cheep amp mod?

[hrwmusic]

Hey everyone, i am an acoustic guitarist/singer doing the one man thing and basically as im begining to put my own music out more i face the issue of coffee houses where they dont have any speakers. Its alittle sad but even after a few years, still, all i have is my ibanez ibz10 little mini amp (pictured below). I I also have two beautiful speakers that are atleast 50 years old <i may be getting two more too!> that i got from my grandfather (see the speakers with my record player below too). What i was woundering is if i could mod my mini amp and allow myself to hook up my speakers too it (as many as i can). I know the amp isnt very powerful but i was able to power those speakers with my elderly record player.

my record player has a line in, which works, but it is just depressing. If any cant come up with an idea for the little amp, is there anything i could do with the record player. The issue is that i cant permanently damage it.

The speaker in the amp now is 8 ohms. What gets me is the wire used to connect the speaker and amp. Theres one red and one black, shouldnt there be standard speaker wire, or is it just dressed up speaker wire.

Thanks so much for any help, futher suggestions that can get me going. anything.

https://homerecording.com/bbs/attachment.php?attachmentid=26180&stc=1

 

[hrwmusic]

no ideas. The picture of the wire is bad, but im sure its not speaker wire now.

Should i bring this question elsewhere?
-----
ive kind of given up on moding the amp, but what about a cheep, decent amp that can drive 2-4 speakers like that? but then ill need a mixer wont i.

 

[Outlaws]

Don't do it. I don't feel like typing all the reasons why, but just don't do it.

I am sure Nady or someone makes a very cheap PA or something you can get instead.

 

[hrwmusic]

Don't do it. I don't feel like typing all the reasons why, but just don't do it.

I am sure Nady or someone makes a very cheap PA or something you can get instead.

ok, so not even the older speakers. ill just guess its becuase they cant handle it. right? ill check out nady and see what money i can get my hands on.

 

[Kennyboy Skaggs]

I don't know if this will help you or not however, I purchased a Crate CA-120 Durango Acoustic Amp last year, and I have taken it out on the road many times without fail. It works great for a solo package with 2 channels for small rooms. I use this amp for multi instruments, mainly guitar and mandolin, and I am very satisfied with the performance of this girl. Mind you she's a big legged thang at 65 lbs.

A small PA would work as well. Having an extra channel or 2 is always welcome in a pinch. (ie additional pickers,MIDI) Reseach and listening will help you out in the long run. There are some deals out there, but you have to seach your ass off for them. Have fun and.....happy pickin' Kennyboy

 

[hrwmusic]

I don't know if this will help you or not however, I purchased a Crate CA-120 Durango Acoustic Amp last year, and I have taken it out on the road many times without fail. It works great for a solo package with 2 channels for small rooms. I use this amp for multi instruments, mainly guitar and mandolin, and I am very satisfied with the performance of this girl. Mind you she's a big legged thang at 65 lbs.

A small PA would work as well. Having an extra channel or 2 is always welcome in a pinch. (ie additional pickers,MIDI) Reseach and listening will help you out in the long run. There are some deals out there, but you have to seach your ass off for them. Have fun and.....happy pickin' Kennyboy

k, thanks for the help man!

 

[crazydoc]

Don't do it. I don't feel like typing all the reasons why, but just don't do it.

NO NO NO NO NO!!! Do it! Those wires are just speaker wires, colored red and black for polarity.

Try this:
Connect a cable with the appropriate connectors from the phone jack of the amp to the line in of the record player. If the player has a stereo line in you can use a Y adapter to split the phone out. There may be impedance mismatches that may deteriorate the sound quality, but if you start with the volume low on both the amp and the player, and turn them up by small increments, you may get acceptable results. You won't damage either piece of equipment if you start at low volumes.

Or this:
Disconnect the wires from the amp apeaker. Hook one to one terminal of one speaker and hook the other to the terminal of opposite polarity of the other speaker (they should be marked red/black, +/-, or some such.) Then hook the unused terminal of one speaker to the unused terminal of the other speaker. You now have the speakers wired in series and in phase across the 8 ohm output of the amp. Assuming the speakers are 8 ohms, this presents a 16 ohm load to the amp, which guarantees it won't be damaged, and unless each speaker is rated at 5 watts or less, it won't damage the speakers either. The volume of this arrangement may be less than optimal, but the sound quality will likely be better.

A third, and best, option, if you are getting two more equivalent speakers, is to wire up the second set the same way from the amp's speaker wires: that is, each amp wire will be going to two sets of speakers, which will be two 16 ohm sets in parallel, or an 8 ohm load to the amp which is what it calls for. This setup will give you the optimum signal quality with the optimum volume.

 

[hrwmusic]

NO NO NO NO NO!!! Do it! Those wires are just speaker wires, colored red and black for polarity.

Try this:
Connect a cable with the appropriate connectors from the phone jack of the amp to the line in of the record player. If the player has a stereo line in you can use a Y adapter to split the phone out. There may be impedance mismatches that may deteriorate the sound quality, but if you start with the volume low on both the amp and the player, and turn them up by small increments, you may get acceptable results. You won't damage either piece of equipment if you start at low volumes.

Or this:
Disconnect the wires from the amp apeaker. Hook one to one terminal of one speaker and hook the other to the terminal of opposite polarity of the other speaker (they should be marked red/black, +/-, or some such.) Then hook the unused terminal of one speaker to the unused terminal of the other speaker. You now have the speakers wired in series and in phase across the 8 ohm output of the amp. Assuming the speakers are 8 ohms, this presents a 16 ohm load to the amp, which guarantees it won't be damaged, and unless each speaker is rated at 5 watts or less, it won't damage the speakers either. The volume of this arrangement may be less than optimal, but the sound quality will likely be better.

A third, and best, option, if you are getting two more equivalent speakers, is to wire up the second set the same way from the amp's speaker wires: that is, each amp wire will be going to two sets of speakers, which will be two 16 ohm sets in parallel, or an 8 ohm load to the amp which is what it calls for. This setup will give you the optimum signal quality with the optimum volume.

well ive been doing the first one, but i dont really like the idea of carying around the record player too. and i feel like i am loosing quality, and {edit: not} useing much of the speakers. So im trying the second one-do you think that i should put both sides of the speaker wire into one input on just one side? I dont think it would cause an issue to use two, but ill use one for now.


ill let you know what happens!

 

[crazydoc]

So im trying the second one-do you think that i should put both sides of the speaker wire into one input on just one side?

I don't understand what you mean.

 

[hrwmusic]

I don't understand what you mean.

it wasnt a really important question. Just that speaker wire has two wires. one could be right and another left. i was woundering if i should jam both sides in on input on either side...if that makes any sence

 

[hrwmusic]

oohhhhhh yeah!!! Wow! Thanks so much crazydoc!


hell yeah!


sounds awesome, and theres much more power then i thought!
(but im being careful of the speakers still!)

thankyou so much guys!




but anyone got an idea of how to cover it?, i was thinking just a simple wood top...but im not sure of how ill do the sides...