My home stereo is a pretty old-fashioned thing, and mostly I like it
that way -- I have a record player that's a bit older than me, a CD
player and amp about a decade old, and a couple of speakers.
Occasionally I plug in a portable mp3 player.

But I wouldn't mind adding some sort of "proper" box that can play
audio files from hard disc.  I suppose I want something that looks and
operates much like a hi-fi component but that is just a PC on the
inside.  It must have its own storage, and not just expect to stream
from another computer; must have a display on the front, and not just
expect to be connected to a screen; should be mains-powered and quiet;
CD-style transport buttons and some sort of selector dial on the front
would be nice, rather than requiring a remote; wireless networking
would be nice too; CD drive for ripping handy but inessential.

Questions:

0. This must exist already as a consumer product, right? Where can I buy one?

  

1. Can anyone point me to a small PC case that could be used to build one?

2. What would you use to play audio files (gaplessly) using a
dedicated LCD display as the user interface, on Linux?

3. Any thoughts on soundcard hardware for a device like this?

The Brennan JB7 player (http://www.brennan.co.uk/) is not far off the
sort of thing I'd like, but it has no networking (copying from USB
drives only).

This case: http://www.origenae.co.kr/en/htpc_m10.htm looks like a
smart place to start, but no controls except a hugely overspecified
remote -- obviously for home theatre rather than just audio -- and
expensive for something that isn't really ideal.

Any ideas?


Chris
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-- 
Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd