Audio Infuser 4700 Combines Turntable, Visualizer & Digital Streaming
By James Grahame
This one-off console stereo combines vintage and modern audio technology in a magnificently handcrafted case.
On the vintage side, the turntable is a late-1970s Yamaha, an elderly JVC equalizer lets you tweak frequencies the old-school way, and a vintage 5-inch CRT has been hacked to display Lissajous waveforms that throb and twitch in time to the music. Oh, I almost forgot the funky analog VU meters.
Don't despair if your musical collection is solidly in the 21st Century, because a Raspberry Pi single board computer is built in, running an Air Play compatible app that streams music over Wi-Fi from your mobile devices or computer.
Creator Todd Kumpf explains how the Audio Infuser 4700 came to be:
"To capture the vibe of something old, the best way to do it is to use stuff that's actually old. Gathered off of eBay, Craigslist, pawn shops, and from my own arsenal, most of the components came with a few years behind them.
The turntable mechanics are from a Yamaha YP-D4 (1978), the equilizer a JVC SEA-10 (1976), and the CRT is an Emerson from the 90s. Creating something new with second hand items is half the fun of it. Re-imagining how they're used and giving them a second life is a fun challenge with a great payoff.
The aesthetics, with the wood, brushed aluminum, and braided cloth cords, are also heavily inspired by vintage Hi-Fi gear. The knobs authentic, coming off of an old Peavey mixer.
At the heart of the device lies a Linux driven Raspberry Pi. It operates as the Wi-Fi receiver, allowing music to stream wirelessly from any mobile device, laptop, or desktop computer. Compatibility extends across most digital libraries, including Spotify, iTunes, and Pandora.
The Pi serves as a platform for many possibilities. It can also operate as an output device, streaming music from the record player out to other WiFi enabled audio speakers.
The speakers here are powered by a Klipsch ProMedia amplifier, feeding two stereo channels and an 8” subwoofer. Both channels have two mid-range drivers and a crossover splitting out a high frequency tweeter."
Todd's website has a brilliant 'Process' section that highlights various aspects of the design and construction. If he can build something like this on his coffee table, maybe you can, too!
Audio Infuser 4700 - Not your grandpa's stereo [via Synthtopia]