I replaced the speaker in my blue and white G3

[capa150]

Original speaker is an oval 70x40mm Regal brand 8ohm 2-watt.
Was extremely quiet and distorted.
I replaced it with a new oval HP Internal Computer Speaker 1.5W 40mm x 70mm 629783-001 speaker. I bought it from Prime Electronics on ebay (https://www.ebay.com/str/primeelectroniccomponents ) Quick solder job.

Check out the before and after boot chime in this mp3 link. The first chime is with the original speaker and the second with the new speaker. I edited to two chimes back-to-back in Audacity: boot chimes mp3.

 

[volvo242gt]

Yeah, sounds more like a G4 Digital Audio. Big improvement. My old B&W was like yours and also like my old Mac Pro. Might be a worthy upgrade for the A1186 and A1289 Mac Pros as well.

 

[AeSix]

Hey! Thank you for posting this, @capa150 !
I was going to buy a new speaker (I've been looking around for 2 days now) - read this, and went looking....

long story short, I have an old 50" LCD TV in parts (screen is dead), but I got looking, and the speakers were connected with the same connector as the speaker in my Performa 640CD... so... I did the only thing I know how to do with mid-late 90s machines... I Plug-n-pray'd!

It's working well! Sounds a LOT better!

And since it's a pair of speakers, that's prompted me to look into a synthetic stereo mod - something I want to do for my NES as well... it won't be true stereo, but it should make the startup chime sound even more clean!

 

[Phipli]

@AeSix @capa150

Just to warn people here the HP 629783-001 speaker is a 4ohm speaker. It will be drawing approximately double the current of the stock 8ohm speaker.

This is likely out of specification and may kill the audio circuit. And the 1.5W speaker, which is being driven at approximately 4W in this setup!

Its best to replace speakers like for like.

A 4ohm, 1 watt resistor in line with the speaker will protect the computer, but will also reduce the volume. An 8ohm, 2W speaker is your best bet.

 

[AeSix]

Ahh good to know! Thank you!
*scrambles to disconnect tv speakers before bad things happen*

 

[Phipli]

Ahh good to know! Thank you!
*scrambles to disconnect tv speakers before bad things happen*

You just want to check how many ohms it is. It usually says it on the magnet, but you can approximately measure it with a multimeter set to resistance over the terminals with it not in a circuit.

Its safe if it is 8 or more ohms

The HP one isn't!

 

[capa150]

Hrm what if I keep the volume very low?

 

[capa150]

"A 4ohm, 1 watt resistor"
So wire that in like:

(+)---(resistor)---speaker
(-)-----------------|



I know essentially nothing about electronic circuits ... (obviously) XD

 

[Phipli]

"A 4ohm, 1 watt resistor"
So wire that in like:

(+)---(resistor)---speaker
(-)-----------------|



I know essentially nothing about electronic circuits ... (obviously) XDView attachment 59896

Yeah, like that make sure it doesn't short on anything. Perhaps use some heat shrink to cover the resistor.

 

[AeSix]

You just want to check how many ohms it is. It usually says it on the magnet, but you can approximately measure it with a multimeter set to resistance over the terminals with it not in a circuit.

Its safe if it is 8 or more ohms

The HP one isn't!

8ohms, 10w. I assume that means the speakers are OK for up to 10w?

I've got an electronics kit coming to separate out frequencies in two sets of 3, sending every other one to each L and R channels. Won't be here for a month though. Glad these speakers are good to use (even though I'm only using 1 of the set right now) - going to be interesting to hear the startup chime in split freq dual-mono



@capa150 if you have a plastic straw and no heatshrink available, you can use a piece of straw, and hover the soldering iron over it - close but don't touch! For low volt, low current DC, it'll be fine, straws aren't rated for AC or high voltage though! It's a trick an old timer taught me when I was learning to solder back in the 90s. Good enough for stuff like this. Just make sure you don't have any poky bits sticking through it.

 

[Phipli]

8ohms, 10w. I assume that means the speakers are OK for up to 10w?

Yeah, that's fine

 

[capa150]

BEHOLD MY ELITE SKILLS!
(Vishay Wirewound Resistor, 4 Ohm, 1W, 5% - CW0014R000JE70)
Mac sounds good still with the resistor in place.
I decided not to put the heat shrink on the resistor itself as a way to help it keep cool. But I covered the solder joint on the wire. I have no clue if this was a sensible decision or not. Seems like since it "resists" current it could potentially become hot if sound was played loudly for a long enough period of time. Thanks for the tip!