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Topic: Splitting signal from iPod shuffle (Read 1302 times) previous topic - next topic
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Splitting signal from iPod shuffle

Hello. I've done plenty of tinkering but some basics I just don't understand, so don't laugh if this is a stupid question:

I need to split the audio signal from an iPod shuffle. Am I able to split the audio from that to 10, 2-watt speakers (16ohm)? I'd love to accomplish it without an amplifier. If I do need an amp, what's the absolute smallest amp there is, ideally that is battery powered?

These are the speakers I'm considering:
http://www.parts-express.com/2-round-frame-mini-speaker-16-ohm--289-131?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pla

Thanks

Re: Splitting signal from iPod shuffle

Reply #1 –
Those speakers each require 1 watt of power to reach 82 dB of volume, which is about 10 times what the Shuffle can put out.  So you could try driving a pair of them off of it, but it will be very quiet. 

What are you trying to do?  Why do you need 10 battery powered speakers?

Re: Splitting signal from iPod shuffle

Reply #2 –
Even with an amplifier, that could be a bit tricky...      5 Speakers in parallel (5 on the left & 5 on the right) is 1/5th of the impedance, or about 2 Ohms which is a bit low for most amplifiers.

If you can trim that down to 4 speakers on a side you can do a series-parallel configuration for a 16-Ohm load.

Parts Express has a good selection of small amplifiers.   I have this one.   It normally runs off a wall wart power supply, but you could run it off a battery.   You would need a fairly large 12V battery if you want full power and long battery life, and you'll only get about 1/4 of the power into 16-Ohms (compared to 4-Ohms).
 

Re: Splitting signal from iPod shuffle

Reply #3 –
Thanks a bunch for the advice. Ha! For some reason I thought I had seen that the iPod Shuffle outputs 60 watts. Turn out it was 60 milliwatts. Definitely going to need to amplify that. I'm actually not needing very much sound for each of these speakers. It's for a very unique need. But certainly more than 6 milliwatts.

Thanks