Media Mac
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This machine was built around a 12-inch Powerbook. The name Media Mac refers to my intent to make
this a sort of MP3 jukebox and perhaps DVD-player, TV-recorder, iChat AV machine, etc.
As I often begin, the first step is to mock-up the box - carboard again. A cheap powered amp is shoved into the right side, and this then determines the depth of the machine. The 12-inch display is in the center while to the right and left are my experimental speaker arrays. The display and speakers combine to determine the final width of the box. Stick the subwoofer below the display and holes above for various devices and you have the final working dimension. |
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So what is all that junk? Eight salvaged Apple speakers are the basis for a speaker array - four on
the left and four on the right. Each four are wired seria-parallel to maintain the same 8 ohm
impedance. The speakers you see on the left are simply set into the cardboard in the manner of the
finished machine. But the right speakers are in a sort of mockup speaker cabinet so I can test the
acoustics. The final machine will have a similar "box" behind the speakers concealed within the main
machine.
The subwoofer hides within the machine below the display. It is pointed down through the floor of the machine. A bass port (toilet paper tube) extends out the front however (beneath lower left corner of display). An iSight hangs off the front (it will be enclosed within however) and other assorted "ideas" are strewn across the top (the IR USB device will go in, the Sony camcorder light ultimately will not). |
| Okay, transfer the dimensions to my favorite half-inch birch plywood and begin to build. The wood working went fairly quickly. After some tricky masking, I spray painted the inside of the machine black. This is the machine from the rear. You can see the "box" within that houses the subwoofer - it is directly below the hole for the display. |
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The painting is complete. From the front it looks pretty "hole-ey". There are the eight holes for speakers as well as the large rectangular hole for the display. Across the bottom are the bass port hole and another hole for symmetry (and it helps ventilate the amplifier). The smaller holes beneath the speaker arrays are "midrange" ports (I don't know if these make much of an audible difference). Then there are holes on top for the infra-red USB (remote), iSight, and another one for symmetry (this was orignally thought to be a good place for a light for iChatting). |
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And finally, just before applying tung oil finish on all the birch.
It works quite well. Running up iTunes is popular and it sounds quite good for a smaller room. I have used it to iChat to New York a few times and it is perfect for that - no need to set anything up, the camera is there and ready to go. I run external video out from the box into my TV and have watched many DVDs (the quality is only so-so). The display is small, but otherwise you can browse the Web, read email and anything else you do on a computer. |
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