Arppegio Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Hello peeps, could use your help once again. After this past weekend event I have discovered many more modifications I need to do to my armor. My board, mic, and speaker set up is a current hassle to deal with. Mini speakers. As some of you know, I have the Rom/FX board which comes with it's own fine speaker. Some time ago, prior to getting my RT-Mod helmet, I had bought the Triktoys aretor and mini speaker set. Well, it's been sitting in my storage area and now I want to try to see if they'll work. You'll have to excuse my lack of technical terms but I'll try to describe what I'd like help with. My question is if there is a way to take the wires that are already attached to the speakers and connect them to a "jack" so I can plug them into the Rom/FX board? The speakers themselves have a green and red wire attached to them. Would I have to get ( I guess it's called) a jack plug, connect wires to that, then connect the speaker wires to those and then I can just plug it into my board and would work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weiBes trooper Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 I believe the speakers would have to be wired in searies and then soldiered into the jack or plug.easy to do ,negative to negative and so on.forgive me if i make no sense its about bed time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakengine Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 I'm not familiar with the RomFX board (except for drooling over them whenever the subject comes up) but you'd need to buy the male version of whatever size female plug is attached to the board for the speaker connection. It's probably a 1/8" mini phone jack (no longer used for phone systems but the name remains). These come in stereo and mono varieties, so just make sure the one you get looks exactly like the one that's on the speaker that came with your romfx. I believe the romfx normally comes with a single speaker. If that's what you have, you'll need to check and see if it's an 8 ohm speaker. It probably is. If you're hooking up two speakers to the romfx, you may need to do some research and check with the romfx guy to find out what his amp is rated at and also check with trik and find out what the speakers are rated at. Or you could just look on the back of the speakers and see if it's stamped there. Normally, hooking up two 8 ohm speakers to a single 8 ohm output can work, but it can also cause problems. If you hook up a pair of 8 ohm speakers in parallel (both speakers connected to the same jack directly), you drop the resistance to 4 ohms. This makes the amp work harder, and can make it overheat if it can't handle the load. If you hook up two 8 ohm speakers in series (daisy chaining them), you increase the resistance to 16 ohms, and your output signal will drop in level. This is easier on the amp, but the sound level may be too low, so you may have to crank the level up to be audible. I suppose the safest course of action would be to email the romfx guy and ask him if it's okay to wire two speakers to his board and whether series or parallel connections would be better. I hope this helps. Good luck, -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD5422 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 I can't find my directions, but he states (RomFX guy) on his site what you can and can't do. the unit comes with a speaker and mic. I changed to a headset mic since the one it comes with is a clip. I'm one of the few going the opposite way, trying to get everything out of my helmet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SethB6025 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 You're not alone Rob, I got rid of my old boom-mic set-up in favor of a throat mic. I hate having a bunch of stuff in my helmet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD5422 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 I need to get one of those, where did you get yours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SethB6025 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 I actually didn't get it yet (backpack is draining the hobby account), but here's the one I plan on getting http://firefoxtechnologies.zoovy.com/product/ff-s I think you need to modify it to be powered depending on what sound set up you use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arppegio Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 I believe the romfx normally comes with a single speaker. If that's what you have, you'll need to check and see if it's an 8 ohm speaker. It probably is. If you're hooking up two speakers to the romfx, you may need to do some research and check with the romfx guy to find out what his amp is rated at and also check with trik and find out what the speakers are rated at. Or you could just look on the back of the speakers and see if it's stamped there. Normally, hooking up two 8 ohm speakers to a single 8 ohm output can work, but it can also cause problems. If you hook up a pair of 8 ohm speakers in parallel (both speakers connected to the same jack directly), you drop the resistance to 4 ohms. This makes the amp work harder, and can make it overheat if it can't handle the load. If you hook up two 8 ohm speakers in series (daisy chaining them), you increase the resistance to 16 ohms, and your output signal will drop in level. This is easier on the amp, but the sound level may be too low, so you may have to crank the level up to be audible. I suppose the safest course of action would be to email the romfx guy and ask him if it's okay to wire two speakers to his board and whether series or