My Onkyo CD Player is on its last leg...

Well, not really. It still plays CDs OK. But it skips like crazy at the beginning of CDs (and don't you dare walk by it while it's playing, LOL). Yes, the problem can be fixed (by replacing the laser assembly, which costs anywhere from $50 to $100+), but that does not satisfy my craving of entering the world of PC case modding :)

Here's the unit, Onkyo INTEC275 C-722M (the "2G" model, product detail can be found here in Japanese):

The unit on the bottom is the matching INTEC275 integrated stereo amp unit (A-922M). Onkyo does not sell their INTEC product lines in the U.S. (or in the Europe based on a brief web search). As the name suggests (INTEC275) they are 275mm (10.8") wide. (Onkyo also makes INTEC205 series, which is even narrower at 205mm wide.)

This CD player was one of my prized possessions during my undergraduate years. Although I don't remember the exact time of purchase (circa 1997-98) I do remember hauling 2 heavy boxes (C-722M and a full-size Pioneer amp) with me back from Japan and paying import tax for them to the U.S. Customs at the airport. They were pretty darn heavy, and the tax was completely unexpected, but the system was well worth all these troubles in the end.

Anyway, the 15-year old CD player is dying (as expected to be) but I love its simple and elegant chassis design, and the matching amp is still going strong. At the same time, I don't listen to CDs as much as I use to, and my wife always tells me that she wants all CDs to be ripped and have them available on our home network. All these naturally leads to my long-time dream of PC case modding (all while she's rolling her eyes)!

So that's how this blog has begun, mainly to help me brainstorm the ideas and (hopefully) to show the actual modding progress.