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Hi-Fi PC

Božo Kaurić

New Member
Hi all!

As someone who likes old Hi-Fi gear and collects old Sanyo Hi-Fi components, I decided to take one old Sanyo amplifier and integrate my computer inside of it. That way I can have my PC as a part of my Hi-Fi tower!

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I used standard desktop components I had in my PC, but my goal was to have the whole front completely functional, all the knobs and switches.
I know this is not the top of the line PC, but it is my baby I have been using for years now and its still serving me great, so be gentle :)

pjWyot4.jpg


Original amp had to be gutted, and many modifications had to be made to the main shell. While I was at it, I also customized almost all the components inside, and made many parts out of copper and wood.


Bottom part of the case had to be separate from top so I could fit original 1978 switches inside, and to make room for three hard drives. I separated bottom and top sections with one piece of hand cut copper plate (2mm thick). Purpose of copper is purely cosmetical, there is no special reason (heat etc) behind it. That plate sits on four steel feet with anti vibration rubber on bottom and top, painted in copper.
Back plate is made one part from copper (where motherboard comes), and one part in wood (where graphics card comes).
Since there is a serious height problem with that kind of case, I had to use PCI-Express riser to place graphics card horizontally and Noctuas low profile CPU cooler in order for everything to fit inside.

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Graphics card and motherboard both got a new paint job and wooden inserts.

Front functionality, starting from left to right:
- Top two knobs control fan speeds
- Power switch turns on the computer
- Green light for HDD activity
- USB 3.0 port hidden behind a knob
- 2 switches to turn on/off fans
- 2 switches to turn on/off LCDs
- Above switches - left LCD shows case temperature and the right one - CPU temperature
- Largest knob is for volume control
- below it, another USB 3.0 hidden behind a knob
- Big red power light

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Outer shell has been made from scratch, using 1.5mm aluminum mesh and profiles. Top plate is hinged, so it is extremely easy to take a look inside ;)

And finally, all the copper got a nice polished finish and the rest was painted in mat black.

I hope you will like it as much as I liked working on it. It took me some time, but to me, its more then worth it.
And don`t judge it by the old components... I worked with what I got ;)

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Since I am a 3D designer, I decided to design a completely new case for PCs in this style, but more about it in another thread ;)

Have a nice day everybody!
 
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Way cool! Ive been wanting to get a music server/ web. browser PC setup with my system. I have several laptops and my gaming rig, but your idea is so much better! Very nice work.
 
Did you use SS drives? I only have one 1TB platter drive now for extra storage. Once you go with SS drives you never go back. 500+ gig SS drives are so cheap now.
 
Did you use SS drives? I only have one 1TB platter drive now for extra storage. Once you go with SS drives you never go back. 500+ gig SS drives are so cheap now.

There are three drives inside: 250GB Samsung SSD, one 1TB WD and one 2TB WD mechanical drives.
 
Wow... This is great work.last year I contemplated using a vintage amp chassis for a PC for 30 seconds until I decided that the amount of work and modifications just to mount the components in there is beyond my skills.
 
Wow... This is great work.last year I contemplated using a vintage amp chassis for a PC for 30 seconds until I decided that the amount of work and modifications just to mount the components in there is beyond my skills.
Yeah, it was alot of work... many things had to be modified or built from scratch... but it was worth it :)
 
I went in another direction here when my "big rig" died. Went from a full size AT case to an Intel HUC that measures 6x6x2 inches. Surprising what all you can fit in one of them little things ... there's a 2tb data drive AND a 500gb SSD lurking within. Only extra is the wireless mouse/keyboard and a DVD writer.

I probably spent about as much time building it too ... not the hardware, but getting the right drivers using Intel's "smart" plug 'n pray tool ... (mutter mumble)
 
Way cool! Ive been wanting to get a music server/ web. browser PC setup with my system. I have several laptops and my gaming rig, but your idea is so much better! Very nice work.

i picked up one of these cases a couple years ago for $25. damn near mint. no missing parts. box, manuals and all. gutted the 20 year old interfaces and screen and put in modern encoders and screen but i did remove the touch as it does not play nice with my custom made kodi skin. only drawback is that it is HUGE! not quite as wide as an sx 1280 but deeper.

20210111_025408.jpg

total overkill of a system in it too. for a case with zero cable management, me thinks me did well.


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fun build.
 
i picked up one of these cases a couple years ago for $25. damn near mint. no missing parts. box, manuals and all. gutted the 20 year old interfaces and screen and put in modern encoders and screen but i did remove the touch as it does not play nice with my custom made kodi skin. only drawback is that it is HUGE! not quite as wide as an sx 1280 but deeper.

View attachment 2864025

total overkill of a system in it too. for a case with zero cable management, me thinks me did well.


View attachment 2864033

View attachment 2864031


fun build.
Very nice! My first thought when I looked at it was to remove the DVD door and add a spectrum analyzer or LED VU meter just for eye candy. But I see that area inside has been used.
 
Very nice! My first thought when I looked at it was to remove the DVD door and add a spectrum analyzer or LED VU meter just for eye candy. But I see that area inside has been used.
that is a removeable assembly so you could totally do that. the dvd door is a piece of aluminum with 2 sided tape that sticks on the optical drives drawer.

with kodi, you can add visualizers that can be vu meters or spectrum analyzers that take over the screen too btw.
 
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