12 Watt stereo amp boards heading to boneyard

[Gary Fischer]

These are small form factor (4 x 4 inch)  2 x 6 watt amplifier boards. Just connect 2 speakers, 12V power, and an audio source and you're ready to rock. I'll include as many cables with connectors for the speakers and audio input as I can find. If you scored some of the speakers I dropped off a couple of weeks ago, these would be a good match for them. 

[Michael Hammons]

I'll take 2 lol would save me so much work on a long time on and off again project

[Gary Fischer]

You can have 2 no problem. I've got like, 200. 

[ginnyjollykidd .]

Could a person build a preamp with such an item? I'd like to boost a weak sound signal from my cell phone and send it to my Bluetooth speaker.

Yours truly,
Ginny

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[Gary Fischer]

No, this will take a line level signal (such as the headphone output of a smart phone) as an input, and drive speakers directly connected with wires to this amp. I'm afraid that Bluetooth does not enter into the equation at all.

On Monday, August 22, 2016 at 4:22:56 PM UTC-4, ginnyjollykidd wrote:

Could a person build a preamp with such an item? I'd like to boost a weak sound signal from my cell phone and send it to my Bluetooth speaker.

Yours truly,
Ginny

On Aug 22, 2016 3:21 PM, "Gary Fischer" <ga...@americanbankequipment.com> wrote:

You can have 2 no problem. I've got like, 200. 

On Monday, August 22, 2016 at 3:12:23 PM UTC-4, Michael Hammons wrote:

I'll take 2 lol would save me so much work on a long time on and off again project

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[ginnyjollykidd .]

Good enough.
Thanks.
Yours truly,
Ginny

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[McCarthy, Patrick (GE Appliances, Non-GE)]

If I am not mistaken, this circuit IS a preamp ??  IF Ginny took her Cell phone & wired the headphone to the input, then WIRED the output to the Bluetooth, that would do it.

But I am not sure if that is Ginny’s real issue…

If the Bluetooth speaker is too quiet, boosting the output anywhere along the audio level in the phone will not do squat… the signal to the Bluetooth is… well… not a party to such amplification.

Possibly getting into the speaker’s internals and adding this preamp between the signal processor & the actual speakers would work? (Bypass everything… find the speaker, lift the lines from there, wire to preamp input, wire the output to the speakers… put all the wires & preamp in a cigar box, with the speaker module on top… Fin.

 

à

I am a Software Engineer… I make NO promises that the above will not cause rapid ejection of large quantities of magic smoke from within the speaker enclosure, or the cigar box.

In fact, I make no promises that doing the above will not cause a flood or famine, OR trigger the second (third?) coming of Gozer the Redeemer.

All Rights Reserved (All Lefts too)

ß   

 

 

 

_______________

Patrick McCarthy

Office 502-452-4071

Mobile 502-939-1756

[Gary Fischer]

A little terminology difference here. The module is actually a power amplifier. The term preamp is generally used for devices that will amplify very small signals (microphone, phonograph cartridge) to larger (line) levels. It won't drive speakers. A power amp will amplify the line level signal to the point where it can drive loudspeakers and produce room filling sound. 

What you  suggest with wiring the amp to the Bluetooth speakers might just work, but I personally wouldn't open up the Bluetooth speakers.They probably couldn't handle the power of the amp. 

A better, less invasive answer might be if Ginny can score two of the speakers that I dropped off a couple of weeks ago from the boneyard, and has a 12 volt 1.5 amp power supply handy, (wall-wart style). She can then plug her smart phone into the power amp and do away with the Bluetooth speakers altogether. . I put together just such a system for a guy at work ( he used 2  6 x 9 inch car speakers he had gathering dust) and he's using it in his garage and loving it. Worth every penny he paid for it ($0).

