Giriş
The Apple Pro Speakers (made by harman kardon) are a great piece of technology. They were specially designed for the iMac G4 and the Power Mac G4 MDD (mirrored door drives) series. Those computers had a special connector which supplied both – an audio signal and power – to the speakers.
There are some guides which explain how to connect the speakers using a 3.5 mm jack, but this will never be a real solution as these speakers need to be driven by a real amp – and not the line-out of a computer or other audio device.
As Griffin iFire converters are expensive and hard to get, this guide relies on a class-d amp, which means that you can revive the speakers for about 40 US dollars.
Neye ihtiyacın var
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This image shows the complete setup with which you will end up. With a little bit of work you can soon enjoy the clear sound of true harman kardon speakers.
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Please note: This guide will destroy the original cable/connector which is used to connect the Apple Pro Speakers to an iMac, Power Mac or the Griffin iFire.
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Please also note that – as with every electronical repair or modification guide – you alone are responsible for your own health and the health of others. Also be aware that you alone are responsible for any damaged electronic equipment.
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Now you will need to find out the proper polarity of the speakers, i.e. which cable is negative (-) and which is positive (+).
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Unfortunately – at the time where I did this conversion – I did not photograph the cable colors. But there is an easy trick to find out the polarity:
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In this image you see two banana plugs and a AA battery. Just imagine these are two stripped wires from one of the speaker cables.
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Now connect one wire to the negative terminal (-) and the other to the positive terminal (+) of the AA battery.
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If the speaker cone bulges out (left image), you've got the proper polarity. You now know that the wire on the positive terminal of the AA battery is your "+" wire, i.e. it will connect with the "+" output of your amp.
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If the speaker cone moves in (right image), the polarity is reversed. You now know that the wire on the negative terminal of the AA battery would be your "+" wire, i.e. it will connect with the "+" output of your amp.
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You are almost done. Now properly connect the speaker cables/banana plugs with your amp. Connect your Mac or PC or some other audio device with the amp and enjoy your old new Apple Pro Speakers.
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Please note that the Apple Pro Speakers don't sound too loud, but that's by design. Still, their sound is very clean and detailed (on a class-d amp).
Noch eine Anmerkung:
Der Verstärker mit den Apple-Boxen eignet sich auch als Gitarren-AMP für den Schreibtisch zum Üben auf Zimmerlautstärke!
Effektgeräte haben i.d.R. einen 3,5 mm Klinkenausgang. Auch der direkte Gitarrenausgang sollte funktionieren, wenn mann das Klinkenkabel der Gtarre an einem Ende mit einem Adapter auf 3,5 mm Klinke versieht.
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48Kılavuz Yorumları
Good guide. I'm doing the same thing with a pair of these speakers, but I think I'll use new cables soldered to the speaker terminals.
One quibble though. I believe the correct term for the wire covering is "insulation", not isolation, and in step 9, you "insulate" the wires, rather than isolate.
Thanks chuck, I have corrected the wire covering term :)
rafael -
I just did this successfully, thanks for the writeup. :) For the record, these were the wire colors and polarities on the set I had:
Left speaker: Blue = negative, white = positive
Right speaker: Brown = negative, yellow = positive
But who knows whether that's consistent? Anyway I reinforced the connections with a combination of heat shrink tubing and Sugru, since the wires are so teensy, and got the exact amp used here from eBay for about $25. Nice to give these speakers a new lease on life. :)
Great to hear that :] It's a good thing to see some Pro Speakers getting revived!
rafael -
For the record, I had exactly the same colours and polarity.
Thanks for the great guide - my speakers are working perfectly again!
phwells -
Just to confirm that I had the same polarities.
Also, to add, here are the matching connector rings:
Tip: White, Left (+)
Ring 1: Blue, Left (-)
Ring 2: Brown, Right (-)
Ring 3: Yellow, Right (+)
Hiyel -
Thanks so much for the note on the speaker wires. I cut off the plug and stripped the cable from the connector, cut away the insulation and extraneous wires, stripped a half inch off the four key wires, and hooked it up to a Kinter K2020A+ amp. It is pretty simple project if you don’t try to put on thicker wires and banana plugs (unnecessary for this amp that has only spring clip connections). It's a really nice set up for computer sound — plenty loud for one person at a desk, but definitely not a set up to fill a big room with sound.
I have these speakers, plus the subwoofer designed to work with them. It attaches directly to the computer via USB cable and has its own power brick. Will I be able to use the subwoofer with these speakers after completing the project above?
