Hi all,
If anyone is interested in using Apple Pro Speakers on a PC, please let me know and I will post the mod that makes it possible.
Apple Pro Speakers can and do work on a PC.
I've been using a set now since last September 16th when my wife got me a pair for my birthday!
Peace,
Grusic
I'd be curious to know what you've got. I just ordered a PowerWave from Griffin Technology, it's a USB desktop amplifier that supports Apple Pro Speakers, and works with Macs or PCs. I will have it next week. Price is a bit steep though, $99. Ouch! I must be crazy 
One day, I just plan on getting a real Mac one day, but way to pricey, especially after all the money I've spent on my PC (dual 2 Ghz P4 Xeons, 1Gb PC800 Rambus, Coolermaster aluminum case, 3 x 36Gb 10,000 RPM U160 SCSI drives, etc, etc) When I can finally afford the Apple Cinema Display HD, everything on top of my desk will be Apple 
Oliver
I have the Apple Pro Speakers modded and connected to a Sound Blaster Live Platinum at the moment.
Why do you ask?
Just curious. Did you just mod the connector? I spent awhile trying to find an adapter that would convert their connector to a standard speaker connector without luck, then I found the PowerWave. So are the speakers as good sounding as I've heard?
Oliver
Hi opeth,
No the mod is a bit more extensive then just modding the connector.
In brief, it requires removing the little junction with the apple on it and replacing the wiring with a *normal* stereo Y connector.
Apple was quite clever in the way they disabled the Pro Speakers from working on a PC.
The Apple junction actually contains a chip that acts as a gateway. If the expected signal was not received by the gateway chip, the audio signal was not allowed to pass through to the speakers.
Very slick, but not sleek enough to aviod being defeated by an experienced hacker/modder. 
I'm in the process of building a little stereo 10 watt amp to drive the speaker as I find the output from the SB Live not really sufficent to drive the speakers at high volume. I also have a prosumer audio card, a Creamware Pulsar, that I want to route to the Pro Speakers.
In terms of sound quality, yes they are great.
I plan on getting an iSub to compliment them though, as the bass response is not that great.
Then again, from that size speaker one would not expect great bass response. The physics just wont allow for it.
All the best,
Grusic
P.S. I checked out the PowerWave on the web, seem nice. Please let me know how you find the it.
Well Grusic, the Powerwave works great. It's a pretty cool little device. I like the Pro speakers, but I do want to get a Sub, the bass kinda sounds like crap sometimes. Have you gotten an iSub yet? If so, how is it on a PC with the Pro Speakers?
Oliver
HI Opeth,
No, I have not gotten the iSub yet.
The problem with the bass sounding like crap on the Pro speakers is a common problem with speakers that size.
I compensate here by EQ'ing the bass portion of the audio spectrum, anything below 70 hz, by about -6 db. And pumping the mid range by about +3 db.
It seems to help by giving the music the illusion of having some bottom end presence but reduces the bass portion just enough so it wont be distorted by a small speaker.
All the best,
Grusic
OK, I have a question though, say I get the iSub and all the low end goes there, won't the Pro speakers still try to do the low end stuff also? I would hope you could send a certain frequency range to the speakers, then the rest to the sub. Thanks for your input.
Oliver
Hi Oliver,
From my understanding of how the iSub is wired, the Pro's would be connected off of a jack on the iSub and the iSub would be connected to the amp/line output etc.
If I remember the specs correctly, the iSub has an internal cross over that routes audio from 70-75 hz on down to the iSub itself and anything above that gets routed to it's jack for main speakers.
I'm pretty sure that how the SoundSticks/iSub combo works and I would assume that it would be the same for the Pro Speaker/iSub combo.
You may want to check out Harman Kardon's site though for a definite answer.
All the best,
Bill aka Grusic 
Hi Oliver,
I just looked on HK's site. I was wrong about the iSub, sorry.
It seems that the iSub itself does *not* include the 2 channel amp/cross over for satellite speakers.
The SoundSticks do.
While the subwoofer in the SoundSticks looks very much like the iSub, it is *not* according to HK.
So, you may want to do the route of getting or making a cross over to handle the routing of bass to subwoofers.
All the best,
Grusic
Originally posted by Grusic@Jan 3 2003, 05:28 AMIf anyone is interested in using Apple Pro Speakers on a PC, please let me know and I will post the mod that makes it possible.
I would be interested in knowing how you modified the plug. I am EXTREMELY interested in knowing if these speakers could be modded to work with an iPOD. I have been looking for some nice looking and portable speakers for my iPOD for a while now. If you can covert the plug on the Apple Pro speakers to a standard mini-jack then I assume its just a matter of getting some kind of amplifier between the iPOD and the speakers. Or do you think the amplified headphone out would be enough to drive them ?
I really, really, really, want to be able to get those Apple Pro speakers and be able to plug them into my iPOD at work. 
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
Thanks for the reply Grusic. I have put in an order for the Apple Pro speakers from www.megamacs.com
They have them for $30 - I figure that I cant go wrong at that price. I will cut them up according to your instructions and let you know how it works out. I think that if these work with the iPOD that it would be something that a lot of people would be interested in knowing.
Thanks again...
Ikarus
Ikarus,
You're welcome. If I can be on any further assistance, please let me know.
Peace,
Grusic
I am trying to use/add my iSub to my PC's speaker system. My PC recognizes the iSub, but transmits all audio through it and I am unable to config my audio on my PC to split bass to the sub and all other audio to my desktop speakers. Anyone know how to do this or am I just crazy in trying? =)
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