parallel connections would be better. I hope this helps. Good luck, -Tom Thanks, freakengine. This is what I've found about the Rom/fx. The 9V battery connector will accept a standard PP3 9V battery, however you can use 8 1.5v AA batteries giving 12 volts in total which will give longer run times and more volume. I highly recommend using the 12v set-up, but please bear in mind that you must not go over 12 volts. The unit does have built in short circuit protection, so if you accidentally put the battery terminals around the wrong way it won't fry the board. The ROM/FX board's built in amplifier kicks out 4 watts at 8 ohms from a 9v supply (1 x PP3) or 6 watts at 8 ohms from a 12v supply (8 x AA's). You get an 8 watt/8 ohm speaker supplied with the kit. I still have to find out what the triktoys speaker's ohm is once I get home. How do you go about daisy chaning them? I'm guessing I won't have to do any soldering? Just connecting and twisting and the possible use of those plastic conical cap things that you put over connecting wires? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weiBes trooper Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 wire nuts,butt splicers work good to and dont come off.the wire nuts you need are the small grey ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arppegio Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 I'm one of the few going the opposite way, trying to get everything out of my helmet I was thinking I should just keep my board outside my helmet as well. But the headset setup is uncofortable for me. The other thing is, remember when it was starting to drizzle (when we were outside because of the fire alarm) this past weekend? I was worried that if it started to rain I would: 1.) Become clean again and 2.) my Romfx board could get damaged. I want to see if I can manage to not have wires running up and down my armor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arppegio Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 wire nuts,butt splicers work good to and dont come off.the wire nuts you need are the small grey ones. Cool thanks. Wire nuts. A name I shall not forget, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD5422 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Mine is in the plastic it came with, then in a plastic box, then in my leather ammo pouch. It's only getting wet if I drop it in the pool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakengine Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Thanks, freakengine. This is what I've found about the Rom/fx. The 9V battery connector will accept a standard PP3 9V battery, however you can use 8 1.5v AA batteries giving 12 volts in total which will give longer run times and more volume. I highly recommend using the 12v set-up, but please bear in mind that you must not go over 12 volts. The unit does have built in short circuit protection, so if you accidentally put the battery terminals around the wrong way it won't fry the board. The ROM/FX board's built in amplifier kicks out 4 watts at 8 ohms from a 9v supply (1 x PP3) or 6 watts at 8 ohms from a 12v supply (8 x AA's). You get an 8 watt/8 ohm speaker supplied with the kit. I still have to find out what the triktoys speaker's ohm is once I get home. How do you go about daisy chaning them? I'm guessing I won't have to do any soldering? Just connecting and twisting and the possible use of those plastic conical cap things that you put over connecting wires? I have little doubt that the trik speaker is 8 ohms. For daisy chaining (series wiring) all you have to do is connect the positive lead (usually red or striped) from the male connector going into the romfx to the positive terminal of the first speaker. Then connect the negative terminal from speaker 1 to the positive terminal of speaker 2. Last, connect the negative terminal of speaker 2 to the negative connection in your connector. I hope that makes sense without a diagram. Wire nuts will work fine, but if you can twist the wires together and just lightly solder them, you'll have a better connection. The wire nuts may come off, and the size you use is depended on the wire guage you choose to use. What you might consider is using wire nuts for the time being, then when you decide you like the circuit, move to a more permanent solution. If you install the wire nuts and they seem loose, move to a smaller size wire nut, or a larger guage wire. Good luck! -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arppegio Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 Questions on minor points of detail: Hoping that I bought the right "F" or phone jack, does it matter how I connect the stereo wires onto the jack? It's a "non soldering" type and the little "nodes" on the inside are staggard so I'm assuming I strip the plastic off the wires a bit, twist each wire onto it's own node (doesn't matter which?), attach the butt nuts...nut butts..... butt connector things, and daisy chain those bad boys? Oh and does it matter the type of speaker wire I should get or it doesn't matter so long as it's "speaker wire" and the smallest size available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakengine Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Questions on minor points of detail: Hoping that I bought the right "F" or phone jack, does it matter how I connect the stereo wires onto the jack? It's a "non soldering" type and the little "nodes" on the inside are staggard so I'm assuming I strip the plastic off the wires a bit, twist each wire onto it's own node (doesn't matter which?), attach the butt nuts...nut butts..... butt connector things, and daisy chain those bad