[sugarkang]

So, I've got a cheap $50 amp that does 4 channels.
It works for my needs. 
Power is fine, sound is fine. 
It's god awful aesthetically. 
 
Ideas on doing a cheap and easy transfer into a nicer enclosure and controls? 
I want to keep the basic functionality the same:
- 4 knobs in front
- input/output plugs all in back. 
 
Would appreciate ideas...
 

 

[Yoga Flame]

http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/
 
http://www.partsconnexion.com/chassis_knobs.html
 
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Cat=2097177&k=knobs

 

[3602]

You can make sort of a boxy design. You could probably find a machine shop to CNC some aluminum.

 

[holland]

Any beauty modifications will cost more than the amp.  I'd rather have ugly and a better power section, FWIW.

 

[sugarkang]

Very helpful.  Thank you!
 
Quote:

http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/
 
http://www.partsconnexion.com/chassis_knobs.html
 
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Cat=2097177&k=knobs

 

[buffalowings]

Quote:

You can make sort of a boxy design. You could probably find a machine shop to CNC some aluminum.

custom machined...that won't be cheap

 

[sugarkang]

I'd like a pre-designed enclosure that only needs holes drilled in.
I don't have a time to design an enclosure from scratch, and I don't think I could design something good.
I need 4 knobs in the front for each channel, so I'd like something a little wider. 
Maybe twice as wide as what you have in your picture.
 
I looked in the DIY pics section, and I saw some cool stuff there.
I just don't know where everyone gets their stuff.
 
 
Quote:

You can make sort of a boxy design. You could probably find a machine shop to CNC some aluminum.
 

 

I'm just going for an enclosure, knobs and rca in/out. 
Could be a bit time consuming, but I'm confident that it could be done for about $100.
The amp itself is $50, so you're right about the mod costing more. 
 
I also don't need "audiophile" quality on the amps, as I can't hear the difference.
But I do like having 4 channels, and there is no market ready solution that looks pretty too.
 
 
Quote:

Any beauty modifications will cost more than the amp.  I'd rather have ugly and a better power section, FWIW.

 

[jdkJake]

So, why don't you just remove the front panel knobs, tape up the shafts, power LED and entire back-panel, prep the remaining surfaces and re-paint it?
 
Seriously, the functionality is so obvious that the front-panel graphics are next to useless anyway. As long as you retain the pack panel, I think you will be able to operate it just fine from here on out.
 
Painting plastic can be a little tricky, but, with a little surface prep, spray paint works fine. You can even get a fancy faux texture paint if you really want something snazzy. From there, new knobs may or may not be desirable.
 
Just a thought....

 

[BobSaysHi]

Quote:

So, why don't you just remove the front panel knobs, tape up the shafts, power LED and entire back-panel, prep the remaining surfaces and re-paint it?
 
Seriously, the functionality is so obvious that the front-panel graphics are next to useless anyway. As long as you retain the pack panel, I think you will be able to operate it just fine from here on out.
 
Painting plastic can be a little tricky, but, with a little surface prep, spray paint works fine. You can even get a fancy faux texture paint if you really want something snazzy. From there, new knobs may or may not be desirable.
 
Just a thought....

 
Yeah, give it a paint job.

 

[3602]

 
Quote:

Quote:

So, why don't you just remove the front panel knobs, tape up the shafts, power LED and entire back-panel, prep the remaining surfaces and re-paint it?
 
Seriously, the functionality is so obvious that the front-panel graphics are next to useless anyway. As long as you retain the pack panel, I think you will be able to operate it just fine from here on out.
 
Painting plastic can be a little tricky, but, with a little surface prep, spray paint works fine. You can even get a fancy faux texture paint if you really want something snazzy. From there, new knobs may or may not be desirable.
 
Just a thought....

 
Yeah, give it a paint job.

 
Barney Grado comes to mind...

