LED Speaker and Cup Holder rings?!

[David Analog]

Very interesting way to do the cup holders....

I was looking at Earmark for the LED rings. They do already come with the LEDs though. I asked them about that and they replied that they are giving away the LEDs with the ring....

So I was just about ready to buy seeing that they were about $40 per ring. So I look up my style.. Ok, yeah... I'm style 9, I go to add it in my cart and Style 9 is +29... WTF? I'm sure there is a reason, but damn. Go from $40 to $70 per ring???
http://store.earmarkcaraudio.com/Xcart/product.php?productid=17752&cat=265&page=1

I'm thinking about going with Bulletlines. They have alway done me right in the past. I asked them if they offered the rings with no lights, and they do not. But he gave me a coupon code for 20% off!!!

I looked at the Style 9 reference on the Earmark site. Why do you need a Pro60 0.75" thick stepped light ring for an inboat 6.5" speaker?
Btw, Bulletlines just copied the Earmark rings by taking the dimensions right off their site. The same China vendor then tried to peddle Earmark's own rings back to them. He doesn't know how they work and has a few WS tower models with lights going in the wrong direction. Plus, Bulletlines uses cheap China plex versus domestic acrylic like Earmark. You get what you pay for.

 

[Detonate]

@David Analog I need 4 that fit the XS650, and 4 that fit a PRO60X Tower speakers, and possibly 7 cup holders.

 

[Bousbous55]

I had a local acrylic fabricator cut all my cup holder (10) rings for me, he charged my $10 for materials and $80 for CNC machine for 1 hrs use. Came out perfect

 

[maboat]

Detonate, just for a reference point a 12 inch square of 1/2 inch cast acrylic is about $11. I figure I can make a speaker ring and a cup holder out of a 12 inch piece. $70 to cut a ring seems a little stiff.

@Cory whats your favorite beverage? How about @Detonate and I bring ya a case and we cut out a whole set of rings for all of us?

 

[David Analog]

@David Analog I need 4 that fit the XS650, and 4 that fit a PRO60X Tower speakers, and possibly 7 cup holders.

I'm just sharing what I know. I don't work at Earmark.
Get with Odin at Earmark and see what he can do with your forum discount.

 

[Detonate]

@Cory whats your favorite beverage? How about @Detonate and I bring ya a case and we cut out a whole set of rings for all of us?

I'd be down for meeting up and helping out.... What would the cost be per ring?

@David Analog Is Odin just sales@earmarkcaraudio.com ? I had emailed them earlier, but I'll try and follow up. Had no idea about a forum discount either.

I need to figure out what the deal is with the different styles. It concerns me that the 'old style' XS-650's are $8 more per ring and not available in RGB, and the Pro 60 ones are + $29 per ring, and not available in RGB. Since I'm wanting to use my own LED's, maybe that's not a problem, or maybe there is a reason you can't do RGB with that style...

 

[Cory]

Ok guys, I'm up for that. Let me play with it some and knock a couple of rings out so I can get it figured out and we'll go from there.

Cory

 

[Detonate]

Cool, let me know. I'm wanting to do all of my boat and tower speakers, plus probably the cup holders....

Haven't decided if I want to go the @txav8r way on that or not.

If it's cheap enough to make some test rings to see if the quality is satisfactory, I'm totally in.

 

[PEARCE]

Hey guys! I'd be in for cup holders and speaker rings too. As long as it's not too expensive and y'all can show me how to hook them all up. I'd supply favorite beverages too!

 

[soggyshoes]

I would go for cup rings with RGB. If there were RGB rings for the stock speaker covers I would go for that as well. Lighting is a weakness of mine.

 

[txav8r]

I don't mind helping to do cupholders, but I personally think the rings are WAY too bright under the cupholders. That is why I put the lights down in them, you can still see them plenty easy. I also wouldn't put speaker rings down in the boat again, just on a tower. It is too much light and way too direct. I ended up running mine after dark at the lowest possible dim position and if I ever do it again, I will be looking for less than SMD 5050 strip, because it is 72 watts per spool of 16 feet. That is a bunch of light. I put it behind 6 speakers, and 4 cupholders, under the seatbacks on the transom, plus up under the combing pockets with a blocking fence that hid the direct light. I used all but about 8" of my strip, the equivalent of 68 watts and change.

