NES Cartridge Powered Speakers

NES Cartridge Powered Speakers
Some of you may have seen my NES Controller MP3 player. This is a companion project for it. I sometimes like to sit around and listen to music so I made these powered speakers. And since it was to go with the NES controller I made it in a NES cartridge.

Now before you even read any further. These are not really loud. Just so you know. They are great for sitting at your desk, but you would not want to have them as music for a party or anything. Now you could make a larger more powerful amp, but I didn't. Just FYI.

Here is a video of it playing with the MP3 player I made.


 
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Step 1Getting everything you wil need....

Just get your normal tools. I.E. Dremel, glue gun, soldering iron, etc...

Then you will need the following:

One NES game of your choice. I only used Rush N Attack because it was the cheapest one I could find.
Two small speakers that will fit into an NES game. 1 Watt 8 ohm. ((0.5 watt are better.))**
Two LM386N ICs
Four 100uF caps
Two 100k resistors
Two 1k pot resistors
Two rectifier diodes
One ON/OFF switch ((Just get the smallest one you can.
6-12 votls worth of batteries. I used watch batteries ((6 volts worth)) due to the limited space. You could wire up a 9 volt and just have it on the outside of the game case. But it would look kinda weird. LOL

** I got these speakers out of an old Dell laptop I had sitting around.
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35 comments
Jan 7, 2011. 9:39 AMnoah472 says:
i have a question i have some small speakers but bigger then yours and i want to do the same thing you did with them but i was just wondering do you need the amps and how would i wire them together through the power and the head phone plug with out the amps
any help would be great thank you.
Apr 22, 2010. 4:38 PMcholoescuintle says:
buen trabajo
intentare hacerlo con baterias recargables
Mar 24, 2010. 9:42 PMdylanlarson says:
i bought some really cheap speakers of dealextreme.com and was able to fit all the components in the cart. Although i accidentally burnt a little bit of the cartridge with my soldering iron   thx for the awesome instructable
Jan 29, 2010. 4:34 PMTSC says:
cool mp3 player!!!
Jan 26, 2010. 12:36 PMTSC says:
sweet I made some thing like this
Mar 16, 2009. 10:05 AMshams says:
lm396 isnt an audio amp !! It's genaral purpose op-amp!!
Mar 16, 2009. 10:04 AMshams says:
Haha crazy amp !! dude try a hifi one.. this is nothing... use high quality amp like discreet solid state or vacuum tube or use this chips:tda 1517,1519(2x6 watt 9 pin class ab),TDA 2615 (2x6 watt 9 pin class AB ultra low distortion HI-FI amp chip).....use this little chips they are really good!
Sep 17, 2008. 7:59 PMYerboogieman says:
Hello, i hope you reply soon, is there a way to make the little amps more powerful, i know a 386 chip is a little better than that. bigger caps maybe? i really wanna build this but only have 5-10 watt speakers.
Nov 30, 2008. 12:07 PMgrenadier says:
if you add a 10uf cap across pins 1 & 8, instead of a gain of 20 you will get 200
Sep 18, 2008. 4:44 PMYerboogieman says:
what would happen if i used a photo capacitor?
Nov 30, 2008. 12:06 PMgrenadier says:
caps coom in different values, you need the right values or your circuit wont work
Nov 30, 2008. 12:05 PMgrenadier says:
if you add a 10uf cap across pins 1 & 8, instead of a gain of 20 you will get 200
Sep 18, 2008. 5:04 PMYerboogieman says:
i made a few adjustments to the schematic, it was almost unreadable, same stuff, better look.
amplifier1.jpg
Jun 29, 2008. 4:01 PMNetReaper says:
Why do you even need an on and off switch?
Aug 20, 2008. 9:56 AMTheShawMaestro says:
So you can turn the speakers on and off.
Aug 20, 2008. 10:48 AMNetReaper says:
But doesn't the mp3 player have that ability?
Aug 20, 2008. 10:49 AMNetReaper says:
wait sorry, i forgot about the batteries. I'm used to my ipod.
Aug 4, 2008. 5:35 AMlogan996 says:
not bad good idea but how do you make the mp3 player?
Jul 28, 2007. 7:10 PMac1D says:
I LOVE IT! Both of your instructable are good, and i builded them. now, i have a BIG favor to ask you. Can you make a docking station with a NES? could be crazy. Im waiting for this :D (lot of idea come: plug the controller to the nes, put the cardrige in, and listen ! or could even use it to play video if the mp3 can ! You can't don't try to make it!
Dec 27, 2007. 8:47 AMhawkfan45 says:
It wouldn't work because you are ripping the game components when you make the speakers. The controller you are taking out the connection to the nes cord. So unless you are building them with everything still attached. It wouldn't work.
May 25, 2008. 9:07 PMNetReaper says:
I think it's possible, just very hard and would take some tricky wireing
Aug 16, 2007. 9:57 PMelement291 says:
You could have cut the sound slots a little neater. lol
May 25, 2008. 9:05 PMNetReaper says:
just sand them
Mar 27, 2008. 2:43 PMTreviun says:
Nice idea, sick song! FM + LP<-best bands ever!
Jan 12, 2008. 3:49 PMsammystephens says:
What kind of screw driver do you need to open the nes cartridge? Great tutorial by the way!
Mar 25, 2008. 9:40 PMn0ukf says:
It's a special security bit, like a reversed torx. You can find them on ebay. Be careful when looking, there's two sizes (3.8mm and 4.5mm), the smaller one for cartridges and the larger one for the consoles. There's also a 3-winged phillips type screwdriver for the Gameboys.
Jan 22, 2008. 2:32 PMPyroMonger says:
can you please post an instructable on making just the amp please...i'm having trouble with the one i put together
Aug 3, 2007. 11:38 AMionfreek458 says:
this is amazing. u might of seen my post on the nes controller mp3, but i love this idea. im going to go buy the controller and game off ebay right now! THANX!!!
Aug 3, 2007. 11:41 AMionfreek458 says:
W8, WHERE DID U GET THE SPEAKERS??
Aug 14, 2007. 5:23 PMWingmaster700 says:
how did you put in the volume

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