Chopping connector off the end of creative speakers?

mountingmuppet · 6 May 2007 at 18:49

Hi, I'm no audio expert, but I'm wondering if anyone knows if I can cut off the connector to a Creative satellite speaker, designed to go into the back of the sub of a 5.1 system, and stick the bare wire in the binding posts at the back of an amp?

Has anyone tried this or knows if its possible?

Here's a photo of the connection, simply because I don't know what this type of connection is called. I'm assuming the 'double barrelled' nature of the cable might mean I have to split the cable?

http://img168.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=73954_DSC00119_122_380lo.JPG

manic_man · 6 May 2007 at 20:10

well internally it should be just like any 2 core speaker wire.

At the back of your amp, there should be two terminals (red and black) for each speaker. What your goingto have to do is work out which wire is +ve (red) and which is -ve (black.)

You shouldnt damage your speakers plugging it in the wrong way round, you will just get a "muddy" sound, if thats the case reverse them on your amp.

Phil2008 · 6 May 2007 at 21:52

manic_man said:
well internally it should be just like any 2 core speaker wire.

At the back of your amp, there should be two terminals (red and black) for each speaker. What your goingto have to do is work out which wire is +ve (red) and which is -ve (black.)

You shouldnt damage your speakers plugging it in the wrong way round, you will just get a "muddy" sound, if thats the case reverse them on your amp.

I cant tell the sound diffs by connecting the wires the wrong way around? :confused:

manic_man · 6 May 2007 at 22:38

speedy2004 said:
I cant tell the sound diffs by connecting the wires the wrong way around?

I think it will depends on the amp and speakes as well.

If i plug my logitech sat's in the wrong way round (i.e. red to black and black to red) the sound is kinda "muffled" or "muddy" im told this is a sign that the polarity is incorrect on your speaker.

Really though the OP should have no issues, just cut the plug off, strip back the two ends, tin them if your feeling professional, then make an eudcated guess as to which is the positive and which is the negative and just plug them in

If the sound is... odd, not as you'd expect, the swap em round and see!

mountingmuppet · 6 May 2007 at 22:59

manic_man said:
I think it will depends on the amp and speakes as well.

If i plug my logitech sat's in the wrong way round (i.e. red to black and black to red) the sound is kinda "muffled" or "muddy" im told this is a sign that the polarity is incorrect on your speaker.

Really though the OP should have no issues, just cut the plug off, strip back the two ends, tin them if your feeling professional, then make an eudcated guess as to which is the positive and which is the negative and just plug them in If the sound is... odd, not as you'd expect, the swap em round and see!

Yeah, if you have the polarity the wrong way for one speaker, the two speakers are in anti-phase, meaning you get destructive inteference, and muffling.

squiffy · 6 May 2007 at 23:22

You need to check the phase of the wires, and if you're plugging the sats into a standard amplifier make sure you use bass management, those small sats can't handle outputting full-range, set crossover to the highest setting. You can damage them. The crossover is normally in the sub unit, which you're now bypassing.

then make an eudcated guess as to which is the positive and which is the negative and just plug them in

You can use phase tests to determine which is correct (but usually this is to check if each speakers phase, not relative) in this case you don't know correct polarity, however for both speakers wire the central connector as positive. Listen to music. Switch the amp off, now reverse polarity on both speakers, and listen to music again.

mountingmuppet · 7 May 2007 at 10:14

squiffy said:
You need to check the phase of the wires, and if you're plugging the sats into a standard amplifier make sure you use bass management, those small sats can't handle outputting full-range, set crossover to the highest setting. You can damage them. The crossover is normally in the sub unit, which you're now bypassing.

Don't quite get what you mean here, do you simply mean turn the bass down as much as possible on the amp?

PhillyDee · 7 May 2007 at 10:14

Or buy a Phono socket and wire it that way. Saves butchering a cable.

squiffy · 7 May 2007 at 10:37

mountingmuppet said:
Don't quite get what you mean here, do you simply mean turn the bass down as much as possible on the amp?

No if you're using a av amplifier it'll have crossover settings, so set them to the highest, 120hz.

Rebelius · 7 May 2007 at 11:09

basically setting the crossover at the highest just means your amp won't treat your little speakers to all the bass notes, because if it did, they'd probably get damaged.

Don't you have any normal speaker cable? Or are your Creative speakers wired right into the back of the speaker?

mountingmuppet · 7 May 2007 at 22:11

nah they're wired right into the back. I'm only trying to cobble together a workaround solution with odds n sods that I have, without spending money.

I would be running them off a denon UDM-5 mini system, so not even a proper separates amp. I've never even seen a crossover setting =/

Silly thing is, the only reason I'd use the denon over the Arcam Delta 90 amp I'm using at the moment is because when I plug headphones in the arcam, the sound doesnt stop coming out of the speakers, which is a bind when trying to play on my 360 when the missus is asleep.

It's a silly situation. Might have to get some second hand speakers off ebay for 30 quid i guess.