This will most likely not work, as the USB Subwoofer has to be supported by your operating system. As far as I remember Apple stopped support for those USB subwoofers a long time ago and in addition to that they were only supported on few computers (like the second generation iMacs). Even if it would work, you'd have two separate volumes – one for the subwoofer and one on the Pro Speakers amp. It's a pity. Long ago I had an iMac "snow" in combination with this USB iSub and it sounded terrfic. What you could do is to disassemble the sub and connect the speaker directly with the amp where you also hook up the Pro Speakers, but this requires a little bit more technical insight and I would not recommend to do it.
rafael -
This completely worked for me. I used a Muse Audio M20 EX2 TA2020, which I ordered through Amazon (it shipped from China). The wire colors were the same for me as mentioned earlier: Left speaker: Blue = negative, white = positive, Right speaker: Brown = negative, yellow = positive. I've been holding onto these speakers for a long time, hoping there would be a way to use them again. Thanks for the guide, and for everyone's comments!
Hello,
Your post is amazing , thank you very much !
Your project has made me think of a more ambitious project since I have not used these beautiful speakers also the first Soundsticks and Subwoofer .
Is it possible that there is a type of amplifier that would connect the pair of Apple Pro Speakers (4 inputs) , Soundsticks another pair of Harman / Kardon (4 more inputs) and also Subwoofer Harman / Kardon (1 more input) . In all 5 pairs of inputs.
If so, can you tell me what kind of amplifier would be.
I hope you can help me and tell me whether to start , you think appropriate the project.
pefect, thanks a lot
man
Great guide, thanks a lot! I'm pretty amazed how great the speakers sound. Kudos to you!
I like the description given of how to connect the speakers to a small amp, and despite my extreme novice status, I think I can pull this off. One thing I'm not clear on, however, is the means by which to connect the amp to the source. (In my case, it'll be a Mid-2010 iMac.) Is this so simple it simply isn't mentioned? Help appreciated, as always. Thanks.
amps like this are usually connected to a computer by an RCA to headphones jack cable
rafael -
Sorry for this late post. Does anyone know the resistance of these speakers? Can I use it on my Kenwood 6-16 Ohm amplifier?
I've been storing these little speakers of mine for a decade, on the verge of throwing them away because I figured they were probably useless. This thread gives me hope that I can use these again!
I'm pretty good with electronics, but don't know what a class D or class T amp is exactly. Trying to figure out what to buy in Sweden that might work. Does this seem like the right kind of thing? https://www.kjell.com/se/sortiment/el-ve...
Do you have a link for that amplifier you used?
you can use any class D amp. the manufacturer “S. M. S. L” is recommended for good quality amps, but any will do.
rafael -
Thanks Rafael! You’re a life saver!!
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SO needed this as I was not prepared to give up on these speakers and wasn’t going to shell out ten times what they cost me for the Griffin iFire.
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About the speaker wire polarity and for future reference- one speaker has one blue and one white wire- the white one is the positive. The other speaker has one brown and one yellow with the yellow being the positive. Basically the paler ones are positives, the darker in the pair- negatives. You can see the pairs your set have at the back of the speakers due to the casings being clear.
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And I actually repurposed the single cable (the one post “white knob” with the plug) by cutting it in half and then isolating the redundant wires (red and black for power on both and either the blue/white set or the brown/yellow sets, depending on which speaker I was working on. This resulted in only the blue/white or the brown/yellow pair being matched all the way to the new plug ends. ;)
Thanks Rafael! You’re a life saver!!
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SO needed this as I was not prepared to give up on these speakers and wasn’t going to shell out ten times what they cost me for the Griffin iFire.
*
About the speaker wire polarity and for future reference- one speaker has one blue and one white wire- the white one is the positive. The other speaker has one brown and one yellow with the yellow being the positive. Basically the paler ones are positives, the darker in the pair- negatives. You can see the pairs your set have at the back of the speakers due to the casings being clear.
*
And I actually repurposed the single cable (the one post “white knob” with the plug) by cutting it in half and then isolating the redundant wires (red and black for power on both and either the blue/white set or the brown/yellow sets, depending on which speaker I was working on. This resulted in only the blue/white or the brown/yellow pair being matched all the way to the new plug ends. ;)
Thanks Rafael! You’re a life saver!!
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SO needed this as I was not prepared to give up on these speakers and wasn’t going to shell out ten times what they cost me for the adaptor (which shall remain nameless).
