Hi all, some of you may have bought from my shop before. I put together an audio upgrade kit and wrote a fully-illustrated guide with help from my friend Mel Ho. And then decided not to put them in the shop! There’s a few reasons for this. While I am happy with the upgrade, it’s not perfect and has some quirks. It’s also a pretty easy install with readily available parts. So what I have done is listed the basic parts and info here. It’s a small amp and a new speaker and many of you will be able to put this together no problem. For those that need a bit more guidance I have put together a fully-illustrated PDF guide which covers full disassembly, wiring and installation of the upgrade – you just need basic soldering skills. You can find that via shop link in my signature.
UPDATE 1: I'm going to try out a suggestion for shielded cable.
UPDATE 2: Whelp - now I feel silly. Based on a FB comment about the GhostLab42 add-on connector, I investigated some more and as GhostLab42 had already figured out, only have the toggle switch is used. SO we are able to turn off the amp via the other half of the switch. I will update this in the guide and add some pictures.
Here's a demo of upgrade - https://youtu.be/miEO-z4J_-c?si=kMJ1Ht3mB8xPAc7a
Full guide available in my shop - link in signature.
![Image]()
OK, so parts needed are:
- Adafruit amp #2130
- Speaker - Same Sky CDS-5709-254SP
- Both items can be found on Mouser or DigiKey
- 8” - 11” 24G dual wire - larger gauge will work but may not fit through holes on board
I must have gone through 16 different speakers until I found one that sounded good and fit – that’s the one listed above. If you are searching out your own it needs to fit these specs:
2.25” diameter MAX x 1/2” tall MAX (if using existing clamp – could fit taller if using different setup)
2.5W to 3W - 4 to 8 ohms
![Image]()
The amp board gets power off the cartridge connector – see picts. The original speaker wire goes to input of board and the new speaker goes to the terminals. You want to make sure to position wires on cart connector as shown so it doesn’t interfere with clamp. It also needs to be routed as shown so it doesn’t interfere with the cartridge release mech.
GOOD:
- Loud
- Easy install – just need basic soldering skills
- Fully reversible
- Trap knob still controls volume
- Pretty cheap
BAD
- Unfortunately does not work with my original speaker upgrade – the specs needed for speaker were different.
- Low-level buzz when audio not playing – think this is from trap sound system – not sure.
- Board is always on so puts a slight drain on batteries. This can kill them if sitting for days. I have been popping out cartridge slightly so the connector disengages and this avoids the problem.
- The board CAN be setup to fully turn off but as far as I can figure it would need an additional switch. Smarter folks than I will surely figure it out.
Goes in like so - this is the quickest way - board is secured with velcro or tape. End of v-hook screw taped to avoid shorts. Better placement is near front axle but you must extend the existing speaker wires.
![Image]()
Power comes from cart connector. Pos from red-stripe side of ribbon, neg from other side (labeled J1 on board).
![Image]()
Existing speaker wire goes to Audio In. New speaker goes to terminals. Vol pot on board can go just about full blast. May get some distortion with both trap and board at full.
![Image]()
UPDATE 1: I'm going to try out a suggestion for shielded cable.
UPDATE 2: Whelp - now I feel silly. Based on a FB comment about the GhostLab42 add-on connector, I investigated some more and as GhostLab42 had already figured out, only have the toggle switch is used. SO we are able to turn off the amp via the other half of the switch. I will update this in the guide and add some pictures.
Here's a demo of upgrade - https://youtu.be/miEO-z4J_-c?si=kMJ1Ht3mB8xPAc7a
Full guide available in my shop - link in signature.
OK, so parts needed are:
- Adafruit amp #2130
- Speaker - Same Sky CDS-5709-254SP
- Both items can be found on Mouser or DigiKey
- 8” - 11” 24G dual wire - larger gauge will work but may not fit through holes on board
I must have gone through 16 different speakers until I found one that sounded good and fit – that’s the one listed above. If you are searching out your own it needs to fit these specs:
2.25” diameter MAX x 1/2” tall MAX (if using existing clamp – could fit taller if using different setup)
2.5W to 3W - 4 to 8 ohms
The amp board gets power off the cartridge connector – see picts. The original speaker wire goes to input of board and the new speaker goes to the terminals. You want to make sure to position wires on cart connector as shown so it doesn’t interfere with clamp. It also needs to be routed as shown so it doesn’t interfere with the cartridge release mech.
GOOD:
- Loud
- Easy install – just need basic soldering skills
- Fully reversible
- Trap knob still controls volume
- Pretty cheap
BAD
- Unfortunately does not work with my original speaker upgrade – the specs needed for speaker were different.
- Low-level buzz when audio not playing – think this is from trap sound system – not sure.
- Board is always on so puts a slight drain on batteries. This can kill them if sitting for days. I have been popping out cartridge slightly so the connector disengages and this avoids the problem.
- The board CAN be setup to fully turn off but as far as I can figure it would need an additional switch. Smarter folks than I will surely figure it out.
Goes in like so - this is the quickest way - board is secured with velcro or tape. End of v-hook screw taped to avoid shorts. Better placement is near front axle but you must extend the existing speaker wires.
Power comes from cart connector. Pos from red-stripe side of ribbon, neg from other side (labeled J1 on board).
Existing speaker wire goes to Audio In. New speaker goes to terminals. Vol pot on board can go just about full blast. May get some distortion with both trap and board at full.
Statistics: Posted by countspatula — February 19th, 2025, 7:44 pm