5mm w/ ~1mm center pin.

This is for a pair of Bose Companion2 SeriesIII computer speakers. There is an attached audio cable from the left speaker that plugs into the right speaker with this connector. The center pin has broken off, terrible design. It cannot be obtained from Bose. Unable to find on Digikey, AliX, Amazon, etc. The speakers cannot be opened, or I would already be done! It is a 5mm O.D. barrel with an insulating tip that sleeves inside the barrel. In the center of the barrel is a small, exposed pin. I tried a 0.8mm O.D. DuPont pin in the mating jack and it is a bit loose so, ~1mm O.D.? Basically, a power plug being used as an audio plug which may mean it is a custom to Bose part. I hope not, but...

QSG_C2III-SPEAKERCOMPUTR_ml.pdf

 

5mm w/ ~1mm center pin.

This is for a pair of Bose Companion2 SeriesIII computer speakers. There is an attached audio cable from the left speaker that plugs into the right speaker with this connector. The center pin has broken off, terrible design. It cannot be obtained from Bose. Unable to find on Digikey, AliX, Amazon, etc. The speakers cannot be opened, or I would already be done! It is a 5mm O.D. barrel with an insulating tip that sleeves inside the barrel. In the center of the barrel is a small, exposed pin. I tried a 0.8mm O.D. DuPont pin in the mating jack and it is a bit loose so, ~1mm O.D.? Basically, a power plug being used as an audio plug which may mean it is a custom to Bose part. I hope not, but...

QSG_C2III-SPEAKERCOMPUTR_ml.pdf

Used ebay?

