So I bought a Z523 at the thrift store for $6, just to experiment with because, hey $6! Thing was, I couldn't find a pinout for the 9 pin RS232 that goes to the right satelite, likely because most people have better things to do - but I don't! So here is what I've got so far.
1 - ?
2 - Standby (This needs 5V. An L7805 IC with 12V from pin 3 and ground from pin 5 works)
3 - 12V
4 - ?
5 - Ground
6 - Ground
7 - Mute (This needs a jumper from ground, pin 6 works)
8 - ?
9 - Ground
With this, I have the sub channel working with input from the AUX inputs on the back pannel.
This accidentally kinda worked, final solution posted below.
I'm still woking on pins 1,4, and 8 one of which is output and two should be input.
Thing is, I may have been a bit overzealous with the 5V jumper wire when I was probing around, so I might have cooked the circuits for the satelite outputs somewhere, or maybe it was fried when I bought it, we'll see.
More to follow!
1 - ?
2 - Standby (This needs 5V. An L7805 IC with 12V from pin 3 and ground from pin 5 works)
3 - 12V
4 - ?
5 - Ground
6 - Ground
7 - Mute (This needs a jumper from ground, pin 6 works)
8 - ?
9 - Ground
With this, I have the sub channel working with input from the AUX inputs on the back pannel.
This accidentally kinda worked, final solution posted below.
I'm still woking on pins 1,4, and 8 one of which is output and two should be input.
Thing is, I may have been a bit overzealous with the 5V jumper wire when I was probing around, so I might have cooked the circuits for the satelite outputs somewhere, or maybe it was fried when I bought it, we'll see.
More to follow!
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Well, I haven't totally killed the Z523 yet, and I know I am kinda going at this like a mosquito on meth, but I think now that pin 9 is left channel output and pin 7 is Sub input.
Also I fried my little MP3 player by feeding output back to input at some point, but I never really liked it much anyway...
Also I fried my little MP3 player by feeding output back to input at some point, but I never really liked it much anyway...
Pretty cool project. I've passed up several thrift store subwoofer finds because they have those crazy proprietary controller connections and I couldn't find any pinout guides available.
I don't envy the effort it must take to have gotten that far.
I don't envy the effort it must take to have gotten that far.
Maybe this could help you: X-530 pin out. Please note, IIRC the numbering of the pins is wrong on that website. Don't know whether the Z523 and X-530 are similar.
Thanks! I have had a look at that, and it's not the same. I'm shifting to nights tomorrow, so I'll have more time in the day to explore this further.
I bought this one, because I reciently found a Z5500 for $8 and got it working perfectly in a 4.1 config, and was crazy happy with it. This one is more elusive, but interesting none the less.
I bought this one, because I reciently found a Z5500 for $8 and got it working perfectly in a 4.1 config, and was crazy happy with it. This one is more elusive, but interesting none the less.
OK! Getting closer. Pulled the board out, had a look at the trace and the IC pinouts
1 - Right Speaker Out
2 - Standby
3 - 12V
4 - ?
5 - ?
6 - Ground
7 - Sub In
8 - L In
9 - L PreOut
Hopefully, I'll have the last of the puzzle tomorrow.
1 - Right Speaker Out
2 - Standby
3 - 12V
4 - ?
5 - ?
6 - Ground
7 - Sub In
8 - L In
9 - L PreOut
Hopefully, I'll have the last of the puzzle tomorrow.
Done! Final solution. I went in thinking it was going to be as tricky/fancy as the Z5500, but it turns out it is easier than that.
Suprising bass from this little thing. Quite a fun little project for $6. Saw one on sale today for $75, but where's the fun in that?
Here is the pinout for the 9 pin connector;
1 - Right speaker out.
2 - Standby. Needs to be jumpered to PIN 3.
3 - 12V. To PIN 2.
4 - Right channel in. Jumper this from PIN 5.
5 - Right channel 'pre-out'. Jumper to PIN 4, and through 30-50k to PIN 7, along with PIN 9.
6 - Ground for speaker with PIN 1.
7 - Sub channel in. See 5 above.
8 - Left channel in. Jumper from PIN 9.
9 - Left channel 'pre-out'. Jumper to PIN 8, and through 30-50k to PIN 7, along with PIN 9.
I'm still experimenting with the resistor values. 30k is still a ton of bass. I'm thinking I'll end up with maybe 30k fixed and another 50k pot for each.
I soldered onto the board inside for a power switch between 2 & 3, and for another speaker out for the right side, like the left is, drilled holes near the board on the back of the box. I've got the in/out jumpers run outside temporarily, until I find the right resistance, then I'll have just the bass control in a POT out the back too, hopefully a double throw, so it is just one knob to turn.
Suprising bass from this little thing. Quite a fun little project for $6. Saw one on sale today for $75, but where's the fun in that?
Here is the pinout for the 9 pin connector;
1 - Right speaker out.
2 - Standby. Needs to be jumpered to PIN 3.
3 - 12V. To PIN 2.
