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MacPro 1,1 better speaker replacement?? + Love song about MacPro

Lesser Evets

Lesser Evets

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jan 7, 2006
3,527
1,295
I busted out my old MacPro 1,1 tower from 2006 and have been enjoying using it again. However, I wanted to replace the speaker with something better so it was all-in-one with fairly good sound.

Anyone run across a way to do this and what hardware would be optimal??

I'm surprised no one tried using a better speaker!! It's so tinny and I hate having attachments and peripherals around this thing so it is easy to put away and bring out.
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As per the MacPro 1,1... I purchased it new and with a CS3 suite and 30"ACD. In 2011 I replaced the 2.66 processors with the top-speed 1.87s and upped ram, maxed out the video card, etc.

In 2013 they pretty much stopped supporting it, so I packed it away and got an i7 MacMini in late 2013.

Last week I found CS3 only partially works with the new OSX, and so I wanted to go back to using it (it's a great suit of programs and I hate the "rental" idea of modern Adobe programs). The ACD was dead-dead-dead, so that was trashed. However, the MacPro functions perfectly.

I installed an SSD for the main drive and it is kicking. Installed Snow Leopard and then came forward to Lion.

My point: I discovered that I MISSED THIS THING! It's a brilliant design. Apple was insane to discard this for the trash can!! I love all the drive compartments and all the slots and... EVERYTHING. It's damn heavy, granted, but it is a brilliant design!!

Point II: MAN I MISS THE OLDER OSX SOFTWARE! OSX was so good around Lion. I miss SPACES, but the rest of it is wonderful. This Jobs-era stuff was so good. Nowadays the OSX-freebie Apple software is generally convoluted and weird--it isn't as snappy or user-friendly as this older stuff.

Why'd they drop Safari support?? I have to use Chrome on this thing!

Anyway, I'm typing from the old computer now, because I like it better than the newer computer. There are some applications I can only use on the newer computer, and there are some speed benefits with the i7 MacMini from 2012. Overall, the experience with the MacPro is far better, including CS3 work.

I love it. It'll be a legacy computer-software suite for me for another 5+ years, I think. Apple needs to go back to its roots.
 
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CS3 has problems past osx10.7? i think maybe even osx10.6 (my copy is on a shelf in front of me collecting dust)
think it's partly java, been ages most apps worked mostly i think but some just fail (from memory of last time i used it).

for speaker just use external, i have mine plunged in to my sennheiser headphones or my hifi amp the internal one is just there too beep at boot.
or sound bars have relay become fashionable but dont know much about them.
 
orph said:
CS3 has problems past osx10.7? i think maybe even osx10.6 (my copy is on a shelf in front of me collecting dust)
think it's partly java,....
Click to expand...

I'm thinking back, but I remember CS3 working perfectly fine until about the time the 1,1 became "obsolete". Then there were troubles with exporting and printing in AI-CS3. With High Sierra, InDesign stopped completely! I use InDesign a lot, so that was a blow. AI/PS/Acrobat/DW still work, but they are buggy at times, especially in the user graphics.

I've already begun switching to ClipStudio for the PS/AI stuff, and I have to start experimenting to see if it can be a substitute for ID.

However, the point of the speaker was to NOT have an external. I have an old Beats Pill on the Mini, but I'd love to have the MacPro be upgraded so I get better sound (not premium obviously) without using peripherals.
 
>.< you can try but seems pointless trying to upgrade a small mono speaker to a better internal mono speaker when you can just get a sound bar or a display with speakers or plug in a real set of hifi speakers or studio monitors.
a sound bar may be the simplest way to get audio in a small space as it can be stuck under your display.

im not shore of the 1.1 speaker location but i think my 5.1 has it in the front fans so not something you can just swap out.

adobe CS3 was PPC coded and only CS4+ was intel tho maybe it's not to bad (not 100% on that been 10years?)

https://blog.conradchavez.com/2015/09/30/os-x-10-11-el-capitan-will-adobe-software-work/
found this site with info, last time i tried i had problems with illustrator or indesign crashing on opening of the app and you need to use the retro java installer.
think a few obscure things in Photoshop give a crash.

or just have a 10.6/7 boot drive for CS3 if you have real problems doing what you need, or transfer it to a windows version of cs3 or maybe a VM of 10.6?

and Safari is still being developed i got an update for safari recently and Firefox is nice too
 
i spent some time looking for a similar solution to improve the internal speaker in the mac pro. THere wasnt much info on the internet about Pimping the speaker so I just bought a small cube shaped Phillips bluetooth speaker, which has surprisingly good sound quality for £12 GBP from Amazon. It came with a usb charging cable and I have it plugged in to a spare usb port on the monitor, so I don't have to worry about recharging.
 
iv got some simple teac speakers, they sound much better and dont take up much room. (images is my set)
or amazon warehouse has some soundbars from good brands like Sony/Panasonic for under £90
412TAMqimcL.jpg
 
One benefit of the internal speakers is that they don’t require anything special and are pretty good for watching a quick Youtube video or something similar.
I can definitely see why the poster wants to upgrade or swap the stock speaker.
 
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