Need amp/speakers advice

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Northerner

Northerner

Boomus Fidelis
So I picked up a beautiful 70's jukebox (see https://boomboxery.com/forum/index.php/topic/24991-not-a-boombox-but-a-jukebox/?fromsearch=1) and have been slowly working on it and coming up with ideas of how best to modernise it.

I want to fit an amp and speakers, preferably with a subwoofer and I'm toying with many different options. Speakers I can source no worries but I've been looking at hifi separate amps mainly. But I've seen lots of small modern amps on eBay that are small and simple...anyone have any experience of these? Small would be good as I'm trying to keep the weight down...the empty unit is already pretty heavy so don't want to make it too heavy to move around.

Also toyed with the idea of a car head unit and have been given an unused Alpine CDE-1138THAL which has CD as well as Bluetooth, aux in, as well as a separate iPod in. If I got a 12v power supply would this be a good option with hifi speakers?

Don't really know much about home or car hifi so any advice would be appreciated!

Cheers, Si :-)
 
Northerner

Northerner

Boomus Fidelis
So far I've spent quite a few hours on it, stripping out the remaining guts, cleaning and polishing, repaired the bottom of the unit where the weight of the front had bust it, sanded and resprayed the black metal parts etc. Gonna vinyl wrap the scratched up wood sides and put on new trim. Gonna be a beauty :-)
 
ford93

ford93

Member (SA)
I recently bought an Art SLA-1 amplifier as a back up because my Crown CTS-600 broke down and it's being looked at by my Tech.

I did a lot of research and this little baby has been getting good reviews. So i decided why not, and now i have to say it does it's job!!

I power it with Alesis Monitor 1 MK II studio monitors and the sound is sweet!!

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=270059&gclid=CKGihqGS18wCFVhZhgodlxoC4Q&is=REG&ap=y&m=Y&c3api=1876%2C92051677682%2C&Q=&A=details
 
ford93

ford93

Member (SA)
That mini amp should be easy to mount hopefully it could fill the room with some good sound.

You can also get an addition mini amp to power a sub woofer or just get a powered woofer and that Jukebox will rock!

Good luck with your project and have a happy DIY!
 
floyd

floyd

Boomus Fidelis
I have a Sony fh7 amp with power supply this thing is heavy puts out a lot of power too.
 
Northerner

Northerner

Boomus Fidelis
JVC Floyd said:
I have a Sony fh7 amp with power supply this thing is heavy puts out a lot of power too.
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Good grief, I'm such a dope...I have a full FH7 just sitting in a cupboard as its not my sort of thing, I only bought it for the turntable. I can easily rack parts of this in the jukebox as it has bits on the side to bolt it to the handle bracket.

Floyd you're a genius...thanks mate for stopping me missing what should've been an obvious solution! :-)
 
J

jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
Northerner said:
I've seen quite a few of these Lepy amps but they get varying reviews from awesome to terrible lol so wasn't quite sure about using one
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They have been making the LP-2020A amp for over 10 years. There have been around 6 different versions that have completely different circuit designs, components etc. The bad reviews concentrate on the first and maybe second versions.

I have only used the latest SMC version and after using 6 Lepai amps, I've had zero problems.
I actually have a 7th amp arriving next week for my next DIY build. :-)

So that's why you get such varying reviews. People are reviewing completely different amps that happen to have the same external casing and model name over 10 years of production.

The LP-2020A is the only Lepai/Lepy amp to get. All other, similar looking models that aren't listed as T class amps are no go.

Good luck with your build,

James.... :-)
 
Northerner

Northerner

Boomus Fidelis
That's great to know thanks James...that's what I wanted, the opinion of someone I can trust, cheers.

Just tried out my FH7 and I don't think it's got enough grunt for my liking...shame as it would've been an easy solution.

Just had another thought...I could simply mount my JVC DP200 in the base. It's the worlds ugliest boombox but it totally kicks butt.

James...which is going to sound better, the kaboom or a Lepai amp with decent Mission speakers?
 
J

jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
No contest - the D class Lepai with its' 20 watts RMS per channel and superior sound quality will smoke any vintage Boombox based amplifier.

Plus new parts equals greater reliability. Speakers with a high sensitivity are the key: 90dB+ sensitivity would suit this amp perfectly. 6 ohm speakers seem to be the sweet spot but it will drive 4-8 ohm speakers fine.

James... :-)
 
Northerner

Northerner

Boomus Fidelis
Ok just plonked the kaboom in the base, put in the Bluetooth connector, shut the jukebox and powered it up, connected the iPhone and am playing a bit of Chic. Sounds frickin awesome!!!!! Sometimes the easiest solution is the best! So chuffed :-)
 
Northerner

Northerner

Boomus Fidelis
jimmyjimmy19702010 said:
No contest - the D class Lepai with its' 20 watts RMS per channel and superior sound quality will smoke any vintage Boombox based amplifier.

Plus new parts equals greater reliability. Speakers with a high sensitivity are the key: 90dB+ sensitivity would suit this amp perfectly. 6 ohm speakers seem to be the sweet spot but it will drive 4-8 ohm speakers fine.

James... :-)
Click to expand...
Ok that's fab...my Mission speakers are good quality and 6 ohm. Might buy one of these amps just to compare it to the kaboom. Thanks James
 
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