The ‘cracker box’ amp subwoofer

Music
The ‘cracker box’ amp subwoofer

crackerbox_subwoofer.jpg
From the MAKE Flickr pool

Andrew’s neglected subwoofer found new life as a mini guitar amp

So I made the $5 Cracker box amplifier (makezine.com/09/crackerboxamp) almost a year ago, and the box I had put it in was falling apart, even though I had reinforced it with more cardboard.
Anyway, I was looking at it on my desk this morning, thinking about how it would be much better if I wasn’t using the little 3 inch speaker I had in the box, when I looked over and saw this neglected subwoofer in the corner of my room that had never really been used (and probably never would be).
My first thought was to take the speaker out and use it for the amp, but when I was disassembling it, I noticed how well the subwoofer itself would work as a case for the amp. So I set to work fitting all of the pieces in, and a while later, I had a fully functional amp that looked and sounded much better than the original.
I may use the open “12v in” hole for a 9v in to power the amp in the future.

I too can attest to the goodness of the subwoofer-turned-guitar-amp design. With the plastic cover removed and speaker turned around, an old Altec Lansing sub has served me well as the affectionately named “Ol’ Crappy” :P

olcrappy_cc.jpg

(The name only refers to the rough aesthic – it actually sounds surprisingly good!)

Volume 09, page 104 
The $5 Cracker Box Amplifier

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