boys? Oh and does it matter the type of speaker wire I should get or it doesn't matter so long as it's "speaker wire" and the smallest size available? The speaker wire you use shouldn't be a big issue as long as it's truly speaker wire. No monster cable necessary in this app. As far as your connections go, you want your positive speaker connection to go to the tip of your plug, and the negative to go to the sleeve. Since you're wiring these in series, it will work either way, but you might as well wire it up the right way. Like I mentioned before, the positive may be indicated in a variety of ways, from a plus sign on the speaker itself, to the color of wire. BTW, I'm not sure what kind of connector you have, but it shouldn't be an F Connector....that's what's on your cable TV coax. Hey, as long as what you have fits the jack on the romfx, you're set. -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arppegio Posted July 3, 2006 Author Share Posted July 3, 2006 Update on the wiring: I totally failed, LOL! I'm not sure what's the problem with the set up but I have a strong feeling it starts at the plug end. I'm fairly confident that connecting the wires from the speakers was fine. I'll try to give it another go today and take some pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakengine Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Sorry to hear that. Maybe with the pics I'll be able to help. It could also be a simple short somewhere. If even a single strand of a wire makes contact somewhere it shouldn't, it might not work. Of course, the amp on the romfx board might not have enough juice to handle the higher resistance of two speakers, no matter how small they might be. You might try hooking up a single speaker first, just as a test, then adding the second one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD5422 Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 does it work with all the romfx pieces? it comes with a mic and speaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arppegio Posted July 6, 2006 Author Share Posted July 6, 2006 Update: I thought I had already posted up my update a few days ago. I remember typing it but now it's not here. Anyway, since my last post I have tried rewiring everything and bought a new spool of speaker wire. Turns out what was going wrong was the wire I had previously. Not sure why really. Oh, and daisy chaining was definitely the way to do this with the mini speakers. Connecting them the other way just ended up having my sound board repeat, "Rom FX, Rom FX, Rom FX" every time I tried to talk. That being said I have great news. I finally figured out that this was not a good idea. But, if I had a larger speaker....then I'd be in business. The RomFX speaker, if I could pry it out of it's housing, would be good. But I'd rather not do that. Plus I'd want a smaller speaker. Instead, I have to try to find a place that sells speakers. Possibley a comptuer parts store unless you guys have a better suggestion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD5422 Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 are you going Saturday, because I'm still not quite on the same page as to what you are doing. Mine worked straight out of the box, and I can show you my setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakengine Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 The problem you're going to face is the size of the aerators. If the speakers will fit, they probably won't move enough air to get the volume up. I wired up my own circuit using some 3/4" train speakers, and I just couldn't get it to sound good. I'm now pretty much resigned to utilizing another setup where my speaker isn't in the helmet at all. I fear that's the only way to get decent volume levels. My new setup will be wireless, and I should be done with it next week. -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theGreatSot Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 My new setup will be wireless, and I should be done with it next week. -Tom WIRELESS? I'd love to know more about your sound system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakengine Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 My new setup will be wireless, and I should be done with it next week. -Tom WIRELESS? I'd love to know more about your sound system. I'm keeping quiet until I find out whether it works or not. -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arppegio Posted July 7, 2006 Author Share Posted July 7, 2006 are you going Saturday, because I'm still not quite on the same page as to what you are doing. Mine worked straight out of the box, and I can show you my setup. Oh my RomFX works fine out of the box. I'm just doing a little project with speakers. I'm still up in the air about going to the con this weekend. I mean...****....the fact that Amanda Tapping will be there is just tempting me to no end to just go. The problem you're going to face is the size of the aerators. If the speakers will fit, they probably won't move enough air to get the volume up. I wired up my own circuit using some 3/4" train speakers, and I just couldn't get it to sound good. I'm now pretty much resigned to utilizing another setup where my speaker isn't in the helmet at all. I fear that's the only way to get decent volume levels. My new setup will be wireless, and I should be done with it next week. -Tom Ooooooh keep us aprised. I've been wondering about wireless setups myself. As for the aerators, I'm not trying to fit the speakers in there so I'm not concerned with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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