Hard Drive Speaker

In this instructable we turn a hard drive into a speaker. 

Step 1: Items Needed

Items needed for this project :
1. Hard Disk Drive
2. Soldering Iron
3. Wire Cutter
4. T9 Torx Screw Driver

Step 2: Disassemble the Hard Disc Drive.

Disassemble the HDD.Use the T9 torx screw driver to remove the screws.Some of the screws are hidden under the label on top of the cover.

Step 3: Remove the Magnet on the Top.

Remove the magnet on the top. First remove the screw that holds it in place and lift the magnet out slowly.

Step 4: Remove the Lock of the Head.

Remove the lock of the head.

Step 5: Remove the Head of the HDD.

Remove the contact terminal (the plastic thingy) shown in the first picture.Then turn the head off the platter and lift it straight up(second picture).

Step 6: Now for Some Hacking.

Solder a piece of long wire on to the terminals shown in the picture. (sorry about the blurry picture) This is the wire to be connected to the amplifier.

Note: The thinner the wires are, the better, because then the read/write head will have enough room to move freely. 

Step 7: Spindle Motor Hack.

Connect another piece of long wire to the spindle motor terminals (at the bottom of the HD)

This step isn't necessary but adds to it.

Step 8: Reassemble the HD.

Now put all parts together except the head lock and the top cover and Don't forget to screw the read/write head back on. 

Step 9: Completed.

The mod is complete. Connect the wires to your amp. Mine is 30w x 2 so that i can connect the spindle motor and the read/write head seperate and each of them gets 30w = 60w total.

Step 10: Play Some Music!

Comments

[rah187]

Cool! A very unconventional use of a hard drive! Unfortunautly I do not have any hard drives (computers have very few components that would be useful in my projects, so I stopped taking them apart), but if I find one in the future will try this out.

[SerhiiB1]

I made it!

[_Scratch_]

Korn in the vid! lol

[_Scratch_]

Also, can anyone give me an explanation on how this works?

[ToXiCATOM]

There are 2 magnets (at bottom and at the top of the head), and there is a coil (winding) at the end of the head; so when you give the coil some sound it starts to move because of the magnets
ToXiCATOM

[Lunsel]

Really it works. Now i have done it with an old hard drive. Really cool!

[thecrazymagnetman]

if you could find something to do with the disks other than a turbine i'd be impressed because i have about three inches of the disks and i'm not exagarating

[GASSYPOOTS]

thats annoying X_X

[frostybob]

Hey guys did as per instructable and nothing happens. Tried it on two HDD and still nothing on either. HELP???? and sorry.... It is possible I broke something because the reading things on the end looked pretty munted

[Ace Winget]

I just use a small flat head and you can get those torx screws to loosen. If you have a drill the you could always just drill those out. I found an image of a hard drive dis-assembly here that I found really cool and helpful. Thanks sybyabraham great info!

[Jords001]

Very cool. Has anybody tried this as a microphone? Just curious what the quality would be like.

[cody777]

doesnt work well

[ametz]

I do not have a torx screwdriver or a drill press. I have all of the outside screws off by using a wrench, but the hidden screws are impossible to get to without the screwdriver. what can I do?

[cody777]

if you have a dremel you can cut a slit into the screw and use a flat-head, i do it a lot

[apb2390]

I'd say it's very hard to do that, but you can get a T9 Torx screwdriver set for 8.95 USD at a large hardware store.

[Pyrice4]

You can follow these two all the way through the ribbon wire into the back of the main PCB so you dont have to take the arm off.

[Moglizorz]

Yea, that's what I'm doing now. Seems alot easier soldering to the existing PCB (especially on this old 90's hard drive I'm using where the components are massive) than doing this delicate stuff.

[eravulgaris68]

sweet aw gee i wish i had a busted hard drive lying around now oh well ill find one soon nice job anyways cool setup LINKIN PARK ROCKS

[XZ3R0]

its Korn. how does that sound anything like linkin park?

[rabbitkillrun]

The cd in the second last step is linkin park...