Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with speaker

Looking for an affordable USB amplifier.

primer_dimer — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:13:04 -0800

Looking for an affordable ($100) USB amplifier. I've switched over to digital for all my music; currently I use an external sound card (I think it's a "Xitel hi-fi link") to a phono input on my amp, which drives a pair of reasonable bookshelf speakers. I'm pretty happy with the sound quality, but the amp is on its last legs and I'd like to replace it.

I assumed that by now it would be possible to buy an amplifier with a USB input which could drive my speakers (i.e. doing the job of both the USB soundcard and amp). Just a box with USB input, speaker cable output and a volume knob. Or even without a volume knob!

But all I can find are audiophile products like this. Anyone know of a cheaper (£70/$100) version of this? Or is the market at this price point served by USB speakers?

What could a genius say that would change a monster to a saint?

flowerofhighrank — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:34:07 -0800

If a female motivational speaker delivered the equivalent of Henry's Eve of Saint Crispin's Day speech, if she could make a monster renounce evil- what would that sound like? I'm writing a screenplay. One of the characters is a motivational speaker and her words help a bad man change. I'm hitting the books and doing the research...but can any of you offer suggestions? Of speakers you like, of quotes or paraphrases of their most effective work? I've been so busy writing the monster, I haven't had a chance to concentrate on the lady.

One never properly hears a snowplow, maaaaaan.

unixrat — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:30:58 -0800

I sleep with the window open during the summertime to hear the sounds of my small town. Now that fall is here and winter is coming, it would be awesome to be able to do this even with the window closed. So it seems like I'd need a hardy (Minnesota winters) microphone on the outside ledge and a small speaker on the windowsill. Or [insert better idea here]? If you know of the right hardware to do this, please mention.

Also, you can probably assume that I'm a total microphone/speaker noob. I've got a budget of $500 for this project - I'd really like this to happen.

Speaker Output of Amp A to RCA Input of Amp B

forallmankind — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:35:06 -0800

Is there any way I can take the speaker output from underpowered combo CD/ amp A and run it into the RCA input of power amp B? If not, what is the difference between what is running out of a speaker output vs what is running out of an RCA output?

They paid, now should I?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:51:56 -0800

Can I expense these plane tickets or should I pay for them myself? I traveled to a conference tangentially related to my job to give a speech to the attendees. The organizers paid for my hotel room and offered meals as part of the conference.

I combined the trip to the conference with a trip to one of our corporate offices that was in a nearby city as I was due to visit that office anyway, and it made the most of a cross-country trip, while adding only a tiny amount in additional fees for the short hop flight between the two.

The airline tickets were not covered by the conference, but I planned to expense them since a) it was my boss who suggested I attend the conference and b) the trip involved the office visit, as well.

Upon opening the thank you card from the conference organizers, I discovered an unexpected and quite large honorarium. It would cover my airfare 4 times over.

So, should I use the honorarium to pay for the plane tickets? Expense them anyway?

I have a feeling there's a 'Duh' answer to this question, but I can't figure out if it's 'Duh, of course your company will pay for the plane tickets, they sent you to the conference, and the honorarium is for you, you, you!' or 'Duh, it would be totally unethical for you to expect your employer to pay for your plane tickets, that's what the honorarium is for!' because I've never done anything like this before. If the answer is 'ask your boss', I'll do that, but if there's a totally 'duh' answer, I don't want to look like an idiot by asking.

Speaker Cables?

god particle — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:00:46 -0800

I have a Sonic Impact T-Amp 2 that works really well but I'm wondering what kind of cables I'm supposed to get for it. I don't know much about sound systems, so I don't know exactly what kind of cables I need to plug into the amp. Right now I have a pair of banana-plug cables that plug fine into my speakers, but on the amp end I had to cut off the plugs and basically shove the raw exposed copper cable into the amp. The problem is the cable is too thick to fit in properly and I have a lot of connection problems with the sound cutting out. It frequently requires me messing around with cables until the sound starts working again (which is really frustrating in the middle of a party). So what sort of cables should I be looking for?

Here's what the back looks like.

