G3: Just the Case

[jeffball610]

So I'm sitting here listening to music on my beautiful G3 Hackintosh (Apple Pi) and I'm wanting more from my audio. So I decide to check out what 2.1 systems are available. Most are plain grey and black boxes that would look very out of place next to my G3. "Well, what did Apple do back when the G3/G4 came out?" They used the Harmon/Kardon Soundstick and iSub. It's beautiful, but it doesn't match the G3. In fact nothing seems to match the G3 B&W case.

So, now I'm sitting here looking at my case wondering if I could make a G3 tower into a speaker. The logistics of making good bass come out of this thing seems prohibitive. It is my belief that the case should remain as stock looking as possible. Anyone have any thoughts on this? If I go through with this, I will make an active system and incase the amp and sub in the G3 tower and maybe figure out what to do for speakers. The old Mac Pro speakers are cool and maybe I can modify them to look the part. I think I'm stupid for even considering this, but what's a guy to do when he wants to coordinate his computer accessories?

 

[minihack]

So I'm sitting here listening to music on my beautiful G3 Hackintosh (Apple Pi) and I'm wanting more from my audio. So I decide to check out what 2.1 systems are available. Most are plain grey and black boxes that would look very out of place next to my G3. "Well, what did Apple do back when the G3/G4 came out?" They used the Harmon/Kardon Soundstick and iSub. It's beautiful, but it doesn't match the G3. In fact nothing seems to match the G3 B&W case.

So, now I'm sitting here looking at my case wondering if I could make a G3 tower into a speaker. The logistics of making good bass come out of this thing seems prohibitive. It is my belief that the case should remain as stock looking as possible. Anyone have any thoughts on this? If I go through with this, I will make an active system and incase the amp and sub in the G3 tower and maybe figure out what to do for speakers. The old Mac Pro speakers are cool and maybe I can modify them to look the part. I think I'm stupid for even considering this, but what's a guy to do when he wants to coordinate his computer accessories?

Nice idea...but I prefer the thought of a pair of iMac G3s instead as left and right channels - I think a large speaker where the CRT was would look amazing. Especially if they are connected to either side of your G3 tower with some nice Monster cable. You could get some great base out of those.

 

[jeffball610]

I considered the iMac as a subwoofer. I think you could easily fit a 10" sub in the screen area. But I don't think it would fit as a desktop system. I think I still might do something like that if I can find a unit worth hacking up.

I'm currently disassembling an old Sony sub that I think I can use. It's powered, fairly compact and uses an 8" driver. I think the G3 case could easily hold it. I need to figure out mounting and routing air. Thankfully the box has an air tube I can reuse if I can get it out. Looks to be about the size of the exhaust on the back of the G3. Think it might be time to order another case

 

[jeffball610]

Craigslist and $61 got me 3 G3 iMacs. Bondi Blue, Grape, and Blueberry as well as a G4 Macbook with a blown screen. Tomorrow, $25 will get me another Bondi Blue. All of this equals cool shapes to create cool stuff. I'm thinking the Bondi will make a great sub box. The others will make something cool to look at. We'll see how much of this stuff works and how much we can "create" with.

I'll post pics of teardown and what my plans are. I'll likely need some input, but I'll lay out what I think will work.

 

[Olli73]

Now, this is something i´ve never read about before! I´m just not sure about the sub... They either need a lot of volume to sound good or you go via reflex-tubing, neither seems like a good idea in a G3 case. I also wonder if the plastics won´t start vibrate somehow. Have You made plans about that? Solutions could come in handy for us too.
Still, definitely a cool project!!

Olli

 

[jeffball610]

So I went ahead and took apart the Grape and Blueberry to see how things went and to make a plan. (one if a first gen the other is a 2nd) I will take pics when I take apart one of the Bondi's to show what I'm looking at. I might also make a better disassembly video on YouTube. They all suck.

