I think this is why I'm a better software architect than system engineer...
As an architect, I'm given the requirements for the system, and I can bend my creativity toward solving the problem within those constraints...on this rebox project (and its sister, the Podzuma re-do), my only requirement seems to be "do something cool".
To catch y'all up, several things have happened in the past couple weeks. First, and perhaps most significantly, I found a T-Amp on eBay for about $40. There were actually several up for auction, and I bid on them, but only won one. There's a fellow selling them on eBay for $59.99 "or best offer", but I'll warn ya, if your best offer is lower than about $54, no dice. With shipping at that point, you're better off buying the 2nd gen T-Amp from Amazon for $59.99 (which is really coming from Parts Express anyway). He claims his cost is about $50 per unit, which I have no reason to doubt, but I can't see anyone making money on that deal. If there weren't an arguably improved 2nd gen unit on the market, I could see getting the $86 that Cyber Yazgan is getting on eBay (apparently also selling on Amazon as Cyber World), but the T-Amp's primary selling point was that it was great quality for a steal...and if you're just going to gut the box anyway for the sweet sweet ampage inside, either version will work, so it's stupid to pay a premium for the old one.
The second thing that happened was that I found a deal on eBay for basically a clone of my older stereo amp, the Pioneer VSX-2000. Since I'd basically decided that (if executed properly) the reboxed T-Amp would be too "nice" for resuming garage/woodshop duty, this worked out great, because the Pioneer is a good solid amp, which I already know will drive the speakers in the garage just fine, and I have actually less invested in the Pioneer than I do in the T-Amp. So, I was thinking (as I do) that with the extra available input ports, it'd be nice to have a CD player in addition to driving the amp with an MP3 player. And, knowing that virtually all CD-ROM drives have the abiltity to play audio CDs without having to use the IDE interface, and having a few old CD-ROM drives cluttering the shelves, I figured that with some simple electronics (really, just a couple cheap voltage regulators and some RCA output jacks) and a simple case, I could put an essentially free CD player in my garage (and if cold, or heat, or dust damage it, I'm out $3, and very minimal effort).
Y'all already know what's coming, dontcha?
"How hard would it be to ADD a built-in CD player to the reboxed T-Amp?" Of course, the answer is, "Not hard at all...particularly since the rebox design is still relatively fluid...just extend the width, tap the incoming power, repurpose the second RCA port to the dedicated CD player, add a couple front panel switches for the play/skip and stop/eject buttons, skin the front of the drive with the same wood as the case..." So, I think I'll probably at this point do two T-Amp reboxes...one with a built-in CD function, and the other more like the original vision.
Oh, and I decided to replace the D-battery array in the Cheapzuma with a pair of 6-volt sealed lead-acids in series. That should be a relatively easy re-fit, because the SLAs will fit easily in the space where the D-battery array is now...simple charge circuit, external power jack and charge LED, maybe (or maybe not) the 12v accessory port...
Coming next, photos of the Cheapzuma, the Podzuma-in-progress, and some concept drawings of the T-Amp rebox(es).
Pray for me. (Hmmm...I wonder if I could/should use that old Rio Volt MP3/CD player with the T-Amp rebox instead of a CD-ROM drive?)
Seriously. Pray for me.
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