
BETTER SOUND FOR THE IBM PC

Todd Last

Indianapolis PC Users Group

By now, many of  you  are  familiar  with the
PC's built-in speaker.  IBM chose to put in a
speaker smaller than the ones  found  in most
portable radios.

Fortunately,  for  the  reasonable  price  of
$2.19  and  15 minutes of your time, you  can
have improved sound for your PC. This is done
by  replacing  the original speaker with  one
that is slightly larger.  It is a custom  fit
with no modifications required to any part of
the  PC.  [On  IBM  compatibles  and  clones,
especially portables, it may require a little
ingenuity.]

The  first  step is to buy a Radio  Shack  3"
replacement speaker (catalog number  40-248).
Then remove the  cover  of your computer.  If
you are not sure how to do this, consult your
Guide to  Operations.  With  the  cover  off,
study  how  the  speaker  is  placed  in  the
computer.   Next,  remove  the berg pin  that
plugs into the circuit board from the speaker
wires.   Make  sure  to pull it off  gently.
Now, remove the screw(s)  holding the speaker
to the computer.

Make  a note of which color wire goes to  the
"+"  terminal.   You could just cut  the  old
wires and use solderless terminals, but since
you have so  much  money  invested  in  your,
you want to do the job the  professional way,
right?

Now  all  that remains to be done is to  slip
the old speaker from  the  retaining  bracket
and put the new  one  in,  screw  the bracket
back on, reconnect the berg pin and reinstall
the cover.

Although, the speaker is  only 1" bigger, you
will notice an improvement both in volume and
sound    quality,    especially   in    lower
frequencies.  [In  fact, you may find the new
speaker  is  so  much  louder  that an inline
on/off  or  volume  control   switch  may  be
desirable.]

[Editor's note: Altering hardware  on  the PC
may invalidate warranties.]


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