Reboxing the T-Amp: Parts List Changes and Design Decisions

I've made a few design decisions about how I want the box to look. I'll be using 1/4" MDF as the main construction material, but I'll add several layers of walnut veneer to give it a nice wood grain. I'll probably stain the walnut relatively dark, to complement the aluminum knobs I'm using. Speaking of knobs, the left and right channel volume controls will be independent, so the dual-gang 50K pot I mentioned in the previous post is out, and two single-gang 50K audio-taper pots I picked up at Fry's are in. I'll re-purpose the dual-gang pot and use it to replace the stock volume control on the orignal Podzuma, which I will be also reboxing (re-reboxing?).

For the current rebox, I've also decided to go with 2 RCA inputs and a headphone input, which will work nicely with the 4P3T rotary switch I found at Fry's (replacing the DPDT switch I'd originally listed). Each input will have an LED indicator activated by the switch and powered by the same circuit that the Power LED is on. My hope (assuming the experiments go well) is to create cutouts in the walnut veneer for the power indicator and source indicators and illuminate them with the LEDs from behind. I'm also planning to recess the knobs into the faceplate, so it looks a little more "polished".

Basically, for the LEDs, I'm planning to cut icons into the top layer of the veneer, then sandwich a diffusing material between the top layer and lower layers, so that the light from the LEDs "fills" the icon evenly. Here's a picture of the notion:

Aaaaaand the icons:

I am not going to try to implement VU meters, nor am I adding a karaoke circuit. And even though it probably doesn't need it, I have a small (1.75") 12v computer fan that I'll mount in the back panel, and I'll rout some ventilation channels in the bottom panel of the box so the fan has air to move. So, what we're left with is:

• independent power switch with LED indicator
• independent left/right volume
• 3 input sources with LED indicators
• one headphone jack
• two sets of stereo RCA jacks
• high-quality speaker binding posts
• fan
• walnut finish
• chrome knobs (volume, source)

Once the knobs arrive from Mouser, I should be able to begin.