DIY

MUSIC

BOOMBOX AS PLATFORM

This cheap garage-sale stalwart is really an electronics lab in a box. By Mister Jalopy

A MORE ROBUST $1 PLATFORM DOES NOT EXIST!

Photography by Mister Jalopy

LOOK FOR:

» Durable plastic enclosure

» Ample interior space for mods

» Carrying handle

» AM/FM radio

» Antenna

» Stereo cassette deck » Audio amplifier

» AC to DC converter » Battery box

» VU meter

» RCA line level inputs

» RCA line level outputs

» Built-in stereo microphones » 2-way stereo speaker system » Microphone input jacks » Headphone jack » External speaker jacks » 110/220 power selection » AC or battery-powered » Made in Japan

The Good Old Days Are Yet To Come Being a collector of old issues of Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated, Modern Mechanics and Invention, Popular Science, and Science and Mechanics magazines, I can attest to the awesome breadth of the handy heydays when every home garage had at least a modest workshop. But with MAKE magazine as our beacon, I am quite certain that we have not yet seen the Maker Golden Age. As the internet has connected like-minded individuals and the availability of information has exploded, the real catalyst in the maker movement is the staggering abundance of dirt-cheap high technology.

Before boomboxes became cheap Chinese commodities, the top-tier Japanese electronics companies would compete to offer the most features, the best sound, and the highest profit margin, as reflected in

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