[McCarthy, Patrick (GE Appliances, Non-GE)]

Ahhh… so the little box I had to attach to my old Technic  Record Player(Record Player ->box->Amplifier Line In)  to get it to work… that was a Preamp…

 

 

_______________

Patrick McCarthy

Office 502-452-4071

Mobile 502-939-1756

 

[ginnyjollykidd .]

Okay, here's my situation:
I have MP3's that are fine on my headphones, passable on the cell phone speaker, and amplified moderately on my Bluetooth speaker. I know it is a powerful enough speaker to fill a large room for about 30-50 people, because when it is connected, a voice comes on and says so, and that voice does reach across the room.

So my MP3s themselves are recorded at a lower volume, and their signal needs to be boosted before it gets to the speaker. Or so I've concluded, because the speaker itself doesn't amplify the incoming signal well.

I feel it's like a turntable signal which needs amplifying before it gets to the speaker.

If I need to hook it up to a breadboard, Arduino, or Raspberry Pi, I'll do that. But I'd like to get your opinions.
Yours truly,
Ginny

On Aug 23, 2016 9:19 AM, "McCarthy, Patrick (GE Appliances, Non-GE)" <Patrick....@ge.com> wrote:

If I am not mistaken, this circuit IS a preamp ??  IF Ginny took her Cell phone & wired the headphone to the input, then WIRED the output to the Bluetooth, that would do it.

But I am not sure if that is Ginny’s real issue…

If the Bluetooth speaker is too quiet, boosting the output anywhere along the audio level in the phone will not do squat… the signal to the Bluetooth is… well… not a party to such amplification.

Possibly getting into the speaker’s internals and adding this preamp between the signal processor & the actual speakers would work? (Bypass everything… find the speaker, lift the lines from there, wire to preamp input, wire the output to the speakers… put all the wires & preamp in a cigar box, with the speaker module on top… Fin.

 

à

I am a Software Engineer… I make NO promises that the above will not cause rapid ejection of large quantities of magic smoke from within the speaker enclosure, or the cigar box.

In fact, I make no promises that doing the above will not cause a flood or famine, OR trigger the second (third?) coming of Gozer the Redeemer.

All Rights Reserved (All Lefts too)

ß   

 

 

 

_______________

Patrick McCarthy

Office 502-452-4071

Mobile 502-939-1756

 

From: lv...@googlegroups.com [mailto:lv...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of ginnyjollykidd .
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2016 1:46 AM
To: lv...@googlegroups.com
Subject: EXT: Re: {LVL1} Re: 12 Watt stereo amp boards heading to boneyard

 

Good enough.
Thanks.
Yours truly,
Ginny

On Aug 22, 2016 5:23 PM, "Gary Fischer" <gary@americanbankequipment.com> wrote:

No, this will take a line level signal (such as the headphone output of a smart phone) as an input, and drive speakers directly connected with wires to this amp. I'm afraid that Bluetooth does not enter into the equation at all.

On Monday, August 22, 2016 at 4:22:56 PM UTC-4, ginnyjollykidd wrote:

Could a person build a preamp with such an item? I'd like to boost a weak sound signal from my cell phone and send it to my Bluetooth speaker.

Yours truly,
Ginny

On Aug 22, 2016 3:21 PM, "Gary Fischer" <ga...@americanbankequipment.com> wrote:

You can have 2 no problem. I've got like, 200. 

On Monday, August 22, 2016 at 3:12:23 PM UTC-4, Michael Hammons wrote:

I'll take 2 lol would save me so much work on a long time on and off again project

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[Gary Fischer]

Yep! and a special one, at that. It had a built in RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) equalizer that took the signal from the tone arm and applied a specific equalization curve to it so that the music sounded like the artist intended it to. Kinda fascinating what they had to do to give us the music we wanted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAA_equalization

[Gary Fischer]

If the headphones sound OK, then I suspect all you need is one of these amps, a power supply,  and a couple of decent speakers. 

[Michael Hammons]

Yeah you won't be able to use this with Bluetooth as the board is wired not wireless so you can just boost the Bluetooth speaker.

