I wish someone made a Raspberry Pi based boombox

[Nathan Raymond]

Parts Express has their 80 Watt Powered Bluetooth Speaker Kit with 4" Full-Range Drivers, Large Portable 100W Bluetooth Ammo Box Speaker Kit Components, and Dayton Audio MKBoom Portable Bluetooth Speaker Kit. They're fine, but I keep thinking how it would be really cool if someone made a boombox kit inspired by the one of the classic boomboxes from the '80s except inside it would be a Raspberry Pi, quality speaker and headphone amps, a touch-screen display with the ability to run audio streaming apps, control an parametric EQ, get on WiFi and configure Bluetooth, etc. And extra points if it had the option of a detachable portable tape player (like Yorx used to do on some of their boomboxes). The Raspberry Pi could also be used to drive some LEDs for that full '80s boom box effect!

 

[JeffS7444]

Parts Express has their 80 Watt Powered Bluetooth Speaker Kit with 4" Full-Range Drivers, Large Portable 100W Bluetooth Ammo Box Speaker Kit Components, and Dayton Audio MKBoom Portable Bluetooth Speaker Kit. They're fine, but I keep thinking how it would be really cool if someone made a boombox kit inspired by the one of the classic boomboxes from the '80s except inside it would be a Raspberry Pi, quality speaker and headphone amps, a touch-screen display with the ability to run audio streaming apps, control an parametric EQ, get on WiFi and configure Bluetooth, etc. And extra points if it had the option of a detachable portable tape player (like Yorx used to do on some of their boomboxes). The Raspberry Pi could also be used to drive some LEDs for that full '80s boom box effect!

Although it probably wouldn't be housed in an injection molded housing, what's preventing you from DIYing this? You've already discovered the Parts Express kits, and Pimoroni offers a series of tiny audio "hats" sized to fit atop a Raspberry Pi Zero. AFAIK, this combo doesn't have the computing power for parametric filters that a full Pi + Moode Audio does, but there are lots of small DSP boards out there, although the amazing $5 Nvarcher DSP board is no longer $5.

 

[Nathan Raymond]

Although it probably wouldn't be housed in an injection molded housing, what's preventing you from DIYing this? You've already discovered the Parts Express kits, and Pimoroni offers a series of tiny audio "hats" sized to fit atop a Raspberry Pi Zero. AFAIK, this combo doesn't have the computing power for parametric filters that a full Pi + Moode Audio does, but there are lots of small DSP boards out there, although the amazing $5 Nvarcher DSP board is no longer $5.

I've thought about it! Lack of time is the reason (I work at a startup, have kids and live in an old house that has a habit of creating its own stream of projects).