an ipod dock i made.

A few months ago I moved into my first studio apartment, I love music and I wanted a good sounding ipod dock.
I started to shop around and most of the docks that I found were expensive and not very classic looking. Then it occurred to me, what if I built my own?! I have a pretty basic knowledge of circuitry and audio components, so why not?

I remembered seeing an old record player/console at an antique store, and that is when my wheels started turning. My plan was to find a console that worked and modify it to be an ipod dock. However, I quickly found that I was able to make its usage much more than an ipod dock.

I went to craigslist and found a few consoles to go check out, then found one for $175. I went to see it and tested it out to make sure it worked, the last thing I wanted was to replace speakers or other components. I purchased this RCA unit made in 1983, it had an 8 track, AM/FM, and record player.

It wasnt long before I had the 8 track removed and rewired it. Now the dock can charge and play any 5th or 6th gen ipod, or iphone.

Then it hit me....I could also wire it to handle my airport express!

My primary use is for the express now, and I use the remote app. on my iphone 3G to control my itunes wirelessly!

This is a super easy re-purposing of a very cool piece of home audio equipment. The older speakers sound so warm and the teakwood cabinet just looks classy! Now I can chose to listen to my vinyl or my friends can come over and plug in to play anything they want. Not to mention they can just share their itunes libraries as well!


The total cost was around $200 dollars minus the ipod.
RCA cabinet-$175
Ipod dock-$15-on amazon.com
RCA to 1/8" cables-$10