Audiophile Boom Box?


I just returned from a few days at the beach.

Although I brought my iPod, I just couldnt bring myself to shove those Sure headphones in my ears, a practice I realized I now associate with stressful life in the big city, and I preferred to listen to the ocean.

Listening to the lousy TV in my room, however, I craved a bit of music on my holiday and had an audiophile flashback to the biamped a/d/s system of the 70's which came neatly packed in a briefcase with a Nakamichi tape deck which could be powered either by 12v or AC.

This made me think - is there any way to build an audiophile "boombox"?

I have a pair of Genelec powered monitors which are a bit lean sounding but otherwise quite punchy and detailed. If I could figure out a way to get true line out, or even better, true digital out of an iPod, perhaps that would be worth shipping ahead via UPS to my next destination?

Then I thought - eureka (?) - how about the quirky cult following for the new battery powered, tweaky digital amps?

Maybe a smallish pair of not too heavy monitors? With Sonic Impact, Red Wine or whatever digital amp? And true line out or digital out from an iPod?

This thread might dovetail with another current thread on extracting audio from an iPod without using the headphone jack.

But let's hear your ideas for traveling with high end audio on your next vacation!
cwlondon
Reubent:

The SD-EX111 is rated 20 watts/channel into 4 ohms.

It does not have digital IN (stereo RCA analog IN only), but it does have digital OUT (looks like TOS-Link, but I'm not certain).
Dekay,

You're right about the Sharp. My mistake. I once used an external CD player connected to mine, but I must have been using the aux. analog inputs. The digital input is toslink. I'm surprised by the power rating, but I did verify that you are correct. 20W/ch @ 4ohm. Sounds much more powerful, however that's coming from someone whos other amps are 3.5 w/channel and 8w/channel!

Enjoy,

TIC
Reubent:

I've read the spec's you mentioned, but forget the model #.

There were 2-3, maybe more, models housed in what seems to be the same case as the SD-EX111.

I purchased extras, spares for my parents and our unit, but the ones in use have been completely reliable for the past 20 months.

Tried the inexpensive ($39) SI and found it to sound odd/funky, with both battery and wall wart power.

Each to their own.
Bose wave cd/radio. I know, Bose bad on this site. However, this sounds great ( for a small system ), is portable and well made/durable ( American made - by the way). I've had one for about 10 years, no problems whatsoever.
there are a number of "personal" stereo which use the flat panel technology for the treble and part of the mids and a woofer for the lower mids and bass. brookstone has one for about $300 . i own it aand it's good enough for general listening.

what does something have to be an "audiophile" anything ?

the connotation of "audiophile" is not often positive.

i'll bet that if you go to best buy, circuit city, etc., you can find some decent personal stereos which are suitable for most applications.