4 - Right channel in. Jumper this from PIN 5.
5 - Right channel 'pre-out'. Jumper to PIN 4, and through 30-50k to PIN 7, along with PIN 9.
6 - Ground for speaker with PIN 1.
7 - Sub channel in. See 5 above.
8 - Left channel in. Jumper from PIN 9.
9 - Left channel 'pre-out'. Jumper to PIN 8, and through 30-50k to PIN 7, along with PIN 9.
I'm still experimenting with the resistor values. 30k is still a ton of bass. I'm thinking I'll end up with maybe 30k fixed and another 50k pot for each.
I soldered onto the board inside for a power switch between 2 & 3, and for another speaker out for the right side, like the left is, drilled holes near the board on the back of the box. I've got the in/out jumpers run outside temporarily, until I find the right resistance, then I'll have just the bass control in a POT out the back too, hopefully a double throw, so it is just one knob to turn.
I'll put this here, in case anyone is looking for this info some time in the future.
I'm at 330k for the resistors going into PIN 7 for the speakers I am using. The thing is, at this level, some of the bass seems to low and others too high, so I did a quick frequency response, and not a real huge suprise, the Z523 has a peak at around 110Hz which falls off rapidly to not much at around 50Hz one way, and fairly quickly by 180-190Hz the other way too.
My plan now is to take the guts out of this box and use them to build a better box with a flatter response, I'm thinking ported, for the experience of the build.
Also, there was some odd vibrations, I'm guessing from wires rattling inside, so make sure those are secure, mine had twist ties stapled to the inside walls which were supposed to be for securing wires, but were never used. Easiest way is to remove the front passive radiator by using an awl, or long wood screw to pop the wire mesh out, then remove the screws.
Lastly, just from eyeballing it, I think the heatsink is maybe a bit light to disipate heat, so I wiped off and reapplied thermal silver grease, and added an aluminum heatsink outside the factory one too.
I'm at 330k for the resistors going into PIN 7 for the speakers I am using. The thing is, at this level, some of the bass seems to low and others too high, so I did a quick frequency response, and not a real huge suprise, the Z523 has a peak at around 110Hz which falls off rapidly to not much at around 50Hz one way, and fairly quickly by 180-190Hz the other way too.
My plan now is to take the guts out of this box and use them to build a better box with a flatter response, I'm thinking ported, for the experience of the build.
Also, there was some odd vibrations, I'm guessing from wires rattling inside, so make sure those are secure, mine had twist ties stapled to the inside walls which were supposed to be for securing wires, but were never used. Easiest way is to remove the front passive radiator by using an awl, or long wood screw to pop the wire mesh out, then remove the screws.
Lastly, just from eyeballing it, I think the heatsink is maybe a bit light to disipate heat, so I wiped off and reapplied thermal silver grease, and added an aluminum heatsink outside the factory one too.
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So, wow...two things -
I just did a bit of insulating on 4 insides of this Z523, on 4 of the 6 sides,actually 1/4" thick pads for soaking up oil spills, it looks like cotton fiber. This seemed to clean up alot of the odd harmonics.
The really cool thing happened when I added 35g of weight to the passive radiator (with a 1" X 1/4" bolt with 4 washers and two nuts) Running a frequency generator, you can actually see the resonant frequency of the PR, and it is now down to 35Hz, where the PR is at maximum travel, maybe 3/8". The response is clearly much flatter now. I had to swap the sub channel resistors from 330k to 150k, so there is the tradeoff of efficiency/power for flat response, but it is so much better.
Totally worth doing, just for the science, and so awesome to get such a clear outcome from modifications. If you have a Z523, add 35g to the PR! You wont regret it.
I just did a bit of insulating on 4 insides of this Z523, on 4 of the 6 sides,actually 1/4" thick pads for soaking up oil spills, it looks like cotton fiber. This seemed to clean up alot of the odd harmonics.
The really cool thing happened when I added 35g of weight to the passive radiator (with a 1" X 1/4" bolt with 4 washers and two nuts) Running a frequency generator, you can actually see the resonant frequency of the PR, and it is now down to 35Hz, where the PR is at maximum travel, maybe 3/8". The response is clearly much flatter now. I had to swap the sub channel resistors from 330k to 150k, so there is the tradeoff of efficiency/power for flat response, but it is so much better.
Totally worth doing, just for the science, and so awesome to get such a clear outcome from modifications. If you have a Z523, add 35g to the PR! You wont regret it.
Sorry for waking up and old thread, but good job with this!
I'm trying to follow your pinout table but I'm at a loss on a few points.
Pin 7 supposed to be connected to pin 5 with the resistance but still jumpered directly to pin 9 which is jumpered to pin 5 aswell? Wouldn't that beat the purpose of the resistance from pin 7 to pin 5?
And how do you connect the subwoofer input to your reciever? Do you use the RCA ports above the RS232-interface or is there a connection for a single RCA subwoofer in the pinout table?
Do you use the C13 power connection or is it powered through the connection to the reciever?
Thanks!
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