How to bring your Apple Pro Speakers Back To Life!

[bluerecap]

Very very nice thanks......

 

[boumbo]

Hi,
there is another solution to use apple pro speakers on new macs,
thare is no need to cut the original cable execpt to change the end jack with a standard stereo jack.
i do it for me and have connect the apple pro speakers on a basic leipai amplifier, it works fine.
the trick is that apple had a identification chip in the white "Y" circle in the cable, so if you only change the end jack, it will not work.
So open the white "Y" circle desolder the chip and resolder correctly the wires ground cable with ground left speaker and ground right speaker ; right signal speaker with right signal cable ; left signal speaker with left signal cable (use a multimeter to determine each cables).
i am sorry, i have no pictures of this mod but it work fine and the only scar is the terminal jack.

you can find the detail of the mod here:

http://www.aqua-soft.org/forum/topic/908-using-apple-pro-speakers-on-a-pc/

Text:

Hi Ikarus,

Here are the detail of the mod.

Basically what needs to be done is to remove all cabling on the Pro Speakers from the Apple junction on back to the Apple mini-plug.

The Apple junction I am refering it is the white plastic circle with the Apple logo on it.

Apple was quite slick in disabling the speakers for use with PC.

The Apple junction contains a gateway chip that detects a signal from an iMac, Power Mac etc, identifying what sort of system is attached to it.

If the gateway chip doesn't receive a signal/ID that it can identify, it will *not* allow an audio signal to be passed on to the Pro Speakers.

So...

Parts needed:

1 x Standard stereo Y cable with a standard mini plug attached.
1 x Pair of wirecutters/strippers
1 x Roll of electrical tape

The operation:

Step 1. Using the wirecutters, remove the Apple junction and *all* cabling behind it, including the Apple mini-plug. Please don't worry, this is safe.

Step 2. Strip about 1 inch of insulation from each cable that remains attached to the Apple Pro Speakers. Do the same to the stereo Y cable we purchased.

Step 3. Inside each cable, one will notice a pair of wires. Strip about 1/2 inch of insulation from each wire. Do the same to the stereo Y cable.

Step 4. Join each wire from the Apple Pro Speaker stereo pair to it's compliment on the stereo Y cable. Anyone thathas done wiring of a home stereo system will have no problem recognizing what to do from here on out.

Step 5. Tape of each join securly, or solder if one likes and then tape up each joint. Also, heat sealing joiners can be used as well.
I used electrical tape myself, but I may go back and get heat seals as they look nicer.

Step 6. Insert stereo mini plug into the audio output of choice an enjoy!

Ikarus, amplified headphone output *may* be enough to drive the Apple Pro Speakers but I'm not 100% sure on that one.

The speakers can handle up to 9 watts RMS each, so you may want to get a little stereo amp to sit between them and whatever line level out you plan to use.

I plan on building an amp for them myself when I get time. I have seen some in kit form advertised for around $20US.


All the best,
Grusic

 

[MrDaniel]

THERE'S ANOTHER WAY!

I realize it might be late for some people, but I created a video explaining how to get the Apple G4 USB Cube Speakers to work with new Macbooks/Macs without dismantling them. Check the link before you go anywhere else!

Hope this helps!

How To Use Pro Speakers: