DIY Lukebox Build

[WhiteChocolate]

Whats up R3v! First off i'd like to thank the community for the wealth of knowledge I gained over the past couple years of lurking here. And secondly i'd like to thank Luke for designing and engineering the lukebox. Anyways im a broke college student who couldn't afford a box so i decided i'd just make one. I know luke is a master of audio and his box will always be superior to mine but i love to build shit whenever i can.

Anyways on to the thread!

First off i went ahead and read up on some speaker building..


I had to deconstruct the structural design using an old photo luke snapped with the front face off of his box; and came to the conclusion of this:


I decided to use 3/8ths wall thickness, i know thicker is better but oh well.

All the sides cut and placed in position for test fitting, some filing, and then eventual gluing/screwing:
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Onto the sub hole.. Since i dont have a ski pass (84 325e) i didn't have to worry about offsetting the sub a couple inches to clear a supposed wire. I just have 2 fat structual rectangular prisms equidistant from each other in the middle of back seat.


MOAR HOLES


Now for the port tuning. I calculated my box version to 1.65 cubic feet (due to using 3/8ths i got moar volume), so to achieve 34hz tune i made two 7.375 inch port tubes. I cross referenced many sources of port tuning including that book, and some different port calculator websites and that was my result


Now for the goooodiessss, Jvc Head unit, 1000w planet audio amp, and of course the DVC Infinity 10"


Back to the box; carpeted it and threw the speaker in and she looks like the sexy time. Excuse the staples i didn't have any fabric glue and didn't feel like buying some. I think it looks cool though; ..kinda matches the sub.


Some test fitting... fits perfectly in.


Now for the wiring, yaaaay. PO was a complete fucktard and plugged the L/R Speaker Balance switch (fader) into the Defrost switch female end. Where im pointing is where i pulled the fader switch female end, and where the speakers were wired to before hitting the Headunit. This def explains why i would here static/crackle at certain volumes.


Moar PO fuckery; so as im running wires through carpet, i take off the center console and find a cigarette lighter WIRED and dangling under/near the OBC, whilst the real one next to the ashtray wasn't even wired up at all. can you say potential fire hazard much.


Anyways got the stereo out, if anyone wants a free headunit im all ears


Now for the finished project, fitted, wired and ready for bumping. (the fuse will be mounted shortly)


Heard an unusual amount of rattle when i turned it on, and low and behold stupid fucking PO decided it'd be ok to save big ass staples and random shit for no reason.



After excavating all that crap she sounds amaaaaazing. way better than i thought it would have to be honest and Its got plenty of bass. overall im super satisfied and spent a total of about 250$ on everything.

[AndrewBird]

Did you seal the box into the cabin with foam? That is kinda the main important part of a "Luke box".

[Cabriolet]

ps those arent staples you found. those are hug rings use for upholstery. i would save them bc you dont know when u will need them.

[slammin.e28]

N B 4 StereoInstaller1

[WhiteChocolate]

Did you seal the box into the cabin with foam? That is kinda the main important part of a "Luke box".

I haven't yet, but i plan to get it mated to the seat and seal it off as soon as i can. I just wanted to see if the ghetto box worked at all and all the sound equipment functioned first

ps those arent staples you found. those are hug rings use for upholstery. i would save them bc you dont know when u will need them.

thanks for the heads up bro

N B 4 StereoInstaller1

lol, i'm bracing myself for some serious scolding

[StereoInstaller1]

lol, i'm bracing myself for some serious scolding

No way...I am proud of you!

Look, you got a couple things you might wanna change, like it would sound better with some bracing and as Andrew said, the seal just does not work well unless it has foam gasketing...but damn, man, I am proud of you!

LMK if I can help, that is a great effort for a first attempt!

Luke

[Bearmw]

But we really want to know if you crimped or soldered.

[Andy.B]

But we really want to know if you crimped or soldered.

Haha. I'm dying.

[StereoInstaller1]

But we really want to know if you crimped or soldered.

Both!


LOL...some peoples kids, I swear

[StereoInstaller1]

OK...so now that you have this project done, I would like to show you the biggest difference in performance you can do. In your case it will mean making another box, but clearly you can do it.

MOAR HOLES

See how in our boxes that front panel is 2 layers? It is very time consuming to get all of this lined up if you are only making one (we use jigs for this stuff) but that second layer of MDF allows room for woofer movement and seals the face of the box to the trunk wall:



So, first, get yourself a 3.5" hole saw so you can do the ports easier (and so you can install E30 12" boxes) and make yourself a new box with that panel on there.

