# Custom DIY 8" audio tubes(info & lots of pics)



## JPs300

Been rocking a typical split-tube 6" PVC/6.5 marine speakers for a while now. Simple & very effective set-up; two roughly 16" sections of 6" PVC, a cap on the front & female threaded drain-out adapters on the speaker side with a flat-cap screwed in, then cut open to fit the 6.5's. The amp I used(and currently still am) is the little Pyle "Hydra" 4 channel amp(only using two channels) that is rated as 100x4 RMS, but is likely more like 40-50x4, as it only uses a 10amp fuse. - Great little amp, especially for the money(pics of it later during the install in the 8" tubes).

The audio "source" is simply my phone in a dry-case mounted in the middle of my handle bars. Easy access, but sealed up should it take a splash or go under. - One of the biggest keys to these systems is a good audio app. I use PowerAmp, which has a fully adjustable 11-band equalizer. Being able to tune the sound is key to getting decent volume w/o distortion. 




















Nice enough set-up & *plenty* loud, but I wanted more bass-line for better full-range sound. So, the wife bought me a nice set of Memphis Marine component-coaxial 8's for Christmas. My dad works for an underground construction company, so he snagged me about 4' of 8" PVC & a couple caps for it. Finally got time to mess with it the past week & a half. 

Right off, 8" tubes are pretty big on the front rack. The moment I first set the pipe up there to start visualizing it I knew I couldn't just run caps on the front and have it "flow" with the bike like I wanted. With that in mind I decided a angle/slash cut in the front was the way to go, rolled so that it was partly to the top & partly to the side at an angle that "fit" with the rad relocate. - Sounds great in theory, but took A LOT of time & multiple cuts to get how I wanted it. I kept the length/angle so that the lettering I cut in the sides of my rad relocate cover wouldn't get covered up, which is especially neat at night when my LED's are lit inside the cover & glowing out through it. On the speaker end, I ended up taking one 8" cap & cutting the slip part in half to make two 1" long rings to glue on the end of the tubes. The speakers themselves actually screw straight into the 8" pipe, but I wanted the rings on there to better fit the OD of the speakers/grills. 















































I then traced the front onto a flat piece of 1/8" aluminum & cut the end-plates. I drilled the plates & end of the tube to accept stainless counter-sunk allen headed bolts. - Ended up being very handy to be able to access the inside of the tubes from the end plates instead of just through removing the speakers. 





































Close-up of screw holes/counter sink bevel. The holes in the plate & tube were drilled with an 1/8" bit, counter sink was done simply using a drill bit the size of the head of the screws & just partially drilling into the plate. 










Another thing about the 8" tube was that I couldn't at all get it to sit how I wanted just using stainless u-bolts around the rack & through the tubes like we have done all our 6" systems. Thus, I took some 1/8 thick 1" wide flat strap steel & bent up some brackets that I welded to the front rack. That, plus it sits flat on the middle c-channel type cross bar, so I was able to bolt straight through on that one. - In each tube I used two 1/4" stainless bolts through the brackets I made + one 5/16 stainless button-head bolt in the center; all using stainless washers & lock-nuts. 





























The 8's are "component" style co-axial speakers, meaning the woofer & tweeter have separate in-puts fed from a remote mounted cross-over, but the tweets are still mounted in the center of the woofer. Originally these came as all white(typical marine speakers) but I sanded & painted the grilles silver to fit the color scheme of my bike. - All wiring is die-electric greased inside non-insulated crimp connectors & heat shrunk over top. Cross-over were mounted with a couple strips of 3M double-stick emblem tape, amp has two pieces of that as well as two screws. 






































Lots & lots of sanding.......and then more sanding; sprayed with auto-parts store rattle-can bedliner spray. All finished up with the end plates sealed on - 


































































Over-all I am *very* happy with it. The sound is great & it's louder than a truck with a stereo & 4 speakers (lol). Later on I may go to a little bigger/better amp & an in-line signal booster to maximize it more, but not worried about it for the time being.


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## Polaris425

WOW! :rockn: very nice job


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## lilbigtonka

Jp that is super clean and unique....I'm loving it but I would have never been able to make that cut even on both tubes lol.....


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## chevyon52

looks good


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## JPs300

Thanks guys! 



Yeah, those cuts took a lot of time; I actually did every cut by hand with a hack-saw so that I could better control it. - I initially went with 6" of slash, just drew a straight line around the center of the tube, measured forward 3" on one side & back 3" on the other, then cut it. That made both pieces exactly the same, but wasn't nearly enough angle once I set it on there. I cut one 4 more times adding more & more angle, then measured it & cut the other to suit. 

Cutting 8" PVC reasonably straight is no easy feet for sure. I got it pretty close though, and then sanded it with a 4" disc on an angle grinder to smooth fully smooth it out.


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## CumminsPower24

Looks really good JP, can't wait to hear it this weekend....:rockn:


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## JPs300

I *love* this set-up. - I still want a little more amp for it to really crank way up, but the sound quality of the 8's is really killer, soo much more low & mid bass than the 6.5's.


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