Long time didn't come here adi.

Mine beloved AL MX5021 PC speaker finally come to the end after 5 years of service,
Only can hear static background sound, but no music playback, (pre and power amp is still intact, i guess)
suspected the controller chip inside is dead, and impossible to buy from outside shop.

Anyway, i'm poor ppl who don't have spare money to buy another dream PC speaker (Edifier S530/730),
I have a old unused PC PSU sitting at home, and i still like the sound given by the speaker, so i decided to give it a 2nd life.
I decided to powered the speaker by car amplifier.

So today i went to car audio shop to hunt for a cheap 4ch amp,
finally found a China brand which priced @ RM250.
Taking it on hand felt quite heavy, so just bought it.

Done all the connections within half an hour,
switch on the unit, the sound is blow me off even it just a cheapskate China brand amp,
what i can ensure is the sound is definitely better than the ori built-in amp.

Furthermore by using car amp, i can set the sub and satellite speaker crossover point separately.
Now still adjusting the sound, want to make it better.

So my AL MX5021 is finally alive again.

Below are some pics and description.


overall picture.


Here the amp.

Some electrical spec:
1. 45W X 4 RMS (of course not accurate as this is cheap amp)
2. LPF/HPF, and gain for front and rear separately.

I hook up all the input from my PC sound card. Anyway, my sound card is Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic, just enable the 4.1 channel mode, and connect two pairs of 3.5mm->RCA into amp front and rear SP input.
Front input is serve for satellite, rear input is for subwoofer (bridge connection at output to become mono sub, refer to next pic).


Output panel.
As you can see, the satellite is connect to CH1 and CH2 (Front R&L), the sub (Black wire) is bridged between CH3 and CH4 to become mono sub.


Adjusted panel.
You can adjust the satellite and sub gain separately by selecting LPF/HPF and the gain knob. Adjust gain to balancing the volume of sub and satellite. Adjust sub LPF frequency to best blend the sub with satellite.


Power panel.
I cut the 4 pin (for CPU socket) and screw in that. 12V to +12V and both ground to GND, and one of the 12V to REM. Your car amp will only switch on when REM sense 12V input from the terminal. You can even make a switch and connect 12V to REM so that you can power it on/off by switch.


Sub. Need to open the back panel and disconnect all the socket inside. Solder a long wire inside the sub and drag outside through the sub air vent.

Final words and tips:

1. This is not new to audio world, i did some research over net before i did it.
This is for those user who love their PC speaker sound but unfortunately built-in amp blown and can't/expensive/difficult to repair


2. Make sure your PC PSU not the RM10 cheapskate one, and look at the power of the 12V can delivered.
Mine PSU also cheap one, but at least is i-cute, 500W peak power (i think should be no problem for 250-300W appliance).

3. You can even go for better serious car amp, but for me the China brand is enough for this speaker, the speaker unit not deserve a expensive amp.
And my objective is just want to fulfill my curiosity and save cost, now better SQ compare built-in amp is a bonus for me adi.
If you want to hook up with high power amp, make sure your PSU can provide enough juice, else you will risk your PSU.

4. This setup you only can control volume and all those bass/treble setting by PC, the amp just amplify the signal from PC to speaker, so make sure you turn off the amp before unplug/plug signal cable to avoid sudden sound burst (don forget now your amp is at maximum gain).

So feel free to leave your constructive comment in here, and please make this thread cleaned of troll and sarcasm.

Anyway, do all at your own risk. Happy modding.

This post has been edited by coolkwc: Jan 9 2012, 02:52 PM

Haha, yes, Najmods, modder in audiophile... Actually certain degree of modding spirit is come from you too...

Since i bought my car 1st car 2.5 years ago, i only active in F&F, seldom come back here... more into ICE and soundproof until last year Oct my PC SP is dead.
Plan want to buy better PC SP, but have to save money for future, so just hold it until now.

I even mod it and powered by those RM25 PC speaker amp before this, only left satellite, sub eating dust, honestly quite bad the sound, but save money, so have to settle with that kind of sound.
The car amp come into my mind, because car amp have built-in crossover, can provide decent output, and is cheap

This post has been edited by coolkwc: Jan 9 2012, 03:27 PM