Here is a nasty shot of an E39 subwoofer during the design phase. (yeah, no ski pass sucks!) You can see the face and the foam nicely though, so I am sure you can imagine how completely this seals the box against the metal wall of the trunk. No, the hole is not so nasty now, it looks all clean and proper.



BTW, until we decide to bring them back up, our classic black "Luke Box" E3010 is on sale at $180 shipped...kind of not worth doing your own at that price, is it?

Now go make some sawdust!
Luke

[WhiteChocolate]

No way...I am proud of you!

Look, you got a couple things you might wanna change, like it would sound better with some bracing and as Andrew said, the seal just does not work well unless it has foam gasketing...but damn, man, I am proud of you!

LMK if I can help, that is a great effort for a first attempt!

Luke

Haha thanks man I really appreciate your input and advise, its really helpful.

But we really want to know if you crimped or soldered.

Crimp for life homes

OK...so now that you have this project done, I would like to show you the biggest difference in performance you can do. In your case it will mean making another box, but clearly you can do it.


See how in our boxes that front panel is 2 layers? It is very time consuming to get all of this lined up if you are only making one (we use jigs for this stuff) but that second layer of MDF allows room for woofer movement and seals the face of the box to the trunk wall:



So, first, get yourself a 3.5" hole saw so you can do the ports easier (and so you can install E30 12" boxes) and make yourself a new box with that panel on there.

Here is a nasty shot of an E39 subwoofer during the design phase. (yeah, no ski pass sucks!) You can see the face and the foam nicely though, so I am sure you can imagine how completely this seals the box against the metal wall of the trunk. No, the hole is not so nasty now, it looks all clean and proper.



BTW, until we decide to bring them back up, our classic black "Luke Box" E3010 is on sale at $180 shipped...kind of not worth doing your own at that price, is it?

Now go make some sawdust!
Luke

^This is just what i needed to know dude, i was pretty curious on how the sub was perfectly sealed off to the wall w/o a ski pass hole but you pretty much summed that up with that picture. What foam would you recommend to seal it, because i honestly don't know shit about foam and its adhesion properties. lmao im def getting a 3.5" hole saw because that was a pain to connect the ports to the face, and 180$ for the type of craftsmanship these boxes need is a steal tbh. Revision 2 is ganna be in the works soon, after finals that is fml .

[Ray Smoodiver]

Luke's reaction is exactly the one I expected - he's not going to spoon feed you, but he will help when he can make his way out of the rest home lounge ;)

I'll echo the sentiments and say that's a bloody nice first attempt!

[StereoInstaller1]

I get 1/4" "closed cell" foam in "yardage" from my local upholstery supply store, so I would guess you may be able to find something appropriate at a crafts store, but honestly I have no idea of where else to get it. The shops I deal with are wholesale only, but most will just let anyone buy whatever if it is just a one-time purchase.

KSA on the schoolin' and post your results when you get V2 done!

Luke

[jjc034]

With the 3.5" port holes and 12" sub hole, how long were the pvc tubes you ended up running and what diameter?

IIRC no more Lukeboxes are being created so I need to build my own. Will be an interesting project since it's my first time doing something like this, but you have figured out a lot of the growing pains!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[george graves]

IMHO......the "luke box" was an over-marketed, over hyped, one-size-fits-all, prefab compromise, that worked with most/some woofers decently.

It was fed down everyone's throats by a guy who became a mod, saw the opportunity to make money, use and abused his moderator position to promote it and then squelch anyone that said something negative that he didn't like.

(ok, now that I have that out of my system - here's some advice)

The smart money is deciding if you want ported or sealed: Generally, if you like tight and punchy, go sealed. If you like it loose and loud, go ported. Take that with a grain of salt. It's not a hard and fast rule, but a good starting point - each of us lean a certain way- but you can have a bit of both with either.

Most people start by picking ported or sealed, and picking a woofer, and building a box to match that woofer. It's all just some research, and a box calculator(free online) and some MDF. In about an hour you can learn alot on YOUTUBE.

Every woofer will have a bunch of specs that are intimidating at first, but it's just a numbers that physically describe the woofer. You punch those into a calculator(most have a list so you don't have to even put them in), and it will spit out the volume of the box and port length (that is needed if you choose ported. )

The fun thing about building your own box is if you really screw up, you can modify it. Or if you really mess up just start over. A sheet of MDF is about $22 last I looked, and you can get 2 boxes out of one. So it's $11 to learn. The woofer and the amp, and everything can be reused.

If you really want to copy luke box, and I'm not sure why you would, but there are a few dozen pictures online (check his photobucket) that will get you 99% there. But, while you're building a box, you might as well do it right. Just my 2 cents.