FNG in over his head trying to make his daughter happy

[Warrant]

So my brilliant albeit demanding teenager wants an Ipod dock, no big deal, right?

Well after looking and listening to a few dozen of these things I have made the following observations. They look like crap, they sound like crap, they're built like crap, and they're priced like gold. Now don't get me wrong, I'll spend money on things that represent value but I'm not seeing it here.

So I had an idea, I'd build her one. This is where you come in...What have I gotten myself into? I think an elegant wood case is in order and its something I can do, maybe two way speakers from a known build I understand XO schematics, an amp, oops, no ideas on amps yet. I have some old computer speakers, could the TSPs be found? The really insane part is I have an old Canon S3is that's deceased and I was wondering if the data could be exported to the movable lcd with nothing more than some etching and a soldering iron?


The hand holding starts here, or not

I guess I might need to provide some incentive, so, my wife told me I'm an idiot for trying this and the internet is useless. The idiot part may be true but I know for a fact that when the imaginary people on the internet put their heads together some pretty amazing stuff can happen.

TIA

Bernie

[planet10]

To start, you'll need a 4mm stereo phone to 2xRCA cable -- a couple bucks at the buck or 2.

dave

[SY]

It's really nothing more than a chip amp, a power supply, and a couple of speakers. Poke around the chip amp forum for more ideas than you could use in a lifetime.

[Warrant]

Ok, what about those multipin things I see, what do they do? If it just needs a pin I might try to use a shuffle base and see if it fits a Nano.

[perceptionchanges]

I use a small ebay chipamp with a pair of Realistic Minimus 7's. Package the chipamp in wood, buy a wallwart and you should be sub $100.
Mine is just for work in the jobsite office and sounds great. Sometimes in the summer I take it outdoors with one of those canadian tire power stations for jump starting cars and it runs for days.
But perhaps not as elegant as your daughter is looking for.

[Warrant]

Are all posts preapproved here?

[Pano]

Not all. Just the first few, until we see that you are not a spammer or troll.
That should have been explained when you signed up.

[Warrant]

Thanks I signed up a couple of years ago but have had nothing to say...

[Pano]

You'll be out of moderation soon. Not to worry.

[planet10]

Originally Posted by Warrant

Ok, what about those multipin things I see, what do they do? If it just needs a pin I might try to use a shuffle base and see if it fits a Nano.

The multipin connector allows you to get at a line out before the headphone amp -- it makes a little bit of difference, sound quality wise, but mostly it is something to hold the iPod upright.
dave