How to unfxor a Verizon ENV2 cell phone?

de void — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:26:39 -0800

What demon has possessed my girlfriend's Verizon ENV2 (AKA LG VX9011) and reduced it to a mostly deaf and mute state? How do we exorcise this malevolent presence? GF carried her phone and a laptop in a large tote bag while traveling this weekend. When she next used it after taking it out of the tote bag, she found she was unable to hear anything when making calls and callers were unable to hear her. We suspect that the laptop jostled into the cell phone and pressed lots of keys and set the phone into whatever "condition" it is in now.

So, here's the current condition:

- Her phone displays, both inside and outside, are fine. All keys/buttons seem to work normally.

- She can make and receive calls, but hears absolutely nothing when either the front or internal speakers (not even rings), and call recipients hear nothing from her phone.

- If she goes into ring settings and asks the phone to play a ringtone, the display will show the ringtone playing, but nothing is audible from the speakers.

- The "speaker" button on the inside of the phone, which normally turns the speakerphone on and off, now does nothing. However, the phone is recognizing that it is being pressed, because the display will light up if it is pressed.

- If she uses the alarm clock function in her phone, the alarm will activate and the alarm *IS AUDIBLE* from the phone, using any ringtone she chooses. So there is apparently nothing wrong with the speakers themselves.

We've navigated through the phone's "Setting" menu tree several times and can't find anything that seems relevant. Verizon tech support via phone call hasn't been able to help us either (the techs just seem to be following a canned flowchart, not applying critical thinking).

We're thinking now that we'll try a "hard reset" on the phone, if we can find a code to do so.

Any other ideas mefites?

Who should speak a my human rights conference?

semacd — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:37:17 -0800

Human rights luminaries. And/or recent human rights books. Any suggestions for a human rights conference speaker or a recent human rights book to read? I'm looking for a great keynote speaker at a human rights conference. Any suggestions? No one is too famous - we can always ask! I would like the person to actually be a good speaker, though.

Also looking for a recently written book pertaining to human rights (like written in 2008 or 2009) to give to conference participants. Anything great out there that I'm missing?

Japanese conversation practice with a native speaker in the Portland, OR area (or maybe Skype)?

wastelands — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:17:28 -0800

Japanese conversation practice with a native speaker in the Portland, OR area (or maybe Skype)? I took three years of Japanese in high school, almost 11 years ago. Lately I've taken an interest in relearning it. Right now I'm still re-memorizing hiragana and katakana, so I at the beginner level for sure. But eventually it would be cool to get conversation practice with a native speaker without necessarily spending the hundred of dollars and the firm time commitments of a college course.

Ideas? I tried posting to the craigslist "activity partner" section, but nothing came of it.

ありがとうございます。

Fortunately, I don't work for the bomb squad.

Inspector.Gadget — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:19:06 -0800

I need to do some wire splicing on a set of desktop speakers and I'd like some suggestions for improvement. Hey Ask, thanks in advance. I have a run-of-the-mill 2.1 Logitech computer speaker set-up. A quarter-inch jack lead to a wired remote, which leads to a subwoofer, which connects to two smaller speakers. The male 1/4 inch jack that would ordinarily connect to the line out of my laptop's sound card has suffered some wear and/or corrosion. Consequently, rotating the jack allows me to hear audio out of at most one external speaker at a time. Attempts to clean the jack with pencil erasers and rubbing alcohol (separately) have revealed that the problem is at least partly damageds surfaces and failed to remedy it. The internal line-out connection (female) on the sound card is working fine as tested with two sets of headphones.

Here's my plan to fix the jack problem:
1. Buy any cheap device or cable with a 1/4 inch male jack, preferably at a flexible right angle to the cable. Buy a small roll of electrical tape.
2. Cut off the existing jack and remove the molding (but not the inner layer of insulation) around about an inch of the cable that used to connect the jack and the wired remote.
3. Remove the insulation from a small section of the wire and prepare the new cable in a like manner: leave the jack at one end connected to a ~6" piece of the cable it was attached to with the other end stripped.
4. Connect the two stripped sections by twisting, and cover up just past the stripped section of each old cable with tightly wrapped electrical tape.

If I happen to find a wire cap small enough to accomodate the two wires, I'll use that in addition to the electrical tape.

How can I improve on this procedure? Am I doing anything stupid? Any blindingly obvious improvements I'm missing?

Thanks.

Where can I get an internal PC case speaker in Montreal or from a Canadian website?

globotomy — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:12:53 -0800

Where can I get an internal PC case speaker in Montreal or from a site in Canada? I just moved here from the states and my computer arrived via UPS in non-working order (no video and it doesn't seem to boot, but the fans spin up and run until I power down).