*
About the speaker wire polarity and for future reference- one speaker has one blue and one white wire- the white one is the positive. The other speaker has one brown and one yellow with the yellow being the positive. Basically the paler ones are positives, the darker in the pair- negatives. You can see the pairs your set have at the back of the speakers due to the casings being clear.
*
And I actually repurposed the single cable (the one post “white knob” with the plug) by cutting it in half and then isolating the redundant wires (red and black for power on both and either the blue/white set or the brown/yellow sets, depending on which speaker I was working on. This resulted in only the blue/white or the brown/yellow pair being matched all the way to the new plug ends. Perfect for someone as OCD as I am.
Fantastic…nice to have these speakers working again. Great guide. I picked up a cheap Lepy Class D amplifier off Amazon and it works well.
Long ago I sold my G4 tower which was the only computer i had that these speakers worked with. I was always curious about using these with my newer computers, glad i didn’t throw them out.
Richard
What if connect the speaker cables mentioned to computer’s headphone jack and use an old ipod’s ac power adaptor (that has firewire port for connection to ipod) to send power to the firewire cables (red /black) in the white knob?
George K.
Will this amp work? https://www.jameco.com/z/VMA408-Velleman... It’s not clear to me how much power these speakers actually require. Thanks!
Thanks!
Left speaker: Blue = negative, white = positive
Right speaker: Brown = negative, yellow = positive
I just cut it at the jack. My amp has spring loaded inputs. Kinter K3118 Texas Instruments TI Digital Hi-Fi Audio Mini Class D Home Auto DIY Arcade Stereo Amplifier with 12V 3A Power Supply Black
Sounds great. Glad I didn’t throw them away!
I have a question. I want to use my 2002 iMac speakers with my 2014 MacMini. You Recommended: class-d / class-t, at least 15 watts per channel, 4-8 ohm. Will this work?
Yes. Works great on my 2011 MacMini.
Good guide
I use a Bluetooth 5.0 Amplifier 2 Channel Stereo Amp Receiver Class D Amplifier with success
Thanks a lot
William
TA2020 are difficult to find in 2021. After many hours to search, I am using a “Nobsound NS-10G Pro” which is working really well.
This model doesn’t have a Knob volume control, so Audio sources needs to have their own volume control (iPhone, Android phone, MacOS, Windows…). It is really convenient as it avoids to play with 2 different volume controls !
Like the Original Apple Pro Speakers plugged on the iMac G4 : Only 1 volume control.
Fred
Be careful if you want to use the Audio out from a HDMI cable on Mac, as MacOS does’t control volume of HDMI devices. You may then need to buy an amplifier with Volume control such as the NS-01G or the NS-10G (not pro).
For example, I am using a HDMI connected Dell monitor with Jack output (not powered unfortunately, thus not suitable for headphones) : if I try to connect the monitor “jack out” to the amplifier “Jack in”, the Mac send __full__ volume (through HDMI cable), and this volume is NOT controlled by the OS !
An extension called MonitorControl (available for M1) is available on GitHub, but I don’t want to tweak the OS (and don’t know how to compile)
Fantastic! wow and wow! I just stole (just from work) a pair of theese and thought i could do a 2,5-3,5 mm. But no… So i gotta get through this. But first: Suggestions on affordable amps? I got my chromecast audio so i dont need BT or other fancy stuff. But i remote would be great - gess its hard to match that. But thanks!
I did it!!!!
Danke für diese Anleitung! Mein Klasse-D-Verstärker (https://www.amazon.de/dp/B096M5HJR5/ref=...) war zwar nicht so günstig, wie andere hier geschrieben haben, aber er funktioniert und die alten Schätzchen tun selbst nach fast 20 Jahren ihren Dienst. Der Sound gefällt mir beim 1.Mal besser als meine Bose Companion III am MacBook Air.
Lothar
PS: Und schwierig ist das Ganze auch nicht. Nur ein bißchen Löten - das wars.
what amp do you suggest?
We found 6of these, I plan to do this to them. Great tutorial.
Thanks a lot for this article. Everything is so perfectly explained, with so many pictures. It's was so easy to do it, even to find the proper polarity.
Merci beaucoup. :-) J'ai utilisé un excellent ampli, le modèle BT10A de Fosi Audio (https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B07KSWPCS4/?th=...). Cela m'a permis de remettre en fonction mes Apple Pro speakers qui dormaient dans un carton depuis plus de 10 ans.
