Audio Cabinet

I planned to build a record cabinet to house a new turntable I purchased. I wanted to use mostly recycled wood and scrap laying around the shop. Other than fabric this was more than achievable. Free material from craigslist was also useful for this project.

The project was partially inspired by a "Sunday Project' I did previously. I disassembled an old record cabinet and converted it into a portable audio chest.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Portable-Audio-Chest/

Sketch out some ideas.

Collect electronics to fit the cabinet. I had a stereo receiver and equalizer I wanted to incorporate along with the turntable.

Measure and cut 3/4" MDF to the approximate size of the cabinet top to accommodate the electronics.

Trace the footprint of the electronics onto the MDF.

Use a router to remove the material. I had to build a jig to help accomplish this task.

Cut some stock to fashion a box to support the turntable.

Construct the box and fasten to the cabinet top.

Drill a hole in the box for the electrical cables and fit the turntable.

Cut melamine or plywood and a few 2x4s to create the chassis of the cabinet.

Attach the cabinet top to the panels.

Fasten the 2x4s to the cabinet structure with 2x2s.

Rip some hardwood into 3/4" strips.

Use 3/4 inch strips to create a lip around the edge of the cabinet top and screw them in place.

Glue the 3/4' strips together in sets of 5. These will be used as decorative panels on the cabinet.

Sand the panels smooth.

Cut the panels to the correct length and glue them to the lip on the cabinet top.

Fashion feet that will accommodate casters.

Attach the casters to the inside of the feet.

Stain the feet and apply a finish.

Attach the feet to the base of the cabinet.

Cut 2x3s, MDF and veneered plywood to create speaker houses.

Screw the speaker houses to each side of the cabinet.

Screw a piece of stock to the back of the cabinet top.

Stain and finish the the speaker house tops and backing strip.

I used Danish Oil to finish the panels and added them to the front and sides of the cabinet.

Glue the speaker house tops in place and refasten the backing.

Cut, bevel and fasten 2x2s together to create frames for speaker covers.

Stretch speaker cloth over the frames and staple in place.

Screw the speaker covers to the speaker houses.

Glue trim wood to a piece of veneered ply.

Sand, stain and finish the lid.

Cut decorative trim, stain, finish and attach.

Make front panels from OSB and veneered ply. One of the panels will act as a door.

Recess hinges into the door panel and attach to the front of the cabinet.

Add a magnet door latch to the door.

Things are coming together.

Add shelves to the inside of the cabinet behind the door panel.

Ornament the front of the cabinet.

Add shelves inside the speaker houses.

The original turntable purchased for this cabinet had a poorly machined platter and was returned. I picked up an old replacement turntable from an estate sale and restored it. The instructable for this project is at the link below. Because the size of the new turntable was slightly larger I modified the cabinet top to accommodate it.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Turntable-Restoration/

Cut fabric to adorn the interior of the cabinet top. Iron out any wrinkles.

Use spray adhesive to attach the fabric to the inside of the panels and to the cabinet top.Trim any excess.

Adhere window strip to the edge of the top panels.

Add fabric and trim to the underside of the cabinet lid.

Add decorative wood to the inside of the cabinet top.

Fasten the lid to the back of the cabinet with spring loaded hinges.

Slide the electronics into their respective homes. I removed the receiver cover so that the face edge would hold it in place.

The equalizer was chosen to act as an intermediary between a smartphone or computer and the receiver. A 3.5 aux to RCA cable goes to the input and the output is RCA to receiver. The receiver didn't have an Auxillary input so I just ran to the CD function. Wire up the speakers, receiver antennae and turntable. You can also run a TV into the unit.

Play music from your laptop or smartphone through the 3.5 aux cable. Bluetooth connectivity is also available from this function when a bluetooth receiver replaces the 3.5 aux cable.

Boom.