So I have an old pair of Apple G4 speakers that I stripped the wire to and reattached a 3.5 mm male stereo plug. The speakers work when I plug them into my mbpr (newest one) although there is obviously not enough power to drive them very loud at all. I am looking for a small amp that runs on 110V AC and has an input and output port for a 3.5 mm jack. Any ideas?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Amp for Apple G4 speakers
- Thread starter aburns
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
using an amp ect to power such small speakers isnt recommended dude, especially amping them.
Just buy a set of cheap logitechs ect. 100% less hassle and you wont blow your drivers. Probably cheaper too. Not to mention better sound. They will probably just play nothing but distortion if you amp them up anymore.
Edit: Actually, a regular headphone amp might work, but it will just sound like rubbish, do not do this.
Buy some new speakers.
Just buy a set of cheap logitechs ect. 100% less hassle and you wont blow your drivers. Probably cheaper too. Not to mention better sound. They will probably just play nothing but distortion if you amp them up anymore.
Edit: Actually, a regular headphone amp might work, but it will just sound like rubbish, do not do this.
Buy some new speakers.
Last edited:
A few years ago there was the Griffin iFire:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/support/ifire/
It has been discontinued for some years. Perhaps you can find a used one on ebay for an acceptable price.
But to be honest, I second krisoshas advice. Buying a new set of speakers is probably cheaper than getting an amp. In Europe the ifire is quite rare and expensive on ebay. And even with the ifire, you still have bad sounding speakers which lack any kind of bass range.
http://www.griffintechnology.com/support/ifire/
It has been discontinued for some years. Perhaps you can find a used one on ebay for an acceptable price.
But to be honest, I second krisoshas advice. Buying a new set of speakers is probably cheaper than getting an amp. In Europe the ifire is quite rare and expensive on ebay. And even with the ifire, you still have bad sounding speakers which lack any kind of bass range.
Just buy one of these. You can get it at Parts Express. Excellent little amp. I have it powering a pair of AudioEngine P4 monitors. $79.00! Of course if going to do that you may as well buy some good speakers. These Dayton Audio B 625's are very good sounding, and will blow away any powered system you could buy accept AudioEngine products. These are also available at Parts Express.
Attachments
Last edited:
Here's the Dayton Audio B625's $40.00 a pair!
You will also need one of these adapters 1/8" to RCA then buy RCA leads.
This combo will give you very high quality sound for a small investment of about $120.00 plus the cables.
You will also need one of these adapters 1/8" to RCA then buy RCA leads.
This combo will give you very high quality sound for a small investment of about $120.00 plus the cables.
Attachments
Last edited:
iFixit has article
iFixit has an article on converting the Pro speakers for use with a normal amplifier. You've already done the conversion but the other recommendation is to use a small class D amplifier. The article also says that you're not going to get much volume out of them.
The article title is:
"Using Apple Pro Speakers with a class-d amplifier"
Most of the electronics hobbyist sites carry class D kits but you could also try looking for the pre-assembled version. Use one of the brick type power supplies.
BUT as others have said new speakers would be a better sounding option. I only use mine for beeps, alerts and the like.
Just looked at Parts Express and found an amp with power supply, remote, USB / SD player, FM tuner for $26. It's about same price without all the whiz-bangs and is only $5 less without power supply.
Lepai Digital 2x15W Mini Amplifier with Remote USB MP3 SD FM
iFixit has an article on converting the Pro speakers for use with a normal amplifier. You've already done the conversion but the other recommendation is to use a small class D amplifier. The article also says that you're not going to get much volume out of them.
The article title is:
"Using Apple Pro Speakers with a class-d amplifier"
Most of the electronics hobbyist sites carry class D kits but you could also try looking for the pre-assembled version. Use one of the brick type power supplies.
BUT as others have said new speakers would be a better sounding option. I only use mine for beeps, alerts and the like.
Just looked at Parts Express and found an amp with power supply, remote, USB / SD player, FM tuner for $26. It's about same price without all the whiz-bangs and is only $5 less without power supply.
Lepai Digital 2x15W Mini Amplifier with Remote USB MP3 SD FM
Last edited: