My old speakers have no plug, what do I do?
Hey, so first off let me say I have no clue if this is in the right area, the Instructables forum is a bit confusing to me.
Here is my problem: I found two old speakers that I want to set up in my room with my Xbox (Original, not 360) and would also like to be able to plug a MP3 player or whatever else into it, but mainly just the Xbox. However the wires are just bare, there's no plug on it or anything.
So how would I go about fixing this? I was hoping I could just take a simple audio in/out cord and snip the end off and attach it to the speaker, but I've never worked with audio before, so I'm a bit lost.
Thanks for any advice :)
And P.S. I'm good with electronics, I've just never worked with audio/speakers before.
Here is my problem: I found two old speakers that I want to set up in my room with my Xbox (Original, not 360) and would also like to be able to plug a MP3 player or whatever else into it, but mainly just the Xbox. However the wires are just bare, there's no plug on it or anything.
So how would I go about fixing this? I was hoping I could just take a simple audio in/out cord and snip the end off and attach it to the speaker, but I've never worked with audio before, so I'm a bit lost.
Thanks for any advice :)
And P.S. I'm good with electronics, I've just never worked with audio/speakers before.
11
comments
|
Add Comment
|
sort by:
active |
newest |
oldest
. If both drivers are the same make/model, then turn them both so that they are facing the same direction and you are looking at the connection terminals.
. Pick the left side or right side terminals on both speakers (doesn't matter which, just as long as it's the same side on both drivers), and wire them together for the common. Use the other terminals, as appropriate, for left and right channels.
. After you wire it up, if it sounds "muddy" then the drivers are out of phase. Swap the wires on either (but not both) driver. "Absolute" phase is unimportant (it doesn't matter if the drivers push or pull), but the drivers must be in phase with respect to each other (they have to push/pull together). No electrical damage will occur, but the sound quality will suffer.
. Pick the left side or right side terminals on both speakers (doesn't matter which, just as long as it's the same side on both drivers), and wire them together for the common. Use the other terminals, as appropriate, for left and right channels.
. After you wire it up, if it sounds "muddy" then the drivers are out of phase. Swap the wires on either (but not both) driver. "Absolute" phase is unimportant (it doesn't matter if the drivers push or pull), but the drivers must be in phase with respect to each other (they have to push/pull together). No electrical damage will occur, but the sound quality will suffer.
. Thanks for the clarification. . Speaker = enclosure (box) plus one or more drivers. . Driver = component that actually moves the air. . It's very common for a driver to be referred to as a speaker.
That's much better defined than my comment, and probably worth it too.
L
Jul 13, 2010. 12:30 PMmojobo1 (author)
says:
Both speakers are exactly the same. These are really old, and I'm not sure how to get to the terminals. The wires come out of a hole in the back, and I tried to get the case off but couldn't without breaking the thing. Would a picture help at all? I took a audio cord, snipped the end off and attached it to the speakers wire, and it did work, but it was so quiet I could only hear it if the volume was all the way up and my ear was to the speaker. I believe the Xbox is stereo. Thanks :)
. The wires should be polarized. One wire of each set should have a painted stripe, molded-in ridges, or some other way to distinguish it from the other. Connect the striped/ridged wires together for the common and the other wires for L & R. . If it sounds "muddy", swap the wires on any one speaker.
Jul 13, 2010. 1:20 PMmojobo1 (author)
says:
You're right, that has to be it. I wondered as much when turning the TV volume up did absolutely nothing, and realized the TV had nothing to do with it. Thanks, problem solved! :)
Jul 13, 2010. 3:00 PMmojobo1 (author)
says:
In case anyone wanted to know, hooked them up to my car's amplifier and it works perfect! Thanks for the help everyone :-)
If your speakers do not have a capacitor across them, designating Positive / negative sides, the speakers should work if wired to the proper portions of the plug, either way around. I don't know off hand, how the output of the Xbox is wired (whether stereo or mono).
 |
Vancouver Mini Maker Faire 2012
Rebuilding NordicTrack ski machine drive rollers
Looking for New Zealand-based Instructables authors for conference on August 27 in Wellington
Call to makers - Brighton Mini Maker Faire
Milk Crates - not as green as you think
TEDxBaghdad - Iraq - violence, dust storms and open sourced manufacturing
UK Mini Maker Faire - The Derby Silk Mill - New Poster to Share!
