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Cheese Computer Speaker System

C

Cliff

Jan 1, 1970
0
Please don't ask me why but I would like to take the speaker output of my
sound card in my computer and connect a cheese speaker to it to be able to
get some sound. The volume and quality of the sound are not a real issue.



The type of speaker that I would like to use is something like the first
speaker on the list from the following link:

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=SK-232



My question is, could I just peel the cables coming out from the sound card
wire and connect it directly through the speaker or do I have to have to
build some kind of circuit between the wires and my cheese speaker for it to
work (I hope I don't bacause I have no clue on how to do it!!).



Thank you.
 
N

N. Thornton

Jan 1, 1970
0
Cliff said:
Please don't ask me why but I would like to take the speaker output of my
sound card in my computer and connect a cheese speaker to it to be able to
get some sound. The volume and quality of the sound are not a real issue.
The type of speaker that I would like to use is something like the first
speaker on the list from the following link:

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=SK-232
cheese??


My question is, could I just peel the cables coming out from the sound card
wire and connect it directly through the speaker or do I have to have to
build some kind of circuit between the wires and my cheese speaker for it to
work (I hope I don't bacause I have no clue on how to do it!!).


Hi. Depends on your sound card. Some will drive speakers, some wont.

Regards, NT
 
W

Walter Harley

Jan 1, 1970
0
N. Thornton said:
Hi. Depends on your sound card. Some will drive speakers, some wont.

Actually, since the speaker that the OP mentioned claims a 32 ohm impedance,
it can be driven from a headphone output. If the sound card will drive
headphones it'll be able to drive that speaker. (Probably not very loud,
though.)
 
P

Paul Burridge

Jan 1, 1970
0

Why not? Camenbert and Brie offer the best acoustical properties but
tend to go soft and smelly in the summer months. But we must all
suffer for our art and audiophiles are no exception.
 
W

Walter Harley

Jan 1, 1970
0
Cliff said:
Actually, I didn't mean that I was going to use that particular speaker; I
just used the link to show that I wanted to use a regular "plain" speaker
and not the typical speaker set they sell at a regular retail store such as:

http://www.kdcomputers.com/eui/prime/profile/239/58/component.htm

Would you mind if you tell me what are the specifications of a speaker that
I have to look for in order to accomplish what I want to do?

Generally speaking, silicon-based amplifiers (as opposed to vacuum tube
amps) have a minimum impedance they can drive; if the load has less
impedance than that, the amp tends to overheat and destroy itself or at
least shut down.

Headphones generally are around 32 to 100 ohms impedance, with some oddballs
being as low as 8 ohms (very unusual these days) or as high as 600 ohms
(only a few models). So, something rated to drive "headphones" can
generally handle loads of 32 ohms or more, but may not be able to go lower
than that safely.

Most "ordinary" speakers are rated at 8 ohms, with 4 ohms and 16 ohms also
being fairly common values. 32 ohms, like the speaker you showed, is
unusually high.

However, headphones are also MUCH more efficient than speakers, because
they're attached to your ears. So where 10mW is plenty to drive a headphone
to comfortable listening levels, you need around 100mW to get much volume
out of a little speaker like the one you showed. So, a "headphone" output
may not be able to produce enough power to drive speakers.

All this is only relevant if your soundcard does a headphone output and
doesn't have a speaker output. If it only has a line output, then you need
some sort of amplifier; if it has a speaker output, then it'll probably work
with whatever you plug into it. So maybe you should tell us more about your
sound card at this point.
 
W

Walter Harley

Jan 1, 1970
0
Cliff said:
What I am basically trying to do is to use a Mini-ITX motherboard:

http://www.viavpsd.com/product/epia_mini_itx_spec.jsp?motherboardId=21

and use the built in sound card jacks to get sound out of it. I don't need
high fidelity or high volumes in the application that I am building, that is
why I thought I could save my self some hassle and do something like a
motherboard/speaker direct connection.

It says it has a "line out." That generally means that it does not have
enough power to drive headphones or speakers; it needs to be plugged into
some sort of amplifier.
If you think is not possible to do what I want to do, do you know if they
sell some kind of already build circuit that will boost the signal to be
able to go from the sound card to a speaker?

You can either buy powered speakers (which are a combination of a speaker
and an amplifer in the same box), or you can buy a separate amplifier and
hook it up to your speakers.

"Line out" is like what comes out of, say, the audio output of a cassette
deck or a DVD player. (Or any other home hifi component.) You can plug
that line out into the input of anything that you could plug a cassette deck
or DVD player into. If you've got a boombox with an auxiliary input, that
would work. If you've got a spare input on your home hifi, that would work.
You can also find small low-power marginally-okay-sounding audio amplifiers
in kit or ready-assembled form; Google for "audio amplifier kit" or even
"audio amplifier kiosk kit". Try to find one that has power commensurate
with the speakers you intend to use (e.g., if you use 0.5W speakers, try to
find an amp that's between 0.25W and 1W).
 
C

Cliff

Jan 1, 1970
0
Thanks Warter, that was some great info, I appreciate it.



Thanks again.
 
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