort of battery or other power source in/with the cooler, as well.
To be honest, after a power source, a head unit, speakers, and amplifier, and a subwoofer all go in there, I'd be very surprised to see you have half of the room that cooler has to offer. But like I said - if you truly want to put in the work, go for it. However, I think some are probably made out there that would just be easier to buy than to actually make.

I understand your statement but I am one of those people who wants everything done MY WAY because the way somebody else does it isn't good enough so throughout this build you will see the build up... you may be correct and it wont work but I will make the attempt to make this build work

do you have any positive helping suggestions for this build?

 

[Oraclem19]

Would it not be easier to make a baffle for the subwoofer out of a plastic, possibly filled with polyfil if extra space is needed for the woofer requirements, do push contact terminals on the outside of the plastic, after the cables are connected fill the connecting hole with hot glue, then figure the amp wiring and such.

Would also make an entirely separate compartment for the amps, it will likely get humid in there though. Might be better to attach those to the top of the box in an airtight chamber. Else, Silica packets, lots of them.

 

[Full Tilt 10+ year member]

I understand your statement but I am one of those people who wants everything done MY WAY because the way somebody else does it isn't good enough so throughout this build you will see the build up... you may be correct and it wont work but I will make the attempt to make this build work
do you have any positive helping suggestions for this build?

Nah, brah. It's 2:05 and I'm not registering a thing right now. I'll visit back tomorrow and see what I can help you with.