Add Beat Lamps to Your Portable Speakers or Pc Speaker...

by npa4863

9.3K2020

Intro: Add Beat Lamps to Your Portable Speakers or Pc Speaker...

have you ever wanted your some what small portable audio speakers or pc speakers to look like the same as if you were at the club??? well in this instructable il show you how to get your speaks wid the the site and sound of the club...

STEP 1: What You Will Need...

you need...
2X 12v LEDs (or more if you like(any color))(if you like you music really loud you will need to put in some resistors or higher voltage led's)
2X led holders (only needed if you are mounting them to the speaker housing(requires drilling if you go this way))
1X spool of wire (any color(its not complicated so you only need one))
I recommend heat shrinking the connections
oh ya and a set of speakers

tools you will need...
soldering gun and solder
drill and bit (if your mounting them in the speaker housing)
screw driver (to take your speakers apart)

STEP 2: Open Up Your Speak's

step one open up your speak's...

most portable and PC speakers have screws in the back to hold the two plastic peaces together... remove these screws. some times they will have screws hiding under the stickers and battery cover... also they may have glued the edges together (thats what happened with my portable set)

STEP 3: Mounting and Solder Your Leds In

1.A-if you are mounting the LEDs in the housing (plastic out side) of the speakers this is when you drill the hole(s) for were you what your lights... (do this first before soldering)

1.B-if your not mounting them inside the housing(plastic out side) you can run the wire to the top of your speaker and glue the led to the top...

2.take your 12v LEDs and solder wire extensions to them, the length of the wire will depend on were you are putting you LEDs...

you should heat shrink the connections from led to wire, remember one heat shrink tube per wire connection, if you don't you WILL short out your speakers... use your soldering iron to shrink the tubing but don't touch it with the iron.

3. solder your newly extended wires and LEDs right to the largest speaker's terminals(dose not matter on polarity)


be sure to check the schematic below (it aint hard to read)

STEP 4: Reassemble

now rechecks all of your connections, if there good then you can go a head and close it up and re install the screws in your new speak's...

STEP 5: TIME TO TEST THEM OUT!!!

its time to fire up you new speak's... for the best results pick a song with the most bass and play it...

remember if you like you music really loud you will need to put in some resistors or higher voltage LED's, so if your lights look like there going full power then turn it down before you burn out you LED's


hope you like my 1st instructable... plz comment on how I did, and if you have questions

20 Comments

nerdyidiot1 14 years ago

for say a portable radio would it be possible to attach different collour LEDs to the speakers and to the BASE so you get two seperate led rythms...

npa4863 14 years ago

you could have one (or 2) led for the main speaker and one for the tweeter and the lights will light whenever the tweeter has enough power to power both the teeter and led... but if its a one speaker radio then no you cant easily do that.... how portable is portable??? is it like a small battery one or is it bigger??? cuz if it is a small battery one you may want to get a lower voltage led unless you plan on really putting out some sound then the 12v leds will do good... with my set i can crank it all the way and not have them blow (as seen on video) and I'm running 2 12v red leds (color don't matter)

hg341 14 years ago

i have a 60 watt base i think ill do this when i get the money

npa4863 14 years ago

careful i havent tested equipment like that.... your going to want a bigger light for and some resistors... i don't know how to wire that up but i think that's what youl need... good luck... P.S. not to scare you or any thing but remember I'm not responsible for damaged equipment or any thing like that...

hg341 14 years ago

yea know I was not planing on taping any wires at all you know the wires will make em fildes

npa4863 14 years ago

i see kinda... but that's way over my head to help with... well i don't know the speaker's voice coils and wires can be touchy, in my mom's car we had some place put a new radio in and now every time you turn the left turn signal on the radio statics to the flash... but again I'm not a pro, i jest found some thing that works in a small scale. but i have some electrical and lots of mechanical experience...

hg341 14 years ago

well im going in to electrical engineering so i should be good thanks though

npa4863 14 years ago

ya I'm more of an auto repair person my self.... i wish i could be more help but i have no clue how with out tapping into those wires... well actually you could make a smaller battery (or other low voltage) powered amp put a mic. on it and remove the speaker and install an led in its place... it may work, but its just an idea... my electrical skills vary by what I'm doing, here's a scale of 1-10 of them, speakers 7, mic.'s 3, relays 8.5, basic skills 9.5, intermediate 5.5, expert skills like 4, led's 9, resistors and capacitors 2.5.......

marselsipod 14 years ago

it will blow the LEDS if you dont have resistors

npa4863 14 years ago

keep in mind this is designed too work with portable and pc speakers only... resistors arnt required mine work fine im using the 12V leds with my portable... if the 12v's burn out try using a higher power led... but if your using that much power any way you would want bigger lights any way instead of these small ones...

marselsipod 14 years ago

oh.. I have some small pc spakers with no tweeter so i took it apart and it turns out it's 8V... I only have some high power 3v so yeah.

npa4863 14 years ago

its better to use alittle higher voltage leds for speackers... with higher vol. theres more curent going throuh it....

Tanyabear 15 years ago

i dont know much about sterio but i do know that this circuit is potentially destructive ...do not use on expensive equipment as the resistance this creates is similar to a short curcuit and screws with the ohms, you will damage your sterio.......

npa4863 15 years ago

i dont think pc speackers or some portable speackers are "expensive equipment" most are under $20... i installed these in my portable set and its been doing great so far i picked them up for $15

wo2man 15 years ago

Yea i dont work....

npa4863 15 years ago

il be shur to add more pic.s today....

isacco 15 years ago

The instructions are clear and the final result (video clip) is nice, but some pictures would be welcome by the "Instructable" community