JBAM (my motorhome home) has two stereos but not nearly enough speakers!
Stereo #1 is the 110 volt surround sound system receiver for the A/V system. It uses five ceiling mounted speakers that do just fine for me and movies. I am not a “loud” TV watcher but I do enjoy surround sound.
Stereo #2 is an automotive dash style stereo. This stereo has two speakers in the front overhead console and two speakers in the bedroom (on a switch). I replaced the front speakers some time ago as the old ones didn’t sound all that great and really lacked power for listening while driving down the road – particularly with the windows open. The new speakers were much better. However; given the small size, they still lacked power.
Several months ago I bought a small-ish (6″) Pyle PLPW6D 6-Inch 600 Watt Dual 4 Ohm subwoofer hoping to add to the dash stereo. I didn’t know much about car audio and quickly learned that I needed an amplifier to use a subwoofer. Investing more money wasn’t what I wanted to do. So, some experimenting was in order…
I tried connecting this 6″ speaker to the existing speaker wires and it seemed to work just fine and added a good bit of power to the system. I then removed it as I had no place to mount it.
Ever since then, I’ve been keeping my eye open for an inexpensive speaker enclosure to mount this 6″ speaker. I never did find one. So, in my typical cheapskate/frugal fashion, I decided to make my own.
A run to Home Depot netted me a small sheet of 1/4″ thick MDF. I cut this into pieces to construct a 7″ face by 5″ deep box. I glued the box together using Gorilla glue and it seemed sufficiently strong. Of course, I forgot to take pictures during the build/install. Sorry about that… Next time I have the dash apart I’ll snap a few pics. It is a box with a big hole in it – not too hard to imagine I suspect. 🙂
The center console of my dash had just enough room to mount this box – under the junk drawers and behind the vent slots. The speaker is invisible there and was very easy to wire, being directly under the stereo itself. Here you can see it peaking out thru the vent slots.
How does it work?
Well, I’m not entirely sure. It sounds fairly good sitting in one place but I need to drive somewhere to give it a good test.
Time will tell!!
Note #1 from JD: I am a noise nazi! I am not a loud stereo (or TV) listener and am vehemently opposed to playing it loud inside or outside when camping. I have no idea why some people think everyone in the surrounding area would enjoy listening to their music but I most certainly do not. Therefore; I go way out of my way to avoid doing this to others. If I want to listen to music when I am outside or have all the windows in my coach open, I use a headset or ear buds.
Note #2 from JD: I know my setup is not ideal and makes the “purists” squirm in their seat. That’s ok, I’m not looking for “perfect sound”, man… 🙂
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