One of the most difficult things I have found with doing electronics and especially audio stuff is finding a appropriate case. Many times the price is is higher than the actual components! Not to mention the mechanical side of things is not my forte. Without a drill press and the proper tools it's very difficult and time consuming to work with metal.
Recently I found a seller on eBay that had some crazy prices on various server equipment and miscellaneous audio equipment. The catch was shipping ($20-$30) with FedEx ground as the only option.
However for most stuff, even with shipping the price was still cheaper than buying a rackmount enclosure!
I picked up this preamp / input selector for $4.50 (and $32 shipping) $36.5 total for a 1U rackmount case with all the holes I need for my input selector! Device is a ELAN Z630.
Inside the case were some useful components I can salvage (specifically the transformer!)