My case, an Antec P182, doesn't have a PC speaker. I'd really like to narrow down the problem and am hoping being able to hear the BIOS POST beep codes could help. I think it may just be the video card, but I don't have a spare PCI Express card to try.

I don't know the city very well and I'm hoping for a store near a metro stop. I've been to Microbytes, but they don't sell PC speakers. I went to The Source, where I saw a couple of piezos like this one. I have a soldering iron and a spare cable with a plug I could solder the piezo to, but I don't know much about electronic components and want to be sure the part I get will work when plugged into the motherboard (and not cause additional damage)! If I can use a piezo from The Source, should I look for one with particular specifications?

Alternatively, is there a Canadian site that sells PC case speakers for cheap? I have looked on a few sites but haven't found anything except for kits that include a lot of stuff I don't need at rip-off prices. I'd prefer to get this locally, hopefully sometime this weekend.

MacBook Pro reassembly help

monkey85 — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:56:35 -0800

Putting a MacBook Pro (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo) back together--what's that black tape? And how to put it back together? I took apart my MacBook Pro to replace the bottom case, and I was quite well prepared overall, including buying Kapton tape to replace the orange transparent tape inside the computer (it tends to lose its stickiness after 1 use).

Unfortunately I was not prepared to replace the black tape that covers the speaker wire, which travels along the top of the computer just below the logic board.

Two questions:

1. What is that black tape? It's way thicker than regular electrical tape. I need to replace the current tape since it's not sticking anymore, and the speaker wire just keeps coming up.

2. Where exactly is the speaker wire supposed to go when the MacBook Pro gets reassembled? The photos on iFixit aren't very clear. Is it along the outside edge or slightly farther into the computer along the bottom case?

Windows Vista obliviated my audio device. How can I get it back?

agropyron — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:04:40 -0800

In Windows Vista, under playback devices, I selected "Don't use this device" for the default audio device. Now that device has entirely vanished, and I can't get it back. I'm using an Asus W5F laptop with Windows Vista installed. (This is not my laptop.) I plugged in some external speakers, but it kept playing sound out of the built-in laptop speakers.

I went to Control Panel -> Hardware And Sound -> Manage Audio Devices. There I saw three things:
* Digital Output Device (SPDIF)
* The built-in speakers, whatever those were called
* The external speakers

They all had the option to "Use this device" or "Don't use this device", and all were currently set to "Use this device". I selected the built-in speakers and chose "Don't use this device", thinking I would just enable it when I was done.

However. The built-in speaker device promptly vanished. The external speakers started playing, certainly. There was no sign of the old built-in speaker device. I can't get it to come back, and the laptop has no sound now. (It does play the Vista startup sound, but won't play anything after that.)

Things I have tried:
* Rebooting
* In Device manager, searching for the old device, scanning for new hardware, searching for new drivers. Nothing.
* System Restore - hoping it would show my removal of some device and allow me to undo it. It doesn't show any configuration changes having taken place. (The deed was done 4 days ago, and it shows changes before and after the device was obliviated.)

Can anyone tell me how to get the default audio device to reappear?

Teacher needs cheap iPod speaker with remote for classroom, recommendations?

unclezeb — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:34:28 -0800

Ipod speaker filter: 4th grade teacher has ipod to play tunes in her classroom, but needs speakers. What do you suggest for (1) less than $75, (2) with remote, (3) loud enough to fill a classroom with 30 students, and (4) works with a 5th gen 80gb ipod? Ms. Unclezeb teaches in Richmond's "Iron-Triangle" and loves giving her students good music options with positive messages (while not sucking) and other tunes to help them focus during exams. She's been interested in an ipod for a while and I've ordered her one that will be able to hold her music collection for years to come.

But I need the help of the hivemind to figure out how to get the music from the ipod to her students!

Requirements:
(1) Hopefully less than $75 - I can bargain hunt to get lower prices, but spending less than $75 is the goal.
(2) With a remote - she'll need to be able to stop, skip, etc while moving around the room, so a remote is a must. Also, it can then be placed high up enough that kids won't be tempted to make the ipod their own.
(3) Loud - it would have to be able to fill a room that has tall ceilings (over 11' tall) and is about 25' x 18'. Not concerned about power at all ends of the sound spectrum, but limited distortion would be nice.
(4) Must work with her ipod classic that's in the mail (I believe this is a 5.5th generation model, please correct me if I'm wrong).

