apple I Turned a HopePod Mini into an Amp

[Nyte-6]

One thing that bugs me about the Apple’s HopePod and HomePod Mini is that we get locked into what Apple considers a good speaker. Don’t get me wrong, as someone who’s owned all three generations of HomePods they do sound great for what they are. A while back I saw the tear down by IFIXIT about the Mini and it got me thinking. Apple, surprisingly, didn’t use a proprietary connector for the speaker, nor did they solder it directly to the PCB. Apple used screws! This made me think, can I connect the Mini to any speaker I want? The answer is yes. Yes I can. 

Fast forward to today and I decided to see what makes the Mini tick for myself. It’s surprising simple on the inside. Other than the weird fabric cover it was easy to take apart AND put back together. I forgot to take pictures as I was working on this little project but I did take some after shots and the guide by IFIXIT does a great job at explaining things. After removing the original speaker I used my trusty soldering iron to take the funky little terminals that Apple used and slapped them on some normal speaker wire. From there I removed a few of Apple’s little sound slots near the power cord to run the speaker wire through, a corresponding hole in the mesh, slapped it all back together, and hey presto I had a HomePod Mini that I could connect to any speaker I like. 

I know that there are AirPlay 2 adapters out there and I could use an AirPort Express (I’m already running several of those around the house) but I wanted to have the smart features. Being able to use my voice is convenient and it works seamlessly with the other HomePods I have. If you can’t tell by now I’m a wh**e for Apple. (I do have a gaming PC though) The Mini seems to have more than enough to power the speakers I’ve thrown at it.

I’m labeling this as revision #1, I plan on changing some things in future versions.

Some of the things I have in mind are:

Finding a location to run the wires out of that allows the Mini to sit without needing a stand

Figure out how to get both layers of fabric put back into place

Maybe install some type of terminal instead of hardwiring

EQ board???

Built in battery

 

I should also make it clear that I am not a sound engineer. I am a manufacturing engineer. If you’ve made it to the bottom of this without jumping to the comments then I appreciate you. I know there is a lot that I did wrong here, I do not have the equipment or knowledge to do this “right”.

As such, here are some other things that I am aware of:

No clue what the built in amp can safely handle

No clue if Apple has any safety features built in

No sure what the ohm rating of the speaker that Apple used is

 

I’ve glanced around the World Wide Web and haven’t found anyone else doing this but if anyone knows of a similar mod I’d love to know about it. Let me know if you think this is stupid or if Apple should create a smart speaker amp. 

 

[Heats with Nvidia]

I don`t like these always on listening devices in homes at all, but the modification itself seems sound.

It looks really good with the stand and even the hole for the cable looks good. In short: I don`t like the device, but i like what you did and how you did it.

[Nyte-6]

1 hour ago, Heats with Nvidia said:

I don`t like these always on listening devices in homes at all, but the modification itself seems sound.

It looks really good with the stand and even the hole for the cable looks good. In short: I don`t like the device, but i like what you did and how you did it.

Honestly I get it. As much as I “trust” Apple I would prefer a physical switch to kill the mic. Maybe I should see how the mic is intergraded and the feasibility of adding a switch? Hmmmm

 

I’m glad you didn’t find the speaker wire ugly. Out of these three options which do you think is best?

1) Keep it hardwired

2) Install banana terminals

3) Install a 1/4 or 3.5mm jack

[Heats with Nvidia]

9 hours ago, Nyte-6 said:

Honestly I get it. As much as I “trust” Apple I would prefer a physical switch to kill the mic. Maybe I should see how the mic is intergraded and the feasibility of adding a switch? Hmmmm

You can install a switch in parallel to the microphone so its shorted out when you don`t want it to work.

 

9 hours ago, Nyte-6 said:

I’m glad you didn’t find the speaker wire ugly. Out of these three options which do you think is best?

1) Keep it hardwired

2) Install banana terminals

3) Install a 1/4 or 3.5mm jack

As long as you don`t want to use the internal speaker in the future, i think i would leave it hardwired. But if you want the option to use it standalone, a 1/4 jack with a switch is a good option.