We have all of our music stored on a NASLite server in the basement, so any computer in the house can play any MP3 we own. The only problem with this is that you need a computer to access it. We used to have a computer in the living/dining room when the basement was (more) unusable than it is now, and we’d play music on it through those little crummy speakers. Then Jenn got a laptop and all the PCs moved downstairs. Suddenly we didn’t have anything to play music with on the whole upper floor. We have an iPod touch and a couple of Creative MP3 players that we keep loaded with MP3s, and I have a small iPod dock, but it wasn’t loud enough to play music for more than one room.

We needed a solution for playing music for the main floor. Sure, I could have bought a more expensive and powerful iPod dock, but where’s the fun in that? Instead, I built this:

I got a set of Logitech X530 70-watt speakers dirt cheap. I specifically chose these speakers because the controls are all mounted on a separate wired remote rather than built into one of the speakers. This allowed me to crack open open the remote and rewire it. I removed the major controls from the circuit board and put them on longer wires, which let me mount the knobs and buttons in another location, arranged differently than they were on the small remote.

I loved the design of a Shaker-style lingerie chest that I saw a photo of on the internet (why the Shakers would build a lingerie chest, I have no idea). I decided to design my own based on this cabinet. Here’s a screenshot of the Google Sketchup model I built:

The white parts of the drawers were to be cut out and filled with speaker cloth. The top drawer was real, the others were just false fronts covering the speakers.

I built the cabinet and mounted the speakers in it, then added a power supply and tidied up the cabling.

The top drawer opens to reveal an audio plug to insert into the MP3 player output jack, and charging cables for both micro-USB (our Creative Zen MP3 players) and iPod devices (our iPod touch). There are knobs for master volume and bass and a switch for master power, which doesn’t affect device charging.

Voila: an MP3 cabinet that gives us music in the living room and kitchen. Sure, 70 watt computer speakers aren’t audiophile stuff, but it sounds great to me. The bass kicker is more than enough to vibrate the floor, and we get nice clean high end.

I wanted to put perforated individual drawers down the front as per the design, but I have too many other projects on the go right now and I really needed this out of the shop. It’s been hanging around for a year in various unfinished states and I just wanted it done. I might come back and do that later, the speaker cloth I put on is easily removed.

A few years ago I had a big beautiful old console radio cabinet that I wanted to do this to, but never did. I got rid of it, and I regret that a little now. Some day I’ll pick up another one and do this to it. In the meantime, we’ll be rocking away during dinner chores.

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