billiarddaddy
09-30-2007, 07:39 PM
So I want to build a media center PC.
My brother got me thinking about this when he built a shuttle to sit next to his LCD.
I kept thumbing through all the cookie-cutter media center cases and found just about every single one of them lacking in some way. Each of them kept falling short, either in space, looks, design or style. There was always something that wouldn't quite do the trick.
I put off the idea of building until one day at work - while on craigslist - I was struck with the ingenios idea to use an old receiver stereo, complete with wood grain, giant fisher price knobs and the huge freakin tuner that spanned the entire face, to house the pc that would grace the screen of my 32" LCD.
I ran across several old tuners that were very close to what I wanted. The more I thought about it, the more my inner geek began to smile, imagining what I could do with such a device. And to beat all, the dimensions are perfect to put a good size graphics card (or two) in there!
This is the work log of how one bored single guys idea of a media pc went from your low profile, sleak "yes that's a computer, not a dvd player" media pc to a "what the hell is that under your tv" media pc.
I rarely ever conform - why start now? :rolleyes:
This is the beast I decided would house my pc.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0811-900.jpg
The dimensions are 19" wide, 16" deep and 6" tall (not including the feet).
Here's a few more photos for the inquiring minds.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0813-900.jpg
The guts.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0822-900.jpg
The back.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0814-900.jpg
This mod will be going at a relatively slow pace. Most of what I have planned for this thing, I'll have to learn or figure out as I go.
I originally planned on keeping the tuner functional just for giggles, but with the entire thing broken down into different components, it may not be possible. If anybody has any idea what part actually carries the sound from the tuner to the speaker connections please let me know. I'd love to keep that working and have the sound go through the computer's soundcard. I did manage to single out the tuning mechanism. (silver box with the black pulley)
The fun part will be remounting all of the pulleys for the tuner (I plan on keeping that functional regardless) and how much room will be left for the motherboard I have yet to decide on.
One idea I do keep kicking around is having the mobo use the LEDs on the stereos face, over the tuner. They show what mode the tuner is in: AUX 1/AUX 2/PHONO, etc.
A closeup of those LED wires behind the face of the stereo.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0824-900.jpg
Pulleys on the actual tuner.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0821-900.jpg
Pulleys by the knob.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0820-900.jpg
Definitely going to be some tedious work involved with disassembly and reorganization, especially if I end up having to keep more in there than I originally intended.
It will be pretty freakin sweet once I get everything figured out.
Thanks for reading.
-billiarddaddy
My brother got me thinking about this when he built a shuttle to sit next to his LCD.
I kept thumbing through all the cookie-cutter media center cases and found just about every single one of them lacking in some way. Each of them kept falling short, either in space, looks, design or style. There was always something that wouldn't quite do the trick.
I put off the idea of building until one day at work - while on craigslist - I was struck with the ingenios idea to use an old receiver stereo, complete with wood grain, giant fisher price knobs and the huge freakin tuner that spanned the entire face, to house the pc that would grace the screen of my 32" LCD.
I ran across several old tuners that were very close to what I wanted. The more I thought about it, the more my inner geek began to smile, imagining what I could do with such a device. And to beat all, the dimensions are perfect to put a good size graphics card (or two) in there!
This is the work log of how one bored single guys idea of a media pc went from your low profile, sleak "yes that's a computer, not a dvd player" media pc to a "what the hell is that under your tv" media pc.
I rarely ever conform - why start now? :rolleyes:
This is the beast I decided would house my pc.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0811-900.jpg
The dimensions are 19" wide, 16" deep and 6" tall (not including the feet).
Here's a few more photos for the inquiring minds.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0813-900.jpg
The guts.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0822-900.jpg
The back.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0814-900.jpg
This mod will be going at a relatively slow pace. Most of what I have planned for this thing, I'll have to learn or figure out as I go.
I originally planned on keeping the tuner functional just for giggles, but with the entire thing broken down into different components, it may not be possible. If anybody has any idea what part actually carries the sound from the tuner to the speaker connections please let me know. I'd love to keep that working and have the sound go through the computer's soundcard. I did manage to single out the tuning mechanism. (silver box with the black pulley)
The fun part will be remounting all of the pulleys for the tuner (I plan on keeping that functional regardless) and how much room will be left for the motherboard I have yet to decide on.
One idea I do keep kicking around is having the mobo use the LEDs on the stereos face, over the tuner. They show what mode the tuner is in: AUX 1/AUX 2/PHONO, etc.
A closeup of those LED wires behind the face of the stereo.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0824-900.jpg
Pulleys on the actual tuner.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0821-900.jpg
Pulleys by the knob.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u38/billiarddaddy3/Media%20Center%20Mod/DSCF0820-900.jpg
Definitely going to be some tedious work involved with disassembly and reorganization, especially if I end up having to keep more in there than I originally intended.
It will be pretty freakin sweet once I get everything figured out.
Thanks for reading.
-billiarddaddy