I want to add an external speaker jack to a Dorchester Music Maker (record player)
I bought this sweet looking record player which also has a cassette player at Value World, Indy's largest thrift store. both tape and record player work just fine. It has a small speaker in the front which doesn't sound very loud. I'd like to add a jack where I can plug an external speaker to it. Is this possible to do? I opened the player and it has about a 4 inch speaker with only a red and black wire going to the pc board. I don't know how to solder and was hoping this is something I can do easily. I don't mind learning how to solder or if there are alternatives that's even better! I've been searching all over the world for someone who has done this before but nobody.. I've seen other similar things being done and I'm concerned if I should somehow wire a preamp or some precautions I should take when adding an external speaker. By the way, the speaker I'm using is a Bose Sound Link speaker. I would appreciate some help here. I'm such a nub.


















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We'll try the direct connection between your 2 units first. method first. I'm thinking the worst that can happen is the bose may get too high a signal at even the lowest volume of your dmm & distort the sound, but I very strongly doubt anything will be damaged (especially the bose!) if we get this part wrong. With a small speaker your dmm has it would be lucky to be a watt going into it at max volume. You may have to quickly dive for the volume control of the bose that's all!
Trouble is, a bit of wiring up of a little 'interface' circuit would then be needed to get the signal level right. I've already found a suitable interface circuit if you need it. I'll post that here for you as well. Many thanks to Tomi Engdahl <then@delta.hut.fi> for that info! Nevertheless, we could come up with a 'no solder' way of wiring that up for ya! I found you a suitable 'no solder' jack to mount in your 'dmm' as well, so no soldering here either!
I've made up a 6 step method for you that I use myself to 'tap into wiring' without damaging the existing wiring, & it's a reliable, flexible, & long term connection!
You could use this method to modify your dmm without soldering. Calrad electronics in California make a nifty phone jack, for example, that you don't have to solder to! - it's got screw connections! Item number 30-491T Looks like if you buy it through krp electronics you can get it for half the price! You'll find it here =>
http://www.krp.com/PANEL-MOUNT-35mm-STEREO-JACK-W-TERMINAL-SCREWS_p_3078.html
Check the length of it's thread to see how thin a panel it needs to fit. Find a spot on the back or front of your music maker, & drill a suitable sized hole for the jack to pass through snugly. Then you just need to connect the black wire that goes to your internal speaker ALSO to the earth connection of your phone jack.
A very similar situation with the red wire to your internal speaker, except we need to join the other 2 terminals (L & R) of the jack together first, or you'll hear the sound in only one side of your nice soundlink speaker!. You mentioned only one speaker in the music maker, so I'm assuming that it's mono. I've made a pic for you of how it goes together.
Hopefully this setup won't be too touchy on the volume so you won't require any other mods, but we can do it if it's required.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
NO SOLDER WIRE JOINING METHOD - IN 6 STEPS (follow pics called step 1 to step 6)
Step 1 => Carefully remove about 5mm of insulation from the wire you
are tapping into without damaging the strands of wire. I first
carefully nip a mark all around the wire at each end where I'm
going to remove the insulation without cutting into the wire
strands. The whole idea is to NOT damage the existing
wiring. A stanley knife or a sharp pair of small wire cutters
should do the job if you're careful. Take your time.
Step 2 =>Strip about 15mm of insulation from the end of the new wire
you are going to run to the new jack. Line up the end of the
insulation of the 2 wires next to each other.
Step 3 =>Twist the strands of the new wire around & around the existing
bare wires' strands you exposed & along them, in a tight sort
of spiral using the 5mm to 'use up' all 15mm of loose
strands. You can 'form' the wires so their wire ends are lying
all nice & flat & parallel with a little work.
Step 4 =>Stick about 20 mm of electrical tape centrally across the join,
so it evenly covers up the bare wires.
Step 5 => Tightly & neatly wrap the tape around the wire bundle, trying to
keep it from spiraling too much, but still tight. Try not to spin
the wires themselves around while you do this - you are
wrapping the tape around the wire not the wire around the
tape! Plus you risk fatiguing the connections between the
speaker & the pc board.
Step 6 => Wrap a small cable tie around the centre of the join & tighten
it up good & firm. Cut off the excess cable tie end close to the
lock part & I can pretty much guarantee that connection for a
lifetime - unless it goes underwater! It won't fatigue like a
soldered joint can when the connection is moved around.
_________________________________________________________
You can use an off-the-shelf stereo 3.5mm male to 3.5mm male audio cable to connect the 2 units together. No mods to your bose, & no mods to the cable. You just have to decide how long a cable you need between them. So yeah, electrically, it looks like a perfectly feasable idea. Be good to hear how you progress. Good luck!
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Switchcraft/35PM1/?qs=zRnNmUVysJfv5rljj6r4T2bc3SwQlWOIcGNxAuqrWm8%3d
I really appreciate you taking the time to find a solder less jack. I have no problem learning how to do it, and I actually want to learn. I have a small solder gun that I bought a year ago that I plan to use. I have some wire lying around in my studio that I will use as well. I'm going to take a picture of the switch when it gets here. And I plan on making this into an ible and credit you for your awesome help!!
Anyway, apologies dany but you're gonna really need a Stereo version of the socket that you've got, unfortunately! The reason is that you need to be able to send the same mono signal down the left & right wires of your interconnecting cable, through to your stereo amp. I'm guessing you'd want to hear the sound through both speakers of your amp, even though it will be mono.
This one is available & should do the job -
http://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Switchcraft/35RAPC4BH3/?qs=%2fha2pyFadui5Yb7gGU5G92QirQ4SwutsMTP6wpOB3A8%3d
It's gonna need to be soldered to though sorry! But that's ok I'll try to show you how.
Could you please send a pic of your soldering iron/gun? We need to make sure it's suitable for your job. You're gonna need some 'multicore' 0.56 to 1mm solder though, to give yourself a good chance of nice connections. It's the best & well worth the extra cost. A whole roll of it might be a bit dear but you can get a little bit in a bag from an electronics hobbyist retailer.
http://www.bernzomatic.com/PRODUCTS/TORCHES/MICROMINITORCHES/tabid/251/ctl/Detail/mid/1260/xmid/6950/xmfid/3/Default.aspx
You can google it and find loads of info on it. Now can you fill me in on the details of the solder wire? Do you think Radio Shack will sell it? and I don't mind buying a whole roll of it. I have a studio full of stuff that I buy and keep handy for when who knows I will use it. Now as I look this stuff up. "Multicore" is the brand? I will go shopping for all the stuff as soon as I hear back from you. Thanks for being patient with me =) I was not kidding when I said I was a nub!
The solder I use is like this -
http://australia.rs-online.com/web/p/solders/4364847/
The important part is the 'crystal 511' part. That's the flux, that cleans the metals as you solder & allows the solder to flow nicely.
Mouser has a switched stereo 3.5mm panel socket -
http://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Switchcraft/35RAPC4BH3/?qs=%2fha2pyFaduhEWyjopjDcYUtvksdUuJMJ9%252b40m%252bEVf24%3d
The data sheet for the socket is at -
http://www.switchcraft.com/Drawings/35rapc__h3_cd.pdf
This socket is usually for pc boards, but you may find one with solder tags, which would be easier for you.
In figure 1, I show you the basic layout of the way this phone jack is built. the ports are numbered in order from bottom to top. it shows that in the second port that makes up the small bar that intrudes on the big bar and touch each other.
In figure 2, I show how inserting the cable into the jack makes the big bar separate from the small bar. this sends the signal to the external speaker and silences the internal speaker. I hope this helps. =)