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  • Speaker Wire to 3.5mm Jack

    I've got a really old stereo system that is pretty much on it's last legs and I'm getting rid of, but it's got a pair of really decent speakers. The problem is, these speakers are the kind that have a red/black wire coming out of them, the kind you connect to clamps in the back of the stereo system. The only reason I'd have to keep these speakers is if I could convert the speaker wire into a 3.5mm jack that would get plugged into my laptop.

    That being said, does anyone here know exactly how I'd go about doing this? Is it as simple as cutting a pair of earphones open and then splicing the cables together, or is it something a bit more complicated?

    More importantly, does this have the potential to screw up my laptop, because if it does, I'll be tossing these speakers first thing tomorrow
    Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

    Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

  • #2
    speakers are very simple - there is a voice coil which drives the cone - the speaker impedence is important - 4, 8 or 16 ohms normally

    the wrong impedence can cause damage to the amp
    connecting a speaker to a jack is as simple as splicing the wires - try to get the polarity right it will sound better - but that won't cause damage itself if wrong - but incorrect impedance could damage a PC sound card
    sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
    If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

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    • #3
      Get together with gunnut and test it out on his Win 98 machine...
      I enjoy being wrong too much to change my mind.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by USSWisconsin View Post
        speakers are very simple - there is a voice coil which drives the cone - the speaker impedence is important - 4, 8 or 16 ohms normally

        the wrong impedence can cause damage to the amp
        connecting a speaker to a jack is as simple as splicing the wires - try to get the polarity right it will sound better - but that won't cause damage itself if wrong - but incorrect impedance could damage a PC sound card
        Nothing to add there, except that at the time there were adapters - jack on the one end, black and red slots on the other. Not sure if you can find any at the moment.
        No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

        To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

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        • #5
          So, yeah, first tried splicing the cables to a regular earphone cable. No joy. Then I took an RCA/3.5mm converter cable and tried splicing the speaker cables to that. Still no dice. Finally I took 4 RCA cables (2 per speaker), spliced those on, spliced those together onto the RCA/3.5mm converter cable and plugged it into my laptop. I finally managed to get some buzz out of the speakers, but apparently they don't have an internal amp and my laptop is not powerful enough to power these speakers. I can understand where gunnut is coming from now, it was kinda fun, though in the end I just put the entire system out on the curb, an hour later it was gone
          Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

          Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by bigross86 View Post
            So, yeah, first tried splicing the cables to a regular earphone cable. No joy. Then I took an RCA/3.5mm converter cable and tried splicing the speaker cables to that. Still no dice. Finally I took 4 RCA cables (2 per speaker), spliced those on, spliced those together onto the RCA/3.5mm converter cable and plugged it into my laptop. I finally managed to get some buzz out of the speakers, but apparently they don't have an internal amp and my laptop is not powerful enough to power these speakers. I can understand where gunnut is coming from now, it was kinda fun, though in the end I just put the entire system out on the curb, an hour later it was gone
            This is what happens when you let a tankie boy do fine electronics :)
            No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

            To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

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            • #7
              I blow stuff up or talk people to sleep, I don't do fine electronics
              Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

              Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

              Comment


              • #8
                :insane:Parihaka shudders at the state of youth whence someone should actually not understand the nature of a closed circuit and then try to connect high impedance speakers direct to a phone jack. If anyone else should be so foolish but less foolish by realising they need to put a suitable amp in the circuit, remember to keep the volume output on the computer below half volume or you'll blow the preamp in your amplifier.

                :Shudders::insane:
                In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                Leibniz

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                • #9
                  bigross, how big are these speakers? Does your laptop's earphone jack have enough power to drive them? That's the first thing I want to know.
                  "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Parihaka View Post
                    :insane:Parihaka shudders at the state of youth whence someone should actually not understand the nature of a closed circuit and then try to connect high impedance speakers direct to a phone jack. If anyone else should be so foolish but less foolish by realising they need to put a suitable amp in the circuit, remember to keep the volume output on the computer below half volume or you'll blow the preamp in your amplifier.

                    :Shudders::insane:
                    I shudder at the state of aging men that grew up with this technology all around them and work with said technology and still don't know that a 3.5mm jack has nothing to do with phones...
                    Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                    Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by gunnut View Post
                      bigross, how big are these speakers? Does your laptop's earphone jack have enough power to drive them? That's the first thing I want to know.
                      The speakers were about a 15 inches tall, 10 inches wide/deep. My laptop was not powerful enough to get them to emit more than a soft buzz
                      Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                      Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by bigross86 View Post
                        I shudder at the state of aging men that grew up with this technology all around them and work with said technology and still don't know that a 3.5mm jack has nothing to do with phones...
                        Ben, hint, mobile phones, speakers, earphones ;)
                        No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

                        To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          He said a phone jack. I don't know of a phone that uses a 3.5mm jack for anything other than earphones, and that is clearly not what Pari meant
                          Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                          Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by bigross86 View Post
                            I shudder at the state of aging men that grew up with this technology all around them and work with said technology and still don't know that a 3.5mm jack has nothing to do with phones...
                            :SIGHS: :MUTTERSABOUTYOUTHOFTODAY: :SHAKESHEADSADLYABOUTSTATEOFU.S.EDUCATION:

                            Phone jack may refer to:

                            Telephone plug, used to connect a telephone to the telephone wiring in a home or business, and in turn to a local telephone network
                            TRS connector, an audio jack, jack plug, stereo plug, mini-jack, mini-stereo, or headphone/phone jack
                            Named phone jack of course because
                            In the original application in manual telephone exchanges, many different configurations of 1/4″ jack plug were used, some accommodating five or more conductors, with several tip profiles. Of these many varieties, only the two-conductor version with a rounded tip profile was compatible between different manufacturers, and this was the design that was at first adopted for use with microphones, electric guitars, headphones, loudspeakers, and many other items of audio equipment.


                            and yes, before you ask I am that old :)
                            In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                            Leibniz

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                            • #15
                              You're gonna have to excuse our Benny here...

                              it was the US that spawn him....but Israel is stuck with him, so I don't feel THAT bad.

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