How to Mod Sony Ericsson Speakers to Work With an IPod.

Intro: How to Mod Sony Ericsson Speakers to Work With an IPod.

In this instructable I will be showing you how to mod a pair of Sony Ericsson Speakers to work with iPods, MP3's or anything that has a headphone socket!

This is my first instructable so I hope you like it!

Equipment:
Any cable with a 2.5mm jack on the end
Pair of Sony Ericsson speakers (I used the MPS-60)
Scissors (or wire strippers)
Electrical Tape
A lighter or matches.
Soldering iron (optional)
Sound output.

I would like to mention at this point that this instructable was produced a long time ago now, my skills are far superior to those displayed within the instructable. I might later upload an instructable relating to small portable speakers with a built in amp (3v button cell maybe?)

STEP 1: Cutting the Speakers

This step can be done either with a screwdigger or with a T screwdriver (buy a whole set, they come in useful and I don't know what size.)

Unscrew the casing for the speakers, and cut the wires connecting them to the PCB (I believe this is an Amp, so I'd recommend you buy a small Amp later.)

Now get your scissors and and carefully strip the insulation from the outside of thecable leading to the speaker, make sure not to cut the cable, then cut the inner part of the insulation and seperate the two, now stripped, wires. (Note: this can be done much better with wire cutters or a stanley knife.)

STEP 2: Getting the Jack.

First make sure its 2.5mm (most headphones use 2.5mm these days), then simply cut the wire at the required distance, and strip the insulation, if the wire on the inside is not coloured, skip this next section.

If the wires are coloured go and find a lighter, or matches and melt the enamel, careful not to burn the rest of the cable.

STEP 3: Connecting the Speaker to the Jack.

This is the hard part, and may take some experimenting, I do not know which cables need to connect to what, as each cable is different so just touch the wires together and put alot of pressure on them until the loudest sound (note: this step requires there to be an output going through the cable)

Once you have found which cable goes to what decide how you are going to connect them together: Soldering (neater and more reliable) or simple electrical tape (quicker).

Soldering:
for this i'm assuming you already know how to use a soldering iron.
While the iron is heating up, connect the wires together and test that connection to make sure it works, once the iron has heated up, just do a quick joint on each connection and leave it, and the iron, to cool.
Once they have cooled use your electrical tape to separate the two before taping the now insulated wires together.

Electrical tape:
put as much pressure as you can on the wires whilst taping them together, make sure each of the three wires are seperate and that the speaker is connected to at least two and sound IS coming out. This can be reversed if it doesn't work.

STEP 4: Results.

You should now be able to plug your speaker (or speakers depending on how you connected it) into an output and play your music!

I now recommend you go and buy a small, battery operated, headphone amplifier to get louder sound from the speakers.

Comments

[mrodríguez22]

Hi, I didn't open the speakers I just cut the cable of the speaker in which I found blue, green, red, black and gold wires. I connected the blue and green wires to a jack from a headphones and the black and red to a usb cable (the one who comes for data transfer with the phone).Usb cable=5v , the power that the amp needs=5v. I want to improve my laptop audio which is so low. I though my idea was going to work just fine but it didn't, I just don't know why :S

[UrvinS]

Hey Bro, this will not work if you do not use the circuit provided, as it is an amplifier to enhance the sound.

[Archie_UmeshNair]

See attached image for exact pinouts....

For more details / information refer to the tutorial at the link below;
http://suhastech.com/stereo-input-port-for-the-sony-ericsson-portable-speakers-ipod-headphone/

[C00K13]

what enamel??

[C00K13]

what do i do if i have a wire that is part black part greenBlue stuff??

[Yamahard]

Thanks heaps bro, took me all of about quarter of an hour slowly and peacefully constructing. Havent soldered it yet cause I need to by one (but yes I've used them heaps before, and I have the scars to proove it :D ).
And the enjoyment I have been getting from the so far is astronomical.

Notes from my build:
My jack for the input only has 2 cables which makes it so easy, and I have tested both speakers (aswell as together). Next step is to solder, then win the ladies over with my awesome portable speakers :)

[aricooperdavis]

Hi!
I like this instructable but could you tell me - Are you connecting the 'three coloured wires' to two connections on your jack? Do you actually use your earthing/negative wire?

[aricooperdavis]

Hi,
Dont worry about that question - I worked it out!
This is a really handy instructable, so thanks. I would never have thought that the speakers would even work without the amp bit,
Thanks again!!

[Joe Martin]

Very good, Although if you kept the ap they would of been A lot louder (and trust me, the walkman one's are)

If you still have it and wanna try it heres a pinout for the connector here, note that is the connector for the phone so it will need to be reversed for the amp.

The amp needs 5V (From memory) to run, supply this into pin 11 and the get audio in I believe you need 2 & 8.

[xAxrules]

Big problem with that idea. I broke the connector off.

[xAxrules]

i was thinking of doing a amp out of an old tape player to boost the signal, there are a couple of instructables on that.