> Thinking of converting an old console stereo into a modern player.

wrote:

One of those big wooden ones.

Converting it how?

Usually the receiver/power amp will slide out (They are usually all tube as well). Add some decent speakers and a CD player to the AUX IN (you might have to pad the input) and you're good to go. The turntables in those things are usually crap, so I'd get a decent LP player and hook it to the phono input.

You COULD also go the other way - build a CD player into the console, and install some decent speakers - but that's a lot more work. I'd build baffled enclosures for the speakers (as opposed to ussing the console itself as a speaker cabinet) if I was going that direction.