Suitcase stereo

Frankie Pintado · Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 9:16 am Post subject:

Here's my contribution. I just made this.

Old Samsonite suitcase, free
Used crappy stereo I saw lying in a friends trunk, $20
Two 6x9 8-way speakers ordered off of Ebay directly from Hong Kong, $37. Each is rated for 1000W.

I have a cigarette lighter plug for the power, and an auxiliary input for mp3 players or whatever. I'm missing the trim ring that goes around the reciever, so you can see my cuts aren't perfect, but I will add trim of some sort eventually. The suitcase is made of 1/8" thick aluminum. I cut it with a rotary tool and a couple reinforced cutting wheels.
The original feet were busted off, so I used a piece of 1.5"x1.5" lumber on the front, and a small piece of an old tire for a foot on the back. It sits with the face angled upwards about 25-30 degrees, and is extremely stable and vibration resistant.

It sound pretty good, louder than most stock stereos for sure.
The latches rattle at near-maximum volume, not too bad though.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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Bret Young · Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 12:08 am Post subject:

I hear ya on the vibration of the handle. I get that with mine often. What I did was drill two very small holes vertically on the backside....enough to run a zip tie to sinch that handle down for long trips. just snip it when your plannin on taking it out. works well.

LuckyMonkeyGarage · Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:52 am Post subject:

Found this on Flickr

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Bret Young · Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:00 am Post subject:

Damn that bad boy looks awesome. Looks like some old school speakers for sure. Wonder how it sounds...

bigways · Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 5:58 pm Post subject:

KingfastT · Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 2:50 am Post subject:

This is our suitcase unit in the 66 Square. all cables are push fit so it can be easy removed to fit a full load.

LuckyMonkeyGarage · Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2010 5:17 pm Post subject:

Found this website

http://theboomcase.com/
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http://vintageswampcooler.blogspot.com/

..........._I====I_ ......................................
......__//_i_||___\\...........i---------------------i
.-==--|''''''''~|''''''''-=-........i---------------------iD
/( O )\\____|__/( O )\\==...........( o )..........

Dangermouse · Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2010 5:20 pm Post subject:

Nice. Very nice indeed. Me like.
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zabo · Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2010 6:12 pm Post subject:

Wonder what type of battery set up they use in those boomcases. Wish there was a pic of the internals
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jingram · Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:34 pm Post subject:

I put a 12" sub in a large vintage(like 27 x 21 or so) samsonite case. I hot-glued everything tight, handle, buckles, even hot-glued the whole thing together. It looks great and gets alot compliments. Sounds okay, but it still rattles Sad

my65rhd · Samba Member Joined: March 11, 2003 Posts: 1212

Windmill Hill · Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 5:04 pm Post subject:

Here's my setup

Before:

After:

Simple setup with Detachable face, remote, hidden antenna and 12v plug on the back. I may add some RCA ports on the side to add a sub in the future.

The VW emblem is from a newer Jetta, it's about 1 1/2" deep and open so it lets out some of the bass so there is less vibration. Sounds Great!

Hope you enjoy Very Happy

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p.e.i.vw · Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:48 am Post subject:

Would anyone be able to share some pictures of there internal wiring, details how they wired it up.

ballsie · Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 11:24 am Post subject:

Here is my suitcase stereo thread:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416985&highlight=suitcase+stereo

Red wire with inline fuse from amp to battery.
Black (ground) wire from amp to the back seat mounting bolt.
Blue (amp remote) wire goes to a switched fuse under the dash. This is so the amp turns off when the car is not running.
1/8 mini stereo (fits into iPhone headphone port) to RCA ( the red/white plugs) cable to go from the amp to my iPhone/iPod.
Speakers are wired directly to the amp inside the suitcase.
Viola,

Sounds great.
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hemifalcon · Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:25 pm Post subject:

here's my thread.. I think it's lost in the depths of the forum somewhere..

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=421312&highlight=stereo+suitcase
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Bret Young · Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 12:06 pm Post subject:

Hemifalcon. Good write up. Pretty sweet. Holy moley, $700?!

Its cool to watch how this thread has taken off. I never posted up photos of my personal one, but I did of one that I built for a porsche guy in town in my gallery if you guys are interested.

I build mine without a headunit. Cuts down on the weight and the cost. Since you arent listening to the radio through it (no antenna) and CD's are a thing of the past, I wired mine so that the iPod controls the entire unit.

I wired mine with a 12V plug right from the battery. Not only does it provide power, but it also grounds to the body under the seat. 12V lighter plug that is fused straight to the amp so it turns on right when it recieves power. Amp is 2 channel powering 4 6x9's. I have the dual input plugs to a headphone jack adapter that I got at a local radioshack for about 4 bucks that you plug your into your iPod and your iPod acts as the headunit, also used for the master volume, so you dont ever have to turn around to adjust stuff.

So it eliminates the cost of the headunit, cuts down on weight, and also allows your battery to run longer as your only running the amp instead of an amp AND a headunit. I can leave my car off and run that stereo at full tilt for up to 3 hours before I need to turn the car back on to top off the charge. Its awesome. And at full blast (which sounds great suprisingly) it can be heard up to 1/4 mile away.

I build a box in mine where everthing is enclosed with a decorative design drilled in the top (see gallery) so that nothing is visible. People dont expect it.

hemifalcon · Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 12:47 pm Post subject:

Yeah.. i know.. I had the money at the time burning a hole in my pocket, and I really wanted some tunes in my car.. And, aside from the idea of doing the hidden stereo under the seat, and speakers in a small padded enclosure that I would have liked to build to hang on the rear seat back facing forward--this worked nice.. And, I got some preetty nice equipment in the Alpine line up so that if I changed my mind on the design, i have some good stuff to work with.. But, this setup works very nice, and is very loud. The head unit overpowers the speakers pretty good, but can be heard a block away vvvvery nicely. It fills the car with tunes really nice too with the ITouch, or a portable HDD hooked up to it. Overall, it's very convenient.
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'62 VW Bug Sedan (Ruby Red)
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Doodoob · Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:01 am Post subject:

Here is the link to mine
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=433430
My car is stripped down and getting painted at the moment so I got to work out s plug or quick disconnect for the power, ground, and remote on.


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