Optional but desirable:
(5) Operational under battery power (but must be able to plug-in in the classroom)
(6) Bigger isn't bad - less of a temptation to students if it's too big to fit in a backpack.

Under consideration thus far:
JBL OnStage II
Intempo IDS-01
iLive ISPK2806BLK
iLive IBCD3817DT Portable Boombox with iPod Docking Station
iLive iHM8816DT Home Music System with DVD/CD
iH9 White Alarm Clock
Satechi (Black) Dock Station Stereo Round Speaker

Tell me what you recommend (or which of my ideas are terrible) if you have a minute, thanks for helping with her surprise gift!

Mac-compatible USB speaker/mic for Skype?

jeffmacintyre — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:47:52 -0800

Mac-compatible USB speakerphone for Skype use? I am piloting the use of Skype as my main phone resource.

I have an apparently excellent headset (Jawbone 2) coming my way but will need a speakerphone at some point.

Polycom manufactures this (http://www.amazon.com/Communicator-Grey-C100S-Speakerphone-Skype/dp/B000GG0EFY) but it's software-dependent and PC only.

Does anyone know of a USB-connecting lightweight Skype-compatible speakerphone solution for home office that plays nice with Mac OS X? Do not want to get an entire phone/handset unit, looking for small footprint--perhaps something even portable.

What are the best ipod/regular speakers to use while studying abroad for a year?

daf81289 — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:32:07 -0800

What are the best ipod/regular speakers to use while studying abroad for a year? I will be studying abroad for a year and living in college-dorm type room (meaning cramped). I will have my iPod and my MacBook Pro with me. Right now I have the Harmon/Kardon Soundsticks II and love them, but they're too big to bring. What are the best speakers that I can get for uner $150? Thanks!

Suggestions wanted for portable speakers

MarvinJ — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:00:14 -0800

Help me to disco disco on holiday! Suggest some portable speakers, sub$100, for non-ipod player. I've been looking for a while on the internet for some speakers to take on holiday so that I am not stuck listening to europop on the hotel radio.

I like the look of the JBL onTour, the saitek a-200 and the Logitech mm28. But of course without hearing them I have no idea which is best, and am open to suggestions if all 3 suck too.

be my ears, mefi!

Which ferrite cores are the best ones to stop GSM buzz in my speakers?

twiggy — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:06:02 -0800

Electricity and Magnetism geeks - help me! I would like to stop the GSM interference from my iPhone to my speakers with ferrite chokes. I imagine a bit of information would help me get the best ones... So, it has become somewhat common knowledge at this point that gsm noise is irritating lots and lots of people. While the hack of cutting these ferrite beads out of USB cables is cute, and all, I figured I'd order just the parts I need from digikey, where I've bought some electronics stuff in the past.

The issue is -- these little buggers come in a variety of sizes, with a variety of impedance levels and frequencies (frequencies? what?). I would link to a DigiKey search results page, but they seem to use POST in their forms, so I can't get you a URL with search results....

First of all, I'm pretty sure GSM is 850mhz with AT&T in the united states. All of the ferrite core snaps I've found on DigiKey have a "Frequency" of either 100mhz or 300mhz ... how can a little ferrite bead have a "frequency"?

Their impedance levels vary wildly -- from 35 ohms to as high as 572 ohms.

So, my question: If we know what frequency AT&T's GSM is that's causing my interference issues with my stereo speakers -- how do I choose the ferrite cores that will be most effective in stopping it? Does it even matter which ones I get?

They're all reasonably priced, ranging between about $0.95 and $2.50... and since I'm only buying maybe 6 or 8 of the things, I'm more than happy to shell out the extra bucks if it means less noise getting through.

Thanks!

How to retrofit an alarm clock against cell-phone buzz?

tkolar — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:10:49 -0800

How to retrofit an alarm clock against cell-phone buzz? I have a new alarm clock which I really like, but which is also unfortunately susceptible to the dreaded 'GSM buzz.' I like to keep my phone charging on my nightstand at night, so I can't really separate the phone and alarm too much.

I want to 'buzz-proof' my alarm clock. I suspect some strategically placed foil or ferrite rings in the right place might do the trick -- if only I knew which components I needed to shield.

