> Buy yourself some old stereo equipment off ebay.  The
> round VU meters like
> Harmon Kardon uses would be perfect, they have blue
> backlighting too.  Of
> course, used Harmon Kardon is probably going to be
> expensive, but you could
> probably find some old Marantz gear for cheap.

Marantz makes some nice vintage-looking gadgetry.  An
external Marantz unit would look even cooler than a front
panel mount IMHO.  This is somewhat related, check out
http://www.ocmod.com/code/show_art.php?id=9&pg=3.  Just
shows
some neat stuff for people who (like me) think computers
should be loaded with LEDs, knobs, gauges, etc.