Finally took some pics of the Cheapzuma. For those of you not following my every utterance with bated breath (and so far, that seems to be a club with universal membership, which is fine, I'm an introvert), the Cheapzuma is a a variant of the Podzuma, which is itself a hack of the Sonic Impact T-Amp 5066.
As you'll see in the photos, the Cheapzuma is a basic box, about 16" x 16" x 10". The height and width dimensions were pretty much dictated by the speakers, which have since ceased to be available through Parts Express. They were an OEM auto speaker for Ford, with decent stats, and the best part was they could be had for $5 apiece. Since I was making this to basically be a knock-around version of the Podzuma, I wasn't particularly worried about audiophile quality. All it had to do was throw out some sound on the cheap. Since they're automotive speakers, the crossovers were built in, so all I had to do was wire them to the outputs of the T-Amp board.
I originally started with a 12V supply provided by D-cell batteries, and the battery box design was predicated around that. The D-cells worked okay, but I really liked the rechargeable nature of the Podzuma, so I eventually added the charging circuit from the Podzuma specs and two slim 6V sealed lead-acid batteries wired in series.
The case is 1/2" MDF and basic nail/glue edge joinery. I did route 1/16" channels at all of the join lines (which is why the ruler shots show slightly less than 16" dimensions) to aid in sealing the box. Another "improvement" over the original Podzuma design was the access covers for the battery and electronics boxes. I routed 1/16" channels for the access plates (which are just the aluminum tops to basic Radio Shack project boxes (2x4x1 and 5x7x3, I think), and put in tee nuts so that the plates could be easily removed without chewing up the screwholes in the MDF (the routed corner reliefs, recessed panel mounts and tee nuts are techniques I'm using on the Podzuma rebox as well). For aesthetics, I rounded over the edges, added a gate handle from Home Depot to lug it around, and "painted" it with Plasti-Dip.
So really, for about $60 in parts originally, and about $25 in additional parts to convert from D-cells to rechargeable SLAs, I came it at about 1/3 the cost of the Podzuma build. No, it's not as loud, and it doesn't look as cool, but it does everything I need it to, so I'm calling it a success. Plus, it served as a testbed for really getting the most out of the $200+ in parts I have invested in the Podzuma build when I get around to finishing that rebox.
And now, for the photos:
The Cheapzuma in all its glory. Well, glory is a strong word, but it's functional, and I still like the X arrangement of the speakers (probably not the best arrangement from an audio point of view, but we're not going for subtle here).
A bit under 16" wide. Trivia: That chair is part of a dining room set that's exactly the same as the one used in Talladega Nights during the "favorite Jesus/on you like a spider-monkey" scene. It's from Rooms To Go.
A bit under 16" tall (I apologize for the blur). One of my biggest beefs with the original Podzuma plans was a complete lack of measurements for anything other than the overall height/width/length. The size and shape of the battery and electronics boxes were apparently left as an exercise to the builder. When I detail the Podzuma rebuild, you can bet I'll post complete dimensions.
10 inches deep. Note that the actual interior volume is less, because of the 1" recess of the baffle, and the battery and electronics boxes. Also, I retained the left/right separation of the original Podzuma with a vertical divider between the two pairs of speakers, so each side has its own (pretty much identically-sized) volume.
The back. As you can see, I use this a good bit, so the exposed spots are where the unit rubs against the luggage carrier I use to wheel it around to tournaments. That's the only downside about Plasti-Dip over MDF...the smoothness of the MDF doesn't give the Plasti-Dip much to hold onto.
The battery box, the series-wired SLAs and, in the upper right, the charging circuit.
The power/volume knob from the T-Amp, the power LED and the input jack.
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