Earmark orders some speaker rings from a supplier, and others are made in house on a router table, using a template on a bearing guided flush cutting bit. This is a fast method and doesn't take much once the template is made. I have not done this job on a CNC machine, but I am guessing a big one, with lots of features and tooling, could do it faster. Cory, is that what you have? I am asking because there is always more than one way to skin a cat, and setting up CNC cutting for variable size speaker rings will take...setup. And it is kind of reinventing the wheel, compared to just making a template out of MDF and running it on a router table.







I want to call attention to the cupholder. Many of your cupholders are mounted in a way that they are IN the seating area. As such, if a drink isn't present, you may want to sit over it. When you lift the cupholder and place a 1/2" to 3/4" acrylic ring under it, it is raised, and quite uncomfortable to sit on! That was a main reason in designing a way to keep them flush.

Soft edges are much more appealing on the speaker rings, not flush cut. So the reveal of 1/2" and a 1/2" roundover gives the appearance of a neon ring, see the green speaker grill with the ring behind it. But in the boat, these rings are vertical, and you see down into them, and that is blinding. If I were to do it again, I would resist the temptation to light every speaker. That is the point I am trying to make. And believe me, I love the lights too! You can see how blinding the they are when fully lit even in a soft pastel aqua color (my favorite color of them all). Some speakers, you will have to flush mount the ring behind it, and it will appear like the last picture, just a glow from behind it, while the others with the 1/2" reveal will be a neon ring. My transom speakers, because of clearance, could be nothing else but flush behind the speaker.

 

[txav8r]

Also want to add, that it is hard to take a picture in the dark with a camera or phone, where the only light comes from the LED's. They are not as overpowering as the picture suggests, but they are very bright and you do not want to see any of the LED's directly.

 

[octavio3311]

I'm thinking of adding some blue LED courtesy lights, or I found SS cup holders with a single LED in them that gave off just the right amount of mood lighting.
I've seen way too many boats on the lake that are just way too bright. My friends Malibu is a beacon of blue. Too much.

 

[txav8r]

The good thing with RGB @octavio3311 , you have a controller and remote, that at least gives you the ability to dim it. And as I said, as the sun went down, so did the light intensity...all the way to dim. I could have done with only cupholder and combing pocket lighting, as well as the transom backrests. I wouldn't do cockpit or bow speakers again. But I would put a full wrap inside my cupholders.

 

[Detonate]

Hmmmm, maybe I'll just try and do this on the in-boat speakers....

 

[txav8r]

It is all contingent on the type of speaker you have, the type grill that is on it, and what type of lighting you do. If you don't pay the experts to do it, then your much more restricted...until you see what they have done and have someone share it with you. Much is possible, but in the process, you don't want to mess up expensive speakers experimenting. But if someone else can do it, so can you! It just may take some practice. Like soldering 4 small solder dots on a 1/4" wide strip! We are talking ultra tiny and there is a technique to it. But it can be learned and shared! It isn't rocket science. But like you using the 5050 strip for undercabinet, you learned what it can and can't do well. I am putting it in cabinets too. It doesn't project well, because the beam width on most of the strip is about 120 to 170 degree spread. That is great area lighting, but not so good for downlighting in a cabinet with glass shelving. You need more like 60 degree beam spread to project. I am sure it can be found...but not at ebay pricing. I like that speaker however and the internal lighting. But your going to make some sort of concession to illuminate it. I know your not going to drill through the cone to pull the wiring, no matter how small. But you have to transition to the back of the speaker somewhere, and that means compromising the speaker, or the grill at some point. I love a challenge however!

 

[Detonate]

There is already wiring that runs through the grill to the tweeter.

 

[Detonate]

Looks like someone already did a video on it...

 

[maboat]

Ok guys, I'm up for that. Let me play with it some and knock a couple of rings out so I can get it figured out and we'll go from there.

Cory

Awesome! Looking forward to it

One thing I've been wanting to try (with someone who has the right tools and willing to experiment) is cutting some 6x9 speaker rings. I don't believe you can buy those anywhere.