Defeat Sony's Proprietary Speaker Wire (The Follow Up!)
Monday, August 27, 2012




Hey!  It's been a while...  I think we're going to try to have some new material up soon - it's only been what?  A year?  No big deal... Anyways, I've had a surprising number of requests for more information regarding the DIY speaker cables for Sony's evil proprietary connectors, so I thought I'd make a new post as a follow up that will hopefully clarify what's involved in the procedure...  Shall we?

As I mentioned in the original post, the two things you'll need are some speaker wire and a few 22-18 AWG .110 insulated female quick connect tabs (widely available online and in electronic component stores).  Let's start by looking at the quick connects themselves...



One side of the connectors is flat, and the other has two small loops that create a small groove - that's where the pin inside the receiver will sit... you'll see, gimme a chance here...


See the two pins inside each port?  Your quick connects are going to fit around the outside of both pins...

You'll want to make your cable just as I described in the original post; there's not much to it - but you'll want to make sure of the polarity of the speaker wire - most speaker wires will have a silver streak on the negative side, while positive is usually all copper.  Strip the ends of your speaker cable and then insert each end into a quick connect tab and squeeze it shut with a pair of pliers.  You should end up with something that looks like this...



So take the first quick connect tab - and connect it around the appropriate pin (+ or - ).  Here's a close-up of the first quick connect in place...




If you look closely, you should be able to see that the pin inside the receiver's port fits perfectly inside the groove of the quick connect tab...

Now push the other pin in place... It should look like this...




Both quick connect tabs should now be firmly in place...


et voila!

Now all you have to do is attach the other two ends of the speaker wire into your speaker (again, taking note of polarity).

And that's it!  I've had my subwoofer hooked up with my homemade cable for a few years now without any problems...  A few readers have also mentioned other Sony receivers cursed with these connections - here are the models (I'm aware of) that have them.  If you know of any others, let me know and I'll add 'em to the list:

DAV-C450
DAV-DX155
DAV-DX255
DAV-DX315
DAV-HDX589W
DAV-S400
HCD-DX375
HCD-HDX465
HDX267W

I hope this helps!

Until next time,
(hopefully sooner than a year from now).

M.

Labels: , ,

posted by Marcus at 11:30 PM | 10 comments

Defeat Sony's Proprietary Speaker Wire
Saturday, July 24, 2010


I usually like to put a little more time between posts, but this little victory deserves to be posted...

If there's one thing about technology that I really can't stand, it's proprietary connections... They're the worst, around! (in a Joe Esposito sort of way). I've encountered proprietary AC adapters for notebooks and LCD monitors, proprietary video plugs, proprietary audio cables, you name it! But recently, I had to deal with something that really takes the cake... Something so insidious, so evil...so... unnecessary! I discovered... a proprietary speaker wire.

Here's how it all went down...

I recently salvaged a Sony DAV-C450: it's an older 5.1 receiver... Anyhow, as I was hooking it up I found that one of the speaker wires seemed to be missing... No big deal (or, so I thought) until I took a glance at the back of the receiver and noticed this...


When you see it, you will... wait - how does that go again?


Ye gods... the horror of it all! A proprietary plug just for a standard set of speakers! Dammit Sony, how am I not surprised?! And of course, just to add insult to injury, on the speaker-end there's regular spring clips... /facepalm.

A few searches later, I had found others in a similar situation, but no solution...

I figured I'd check the Sony site to to see how much a replacement wire would cost... how bad could it be, right?

Well, this bad: $30 + tax and shipping! lol I was glad I hadn't taken that sip of coffee...

It became obvious that it was time to take a closer look at the plug itself...


Looks sorta familiar...



... and that's when it hit me. The spare quick connects remaining from the DIY Arcade stick!



A 22-18 AWG .110 insulated female solderless quick (dis)connect terminal. These guys are commonly available in bulk from electrical component and arcade parts suppliers.


Putting it all together

So, take...

A piece of extra speaker wire

and...


A bag of quick disconnect adapters.



+ Some splicing and crimping =



....Voila!


The quick connects fit around the outer sides of the pins quite perfectly, without any modification needed.

But does it work?

Yup!

This should probably work with (among others) the following systems as well as with the DAV-C450:

DAV-DX155
DAV-DX255
DAV-DX315
DAV-HDX589W
DAV-S400
HCD-DX375
HCD-HDX465
HDX267W


Enjoy!
M.

photo credit: supremevictory.com



Labels: ,

posted by Marcus at 9:24 PM | 28 comments
Epic Disclaimer: Certain projects are inherently dangerous, and even the most simple tool can cause serious injury or death if not used properly. Always read and follow instruction manuals and safety warnings. You must be particularly careful when dealing with electricity - always use common sense. Any advice, guidance or other information provided on the Robot Party! website or within any of its publications cannot completely anticipate your situation. If you are at all unsure about completing any aspect of any projects, consult a qualified professional or contractor to advise or perform the service(s) for you. Always follow electrical code requirements specific to your area, and before undertaking project that involves electricity, contact your local electrical authority and your insurance company to ensure that you comply with all policies, warranties, regulations and authorities concerning this work. You expressly agree to hold Robot Party! and its contributing authors, harmless for any property damage, personal injury and/or death, or any other loss or damage that may result from your use of the information provided. No advice or information obtained by you from us shall create any warranty not expressly made herein. Reader agrees to assume all risk resulting from the application of any of the information provided by Robot Party!. By using this web site, including any applets, software and content referenced therein, the visitor agrees that the use of this web site and its information product is entirely at his/her own risk. RobotParty! does not take any responsibility for the information presented. Information offered through Robot Party! is in no way guaranteed. Due to the nature of the internet, technology and the DIY movement some articles may discuss topics which may be illegal in some locations. Said information is provided for educational purposes only and is to be used at the reader's own discretion. Robot Party! and its contributing authors do not condone or endorse any illegal activity. All contents copyright © 2010, Robot-Party! All Rights Reserved.