There seems to be plenty of space and the metal parts that hold the computer components are not needed in order to assemble the case. I'm sure I will keep some of it just for the cool factor though. Olli73 is right about the plastics possibly flexing and vibrating. I won't know until I actually put some power to it though. For now, the plan looks like I will make some sort of box inside the unit to hold the speaker and make the actual sound box. My initial idea was to make a smooth panel to resemble the screen using fiberglass or something. I don't know if I can come up with something cooler to put on there for looks or if I should use the face as the firing direction for the speaker.

Other than just making the iMac surround a speaker box, I don't know what else I can do. Maybe put some lights or something in it. I don't want it to be cheesy, but the cases are just so cool. I will make sure the amp and power components are visible similar to what Apple intended.

Currently I am just working out how to prep the cases to look good again. I'm using a magic eraser to get rid of scuff marks and will use it later to prep the whole surface. There are some decent scratches in the case that I will try to sand out with 2000 grit paper. The clear colored cases I will spray a gloss clear coat paint on and buff with polishing compound. Basically like restoring a foggy headlight. The translucent parts I think I might be able to get away with a flat clear. I'm going to try my hand at the Rest0bright thing and see if I can get them looking better. Also, the monitor plastic is the old cream color. Not sure if that's oxidation or purposeful. I assume it's on purpose, but would like to paint it white to make it brighter.

I'll update my progress today. Worse case scenario, I simply restore these units and find them new homes.

 

[jeffball610]

I reassembled the Blueberry last night. I think I will keep that unit as a complete computer. I will use the best parts I can salvage from the units in it. After some scuffing of the surfaces and coating with gloss clear on the colored parts and flat clear on the opaque parts, it looks great. Certainly not as good as 1999, but it looks good for what it is.

The slot load Bondi that I have is mostly disassembled. The cream surround around the monitor was very brittle and several of the screw holes broke off. Because of this, I think it is the best candidate for the first version of the speaker. I think I will make the internal components more visible and basically just replace the monitor section with a ported sub box. I'm thinking I can build a full fiberglass box to fill the space. To keep things clean and to make the box self-contained I'm thinking a small bandpass design will work well. I would like to make something more cool for the face of the monitor, but I'm not sure anything will work. Suggestions are accepted.

 

[jeffball610]

So my plan is getting a little more concise. I think I'm going to try and use one of my spare ATX PS to power a car stereo or amp. There's lots of YouTube videos on this and it's pretty simple. For speakers, I think I'm going to try and source some Apple Pro speakers, as they are nice and small and should handle a decent amount of power. (not that I need a ton) For speaker enclosures, I'm going to find something cool like vintage oil cans or something. I'll take my time finding the right items that will look at place on my desk.

I'm still trying to find good info on using the iMac as a sub enclosure. My plan is to use acrylic as a faux tv screen. The iMacquarium guys do this, but there's is a bit thin and their kits are expensive. My idea is to simply buy a sheet of acrylic, heat it in the oven, and mold it to the screen. My fear is that the excessive heat from the acrylic might make things go boom. Not good. That's really the only thing holding me back. Everything else seems pretty straight forward. Anyone have experience with CRTs and have some insight? I might try laying the acrylic on the CRT and just using a torch to heat as needed to mold it.

 

[jeffball610]

So I've decided that this is what will be used to house the speakers on my desk.

It's a Zenith C724P from about the mid to late 50's. I chose it for the awesome tweed and the space that appears it will hold 2 4.5" or larger speakers. I haven't pulled it apart yet, but there should be ample room. My only concern is destroying a piece of history. I will do my best to keep the enclosure and parts intact in case I decide to keep it as a radio.

My biggest concern is the color though. It looks very period correct, but still doesn't match my computer. I was thinking I might try to paint it a seafoam green color and antique white trim. I think it would still look 50's period correct, but match my B&W and Bondi computers. I don't think this radio is particularly rare, but again, I don't want to destroy a piece of history. Any suggestions?

 

[doctorevil30564]

what about something like this?

http://reviews.cnet.com/portable-speakers/jbl-charge-blue/4505-11313_7-35613369.html

maybe look for a broken one on ebay and mod it to accept direct audio input or use it via bluetooth?