Thread: Simple Speaker set up for animated prop

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last year the main prop we built just wasnt loud enought to be heard, even with 3 sets of computer speakers, so last night i decided to make a much larger speaker setup for the prop this year.

I had an old Car amp, a computer power supply and 2 x 10's crate Speaker.

i wanted something very simple, loud, and little to no hookup.

after a half an hour of work, and a new found hate for flat head screws, this is what i ended up with. simple to hook up, easy to move, loud enought to have someone knocking on the door at 9 at night.

Its even got a nice old look so it can be hidden fairly easy.

Great job. what is the power rating on the amp? Nice to see you found a use for old stuff that was just laying around. What sounds/prop are you going to connect it too?

We've had good luck with computer speakers. We use a Creative Inspire 7800 system outdoors and it is plenty loud. This year though, I want more bass for the thunder storm we are adding so I was planning to use a big powered subwoofer. I might try using a guitar amp though since I already have one.

The amp is 300 watts per channel, right now im only using one so i could set it up to run something completely different on the second channel. but would need to find a larger power supply, the one i used only supplys 14 amps. i would need something much bigger to use both channels turned up all the way. im running at about 2/3 volume which is pretty loud for what i need.

Havent exactly decided the theme this year so its nothing yet, it will most likely be the sound system for the porch which could be anything. gotta decide soon, to start building


i like computer speakers inside, with the haunt being outside i was fighting with cars, wind, rain, and lots and lots of people ( which is a good thing)

I could see a marshall stack in my front yard.

Great idea! I have a spare power supply & amp laying around. Can you share how you have it wired for power into the amp? Which cables do you use?

you only need a few wires on the power supply, 2 gnds (black) 2 12 volts (yellow), and the green wire.

one gnd goes to the gnd terminal on the amp, the 2 yellow, go to the 12 volt positive on the amp and the REM terminal on the amp. and the green gets tied to the gnd. this turns the power supply on if your using a standard computer power supply.

then just wire up the source and speaker to the amp, those terminals should be marked depending on the type of amp you use.

Okay cool, I think I got it! I will have to check it out tomorrow to make sure, but it sounds easy enough.

You mention having 5 wires (2 black, 2 yellow, 1 green) but I only see you mention 4 of them getting connected. So just to confirm, the 2 blacks AND the green are both gnd (ground) cables, and all 3 get plugged into the ground same terminal?

no, you need to tie the green wire to a ground(black) wire, that uses one of the black wires, that just turns the power supply on, you can put a switch between these 2 wires or just twist them together and tape them up.
then you tie the second black wire to the ground on the amp, and then a yellow to the rem terminal, and a yellow to postive power on the amp.

i found a picture on google to give a visual of it. they should the power with the connector end still one. but you can just cut the wires you need to use.

A couple of ideas.

First off, cardboard boxes with used or on-sale car speakers. Heck, any speakers really. You'd be surprised how good a speaker can sound just in a cardboard enclosure. (My garage's current stereo is rigged to 6x9 car speakers in cardboard boxes, and they sound quite deep and full.)

Make some pink insulation foam "crates" like from a mine or warehouse, and put the speakers inside them. Or, the base of a large tombstone or monument like an obelisk.