[ginnyjollykidd .]

So am I looking at getting a tone arm preamp to boost my signal?

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[Gary Fischer]

No, there is no boosting the volumel once it's digitally sent over Bluetooth to your Bluetooth speakers.  Do your Bluetooth speakers also have a 3.5mm jack on the side that would allow you to plug your phone directly into them?

What model are they? I can look it up. 

[ginnyjollykidd]

No, they don't have phone jacks at all, much less 3.5mm. Can the preamp have a phone plug and then be hooked to something that can make a Bluetooth connection?

[ginnyjollykidd]

My speaker model number is HY-BT128
It has a pinhole with "rest" written there. I suppose that means "restore."
It has a power jack for a 5V charger. And then it has a slot named "TF" which looks big enough to accommodate a micro-SD card.
This is a site I saw it on:

http://bargainplug.use.com/

What do you think I can do with it?

[Gary Fischer]

This may sound crazy, and maybe you've already tried this. I checked with a guy here who has a Bluetooth speaker he uses in his office. He said you should be able to turn the music level up and down on the phone, and that maybe you are overlooking that. When his speaker connects via Bluetooth, it automatically turns the phone volume down to 50% so as not to blow out the speaker. He can then adjust as needed using the phone controls. 

He generally adjusts the speaker volume to maximum, and uses the phone to adjust the playback level. Again, maybe you know all this, but I thought I'd throw it out there. I'm coming up blank with a way to boost Bluetooth volume in any other way. 

[ginnyjollykidd]

No, I always crank it up on my phone. I know to do that much. Thanks for the idea, anyway.

I wonder if I can use a mini USB to 3.5 mm cord to hook my phone directly to the speaker, or if I can use my mini USB to USB cord to hook up a preamplifier made from one of the speakers? Or am I going around in circles?

[Gary Fischer]

Kinda circling I'm afraid. . One more low cost thought. Do you have, or maybe the boneyard has, a set of external PC speakers? Plug them right into your headphone jack on the phone easy breezy.

[ginnyjollykidd .]

Yup, going in circles. I have tried lining my phone into other speakers before as well, and the signal is the same. Oh well. It was worth a shot. I learned some things from it, though. Thanks.
Yours truly,
Ginny

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[bruce]

Hey Ginny...

Just saw the thread!! wow.. volume issues.. Here's another thing if you haven't already tested. I assume that your current situation plays music at the colume you want with other music sources -- streaming, or a radio station via a browser/url combination. Or does your phone have test audio files that play correctly.

I'd like to know if anything plays through your phone to an external speaker at the volume you want.

I also assume that you get the mp3s playing via your headphone at the right volume. Is this correct?

On Tue, Aug 23, 2016 at 3:32 PM, ginnyjollykidd <ginnyjo...@gmail.com> wrote:

No, I always crank it up on my phone. I know to do that much. Thanks for the idea, anyway.

I wonder if I can use a mini USB to 3.5 mm cord to hook my phone directly to the speaker, or if I can use my mini USB to USB cord to hook up a preamplifier made from one of the speakers? Or am I going around in circles?

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[ginnyjollykidd .]

Okay, yes, the sound quality is good for headphones. It is passable through my phone, but that's for me anyway and I don't yet know the cell phone w with great audio fidelity. The output is loud enough for me, but it doesn't even go anywhere past a foot in a room with normal activity such as working in a kitchen.

I have a Bluetooth speaker that works well, and when it's on and connected, its voice has great fidelity and enough volume to fill about a 15' x 20' room . The purpose is to play songs from my phone to reach the audience  of about 20 people.

I know the speaker works well. I need to send a stronger gain that will be amplified and sound at least as loud as the speaker connection voice.

Is there an app that can boost MP3 sounds? That's the only other possible thing I can think of. I'd love your opinion!

Yours truly,
Ginny

[bruce]

Hey!