(to be specific, it's a Sony ICFC180 AM/FM Clock Radio, but even a general idea of where to start on any model would be appreciated.)

P.S. I already tried detaching the radio antennas to no effect.

How can I use my TV speakers as the center channel on my receiver?

odinsdream — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:02:13 -0800

How can I use the speakers in my TV as the "center" speaker on my receiver? I have a receiver hooked up to four normal speakers. I'd like to use the speakers in my TV as the center speaker.

My TV has audio inputs for each set of video inputs. These are normal RCA red-white connectors.

Is there some way to connect powered speaker wires to these without breaking the TV? My first thought was to open the TV and disconnect the speakers from the internal wiring and substitute my own. I'd prefer not to do this since the TV is new and still under warranty.

The other problem would be that the TV has two internal speakers, left and right, which I want to treat as one.

Any thoughts?

Will my head explode if I wear my earphones the wrong way round?

grumblebee — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:01:43 -0800

stupid question: why are there left and right stereo speakers? Okay, I understand (and appreciate) that there are two sets of sounds and that they're separated in space. But I don't get the specificity of left and right. On my headphones, one speaker is labeled L and the other is labeled R.

Several times a day, I start to put them on without first checking that I'm matching the speakers to the correct ears. Then I realize what I'm doing and check the labels. Part of me feels like it's a good thing I'm doing this; another part of me feels like a lemming, mindlessly following directions to march off a cliff.

Would it make any difference if I listened to L with my right ear and R with my left ear? When I've boldly (and guiltily) done this, I haven't noticed any difference. Is this because L and R are bullshit labels? Or is it because I'm not a sophisticated enough listener to appreciate L and R? Would a real audiophile exclaim, "What's going on? Why is the string section on the right?!?"

Which is the best speaker for my bass amp?

IZ — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:32:13 -0800

Bass Amp Filter: 2 x 10 or 1 x 15? Hi,

For live performances, I'm thinking or purchasing the new Ampeg BA600 combo amp which comes in both a 2 x 10" speaker version and a 1 x 15" speaker version.

My main experience has been with a high end 4 x 10" speaker and separate amp, which I love, but for me in the end it's all about the deep low end. I play sixties and seventies style funk and soul music and I really dig that traditional fat sound. I know, I know, I should buy a vintage tube amp. But if you forget about that for a moment, which speaker should I choose in my new combo amp?

(and, yes, although I should probably try it out first, I still appreciate your advice).

Thanks!

ipod speaker

jgballard — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:07:26 -0800

Just wondering for suggestions on the best iPod speakers. Been eyeing the B&W Zeppelin but not sure. Tivoli? George? Anyone have experiences, recs? I know this has been covered before but not recently so I wanted to be up to date... Great sound and design bigger consideration than cost.

What's Wrong With My 10-Year-Old Speakers?

yankeefog — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:02:56 -0800

About 10 years ago, I bought a pair of Bose 301 Series 2 speakers. They've now been through a number of moves and they're sounding not-as-good. I'm not sure how to define the difference--they sound muddier, and less three-dimensional. I pulled off the front grill and didn't see any visible damage. How can I determine the cause, and then repair it? (Subsidiary question: Some googling has led me to the possibility of surfoam rot but at least to my untrained eyes, there doesn't seem to be anything that looks rotty. Would this rot be immediately apparent with the grill off, or would I need to do something more to spot it?)

PS: I now know that Bose is not the audiophiles speaker of choice, but 10-years-ago-me didn't know that, so this is what I've got to work with...

wireless speakers on a Mac

D-ten — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 13:54:29 -0800

I'm wanting to send sound to and from a remote room in a house to a Macintosh sound in and out ports. I'm thinking wireless mic and wireless speakers. This is inside a standard ranch style house that spreads horizontally and would cross several walls. Okay, so the long story. I'd like to flood my house in different places with the same audio stream. So, it seems like a wireless speaker system would be the way to do that.

If would be even better if I could select which sets of speakers are active from a Macintosh computer running OS X.

I want to couple that with a sound in wireless pickup that is also wireless. It doesn't have to be part of the same speaker setup but that would be ideal. At least, the two systems should be compatible in proximity. It would be great if the Mac could turn individuals mics on or off but that's not as critical.

So, speakers first, then mics.