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I have an iMac G4 20" 1.25 GHz that I picked up off eBay. It came with speakers, but I was surprised to find out that the iMac already has a built-in speaker, which would be good enough for where I need to use it.

Can I use those speakers with another machine?

It looks to me like there is a mini-stereo jack, but with a metal collar around it. Is it a standard stereo jack, and if so, is there an adapter than can compensate for the collar?



P.S. Mods, if this in the wrong forum, please move it. I wasn't sure if I should put this in the iMac forum or the Peripherals forum.

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Arrggh. I found this, but it's not something I'd want to do:

http://www.aqua-soft.org/board/showthread.php?t=908

Parts needed:

1 x Standard stereo Y cable with a standard mini plug attached.
1 x Pair of wirecutters/strippers
1 x Roll of electrical tape

The operation:

Step 1. Using the wirecutters, remove the Apple junction and *all* cabling behind it, including the Apple mini-plug. Please don't worry, this is safe.

Step 2. Strip about 1 inch of insulation from each cable that remains attached to the Apple Pro Speakers. Do the same to the stereo Y cable we purchased.

Step 3. Inside each cable, one will notice a pair of wires. Strip about 1/2 inch of insulation from each wire. Do the same to the stereo Y cable.

Step 4. Join each wire from the Apple Pro Speaker stereo pair to it's compliment on the stereo Y cable. Anyone thathas done wiring of a home stereo system will have no problem recognizing what to do from here on out.

Step 5. Tape of each join securly, or solder if one likes and then tape up each joint. Also, heat sealing joiners can be used as well.
I used electrical tape myself, but I may go back and get heat seals as they look nicer.

Step 6. Insert stereo mini plug into the audio output of choice an enjoy!

Ikarus, amplified headphone output *may* be enough to drive the Apple Pro Speakers but I'm not 100% sure on that one.

The speakers can handle up to 9 watts RMS each, so you may want to get a little stereo amp to sit between them and whatever line level out you plan to use.

I plan on building an amp for them myself when I get time. I have seen some in kit form advertised for around $20US.