Weird thing... As a quick test, took my cell (android/samsung).. earbuds work.. plugged a set of cheap working speakers into the headphone jack.. no sound. I would have thought the cell could drive the speakers.

I assume there "are" cheap speakers that can be driven from the cell jack, Assuming I'm correct, this might be the simplest/cheapest solution.

I'm not sure there's any "app" that can increase the vol of mp3 files..

[ginnyjollykidd .]

Yes, there are speakers that can be driven by connecting wires to the phone. That is not the problem. The problem is the signal itself. The MP3s are not strong enough to make a loud enough sound once it reaches the speaker. It has to be boosted before it reaches the speaker.

Any speaker, wired or not, is capable of putting out a strong signal, if it is given a strong signal. I could wire my phone easily to my stereo auxiliary input by 3.5mm to RCA plugs and do that. But the sound would be no louder because the signal itself is not strong enough. It sounds just as low-volume on my stereo as it does on my Bluetooth speaker.

The problem is NOT the equipment. The problem is the STRENGTH of the SIGNAL.

Sorry to shout. I needed to emphasize the point.

Yours truly,
Ginny

[bruce]

Heey Ginny..

It's ok to shout to make your point.. although.. if your mp3 files arent that loud.. what are you shouting over!! (hehehehe!! -- ok.. bad humour!)

But in all seriousness. I was curious if just the mp3 files weren't playing at the loud volume, or if it was all audio files. Sound like it's the mp3 files.

I've seen some online apps that claim to do mp3 volume adjustment, but I've never played with any of them.

[ginnyjollykidd .]

I'm checking out some apps that day they will boost your signal. If I find any that seem to work, I'll try to pass them on.

Oh, and even the smallest speakers need outside power. Personal speakers have rechargeable internal batteries and a charger cord.

Yours truly,
Ginny

[Ben Hibben]

Technically speaking headphones are small speakers....

I hope I'm not asking something too obvious but have you tried the volume controls on your bluetooth speaker itself?  It appears to have 4 buttons; I imagine two of them control the volume.

Blenster

[Greg Miller]

If it's the MP3's that are recorded low, there are programs out there
that will modify the MP3 to normalize the volume. I can't recommend any
specific ones, since I haven't used one in many years. But if you
search for "mp3 normalize volume" you'll find quite a few options.

[Gary Fischer]

Update: I'll drop off the audio boards tonight after work. 

On Monday, August 22, 2016 at 2:02:31 PM UTC-4, Gary Fischer wrote:

These are small form factor (4 x 4 inch)  2 x 6 watt amplifier boards. Just connect 2 speakers, 12V power, and an audio source and you're ready to rock. I'll include as many cables with connectors for the speakers and audio input as I can find. If you scored some of the speakers I dropped off a couple of weeks ago, these would be a good match for them. 

[ginnyjollykidd .]

The  buttons on the side are:
Replay the previous selection
Play/Pause/Phone
On/Off/Select Function
Go to next selection

They don't make it easy to do much hacking or accessing. Sometimes it gets stuck and I have to let it run down before I can do anything with it. 😕

Yours truly,
Ginny

[McCarthy, Patrick (GE Appliances, Non-GE)]

You could always bring it to a meeting… Of course, when you got it back, it MAY have been turned into a remote controlled Can opener that squirts Squid Ink at the unwary while barking (quietly)

 

_______________

Patrick McCarthy

Office 502-452-4071

Mobile 502-939-1756

 

From: lv...@googlegroups.com [mailto:lv...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of ginnyjollykidd .
Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2016 3:41 PM
To: lv...@googlegroups.com
Subject: EXT: Re: {LVL1} Re: 12 Watt stereo amp boards heading to boneyard

 

The  buttons on the side are:

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[ginnyjollykidd .]

😊 😉
Think I'm going to pass on that right now; nays next time. Meanwhile I'm trying out apps to see what they do.
Yours truly,
Ginny ☺💞🌈🎼

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[ginnyjollykidd .]

Maybe next time, I mean.
Ginny 😉