I've long been an advocate of using good quality linear power supplies instead of wall warts. I've built a few over the years for various items (Squeezebox, phono amp, raspberry pi) but I've never got round to using them for my network switch and whatever other little boxes I have lying around the hifi. Whilst raking through the junk box at work I came across a brand new power supply which was heading for the bin due to the machine it was a spare for being replaced. A quick look on RS shows it to be a pretty decent Linear 5V and 12V open frame supply.

Now to find a box to house it in .....

In my spares pile I found an old HIFI2000 case which looks to be the ideal size and would do the job nicely with a couple of mods.

Since it has 2 power outputs I thought I'd use different connectors for each supply (to avoid any monumental cock ups!)- a USB out connector for the 5V and a mini XLR for the 12V. The thinking behind using the USB connector is that there are a plethora of ready made USB cables with all sorts of connectors on the end.

Didn't take long to drill the holes, fit the supply and the connectors. A quick test with the volt meter shows everything working ok. Think I'll use it to power my network switch (12V), raspberry pi (5V) and powered USB hub (5V) - that gets rid of 2 wall warts and the supply for my pi.

Nice little project that cost me less than £20 as I got the supply for free and had the case left over from another project.