Pi Zero Speaker – DIY Audio HAT and Audio Player

By on September 12, 2020
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A few months ago…..

I got hold of a really old wired speaker from somewhat 2004 (I think so), from my father’s friend. They knew my hobby of opening things apart. :)

Coming back to the speakers, the one I got was really in bad shape, the body was all dirt coloured. I tried plugging it in, but the plug was all bent and did not fit perfectly in the switchboard. Moreover, the thing did not even work. So, I took out my tools and started ripping apart the speaker. Got hold of the two speakers (with some torn wires) and the amplifier board with a damaged 9v transformer. The amplifier circuit was working perfectly except for some dirt all over it. Even the speakers were covered in dirt and one speaker had a little tear in its diaphragm. So, I cleaned everything and removed the transformer. Then hooked up a 9v battery to the circuit and plugged in my phone as an audio source through the 3.5mm audio jack. The speaker worked as expected. But now the whole circuit and speakers are completely naked (without any covering). So, my next move was to make a new enclosure for the speaker.

Last month I bought the newly released Pi Zero W. Why not integrate Pi Zero W into this speaker?
But the main challenge I faced was that the Pi Zero W does not have inbuilt audio output and buying a Pi Audio HAT was way over my budget.

Enough Intro let’s get started…..

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About Emanuele Signoretta

Studying electronics and communication engineering at Politecnico di Torino. Electronics, IT and Open Source enthusiast.

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