My cheap-o shop sound system

In my opinion a shop isn't fit to work in unless there's music playing in the background, and we've had everything from boomboxes to speakers playing through the soundcard on a computer. None of them lasted for long (or sounded all that good), so when I read about Soundpads on the web I thought I might be able to make something slick for the shop without spending a bunch of money. The Soundpads were so cool that a contest for the ShopBot Jamboree evolved, but here's the sound system that I ended up putting together for the shop that ended up costing (after some scrounging and scavanging) less than $60.

The "hi fi" version...a Walkman CD player that I found in the scrap pile playing through a $30 Sonic Impact T-amp. It's powered by the 12 volt output of an old computer power supply but can also run off of AA batteries. It really sounds great.

A car CD player connected to the speakers. The car stereo gets it's 12 volt power from the same computer power supply.

The front view of one of the speakers. They're just 24"x32" rectangles of 1" thick foam insulation that are stuck into bases that's cut out of 1/2" scrap plywood to keep them upright. Stick-on felt pads act as feet to keep them from vibrating on the table.

The back of the same speaker showing the Soundpads. The sound varies depending on where the Soundpad is stuck...there's more bass if it's toward the center of the panel and more treble if it's nearer the edges. The sweet spot on these speakers seems to be 1/4 down from the top and 1/3 over from the side.

The whole sound system in all it's glory...I guess I really should have cleaned up a little before taking the picture.