 

[holland]

Most of the DIY stuff comes at the expense of buying lots of tools.  For what you need, you're looking at some relatively tight drilling.  Lots of measurements, and a template.  You will almost definitely need a good drill and drill bits, and preferably a drill press.
 
Par-metal is a commonly used brand for cases, as is Hammond Manufacturing, Context Engineering, Hifi2000, to name a few.  The cases, however, aren't exactly super cheap.
 
Based on your picture, I'd guess your case size is around 7"x4" or 8"x5".  To size up, you're probably going to see something around 10"x6" or so.  Cost plus shipping will likely be around $50 to start and go up as the case gets "prettier" and beefier.  Use the FrontPanelExpress software to make a drill template from paper and a printer and tape it to the panel(s) you are going to drill out.  The rest is more or less up to practice drilling holes.
 
knobs, ebay for starters.  digikey and mouser as well.  you can use them for cases too.

 

[sugarkang]

It's the physical enclosure on top of the terrible graphics that I have a problem with.
Just painting will not make this pretty (for me).
 
I like the looks that everybody else likes.
If there were a lot of oohs and aahs in the DIY picture thread,
then there's a good chance I'd like that design too.
My favorite of the thread was the wood/aluminum one.
That was clearly all custom though, so not a solution.
But something approximating that would be fine.
 
Ideally, a plain aluminum enclosure would be good.
Minimalism, no visible fins or heatsink type enclosure.
Even better would be all knobs, inputs and outputs in back.
 
The front would just have 4 super tiny blue LEDs to indicate which channel was on.
The knobs would just function as a gain and never touched afterwards.
All my volume is generally controlled in Windows by my keyboard.
 
 
Quote:

So, why don't you just remove the front panel knobs, tape up the shafts, power LED and entire back-panel, prep the remaining surfaces and re-paint it?
 
Seriously, the functionality is so obvious that the front-panel graphics are next to useless anyway. As long as you retain the pack panel, I think you will be able to operate it just fine from here on out.
 
Painting plastic can be a little tricky, but, with a little surface prep, spray paint works fine. You can even get a fancy faux texture paint if you really want something snazzy. From there, new knobs may or may not be desirable.
 
Just a thought....

 

[sugarkang]

Right.  Which is why I'd like as much of a pre-made enclosure as possible.
I'm getting the sense that just finding an enclosure is difficult, yet I've seen a lot of cool ones on the DIY picture thread.
However, it's completely possible that those makers went through the difficult process you just outlined;
though, I thought I saw multiple people with similar type of enclosures leading me to believe that there could be a ready made available. 
 
The enclosure should be aluminum so as to avoid dealing with the drill press.
Or at least just the front and back panels.  Those are the only areas that would need drilling.
 
 
The amp is a ballpark 4 x 4 x 2. 
I'd prefer a ballpark 8 x 8 x 3.
 
Quote:

Most of the DIY stuff comes at the expense of buying lots of tools.  For what you need, you're looking at some relatively tight drilling.  Lots of measurements, and a template.  You will almost definitely need a good drill and drill bits, and preferably a drill press.
 
Par-metal is a commonly used brand for cases, as is Hammond Manufacturing, Context Engineering, Hifi2000, to name a few.  The cases, however, aren't exactly super cheap.
 
Based on your picture, I'd guess your case size is around 7"x4" or 8"x5".  To size up, you're probably going to see something around 10"x6" or so.  Cost plus shipping will likely be around $50 to start and go up as the case gets "prettier" and beefier.  Use the FrontPanelExpress software to make a drill template from paper and a printer and tape it to the panel(s) you are going to drill out.  The rest is more or less up to practice drilling holes.
 
knobs, ebay for starters.  digikey and mouser as well.  you can use them for cases too.

 

[sugarkang]

My favorite one, but probably impossible:

 
 
 
Therefore, I'm just looking for plain and clean like any of these or anything that looks like these:
 

 

 
 

 
 

 

[BobSaysHi]

Quote:

My favorite one, but probably impossible:
 

Yeah, good luck with that.