led speaker rings

(jrhurst) · (jrhurst) **Join Date: Mar 2006** 06-16-2008, 3:19 PM

So at the chance of giving up a possible good idea . I have been looking for somewhere to purchase speaker rings that could be made into led glow rings and have not found anywhere to buy them . I have been looking into buying the material and making them my own , but most places require a minimun material and i would be able to make 40 or so 6 1/2" rings . My main question is , for those of you making em and installing em , what is the charge for the rings . Also , has anyone else found a place to buy them premade ? Or how many of you would be willing to purchase some at around $20 a piece .

(tanner) · (tanner) **Join Date: Oct 2005** 06-16-2008, 3:55 PM

For $20 a piece, I'll take 6 :-)

Hydrotunes offers them for the wetsounds tower speakers.

(2007_x2) · (2007_x2) **Join Date: May 2007** 06-16-2008, 9:30 PM

ill take 4 of them, and in red please.

(stewart) · (stewart) **Join Date: Feb 2006** 06-16-2008, 10:19 PM

Check with David at www.earmarkcaraudio.com. he seems to do a lot of LED Rings and some pretty nice stereo systems.

http://www.earmarkcaraudio.com/install_supra_24-4_murdered_out.asp

(Message edited by stewart on June 16, 2008)

(jrhurst) · (jrhurst) **Join Date: Mar 2006** 06-17-2008, 6:58 AM

Yeah , i have seen earmarks work . We usually do a dozen or so boats in the summer time and more and more people are wanting to bling em up with leds and other stuff . I will experiment with building some and see what happens . If i do get some production goin , i will sell empty rings for what i quoted above , you will be able to select and install the leds yourself .

(jason_b) · (jason_b) **Join Date: Feb 2008** 06-17-2008, 7:15 AM

You will lose money at $20 per ring unless you buy HUGE orders of material...and then only your labor will be free to buyers. You will find the acrylic to be very expensive. The quotes I got before I made my own were $200/pair for my Pro80s. They are also time consuming to make and take a little bit of skill to get them polished and looking nice. They are much tougher than they initially look-for whatever that's worth.

And, not to burst your bubble, but if they could profitably be made for $20 there would be many companies making them.

(bird_dog0347) · (bird_dog0347) **Join Date: Feb 2006** 06-17-2008, 7:51 AM

I asked Earmark about them, and was quoted $50 each without lights or install, just for the rings. I have 6 that came off my Moomba that I could sell you, and I know where I can have them made and would be able to get them for people around $175 per 6 pack (custom sizes), plus shipping. Just let me know the outside diameter of your speaker grills so it could be cut to match. Tell me how many you need and I could get you a quote on them.

redneckonaboard06 07-02-2008, 8:56 AM

Get a hold of Trey at Hydrotunes. I know he does a lot of LED rings for Wetsounds, but I'm sure he could build some for anything. Quick turn around time also.

www.hydrotunes.com

(collin) · (collin) **Join Date: May 2002** 07-02-2008, 11:46 AM

I made mine. Lexan and a router with a plastic cutting bit. Didn't take too long at all. Upload

(jrhurst) · (jrhurst) **Join Date: Mar 2006** 07-02-2008, 12:14 PM

those look good collin . I didnt figure it would be too much to build my own as i am very familiar with building speaker enclosures and working with plexi and lexan . Will play with it some over this winter and see what happens .

(jason_b) · (jason_b) **Join Date: Feb 2008** 07-02-2008, 1:14 PM

I would recommend not using Lexan. Use Acrylic. Lexan is tougher and more scratch resistant. (It's GE's proprietary Acrylic) Plain old regular Acrylic is MUCH easier too buff to a high luster after you've cut it out. This is not a high wear part, scratch resistance is not a high priority. It's unlikely they will even be touched at all once installed and mounted on the tower.

They are very easy to make, but VERY time consuming.

(murphy_smith) · (murphy_smith) **Join Date: Dec 2005** 07-02-2008, 1:24 PM

Can someone post how you make them?

(collin) · (collin) **Join Date: May 2002** 07-02-2008, 4:19 PM

I made a jig for my router to cut the circles. I then rounded the edges of mine since the speaker can had a larger diameter than the speaker ring. I then sanded the edges to rough it up or give it a frosted look so you couldn't see the individual leds. Upload

(soundbox) · (soundbox) **Join Date: Oct 2007** 07-02-2008, 5:18 PM

These are not shown with the LEDs but are the same basic idea.

They were made for a few different reasons:

-Boston grill was bigger than the Bullet can and we wanted it to be flush with the edge.
-Boston SL speakers have a 3 hole mounting pattern that isn't symmetrical.
-There is an option to add LEDs behind the clear portion of the ring.
-Black acrylic trim looks better than any other grill option that was available.
-The customer did not request LED rings but did request a clean install.

Our router table was down that week so this is the result of some work in my garage after work.

Here is the end result:

Upload

Its hard to tell in the pictures but the speaker is actually sandwiched between the two pieces of acrylic and the 3 mounting tabs were cut off of the basket.

If the primary intent was for LED rings the clear would have been made with 1/2" or 5/8" with a frosted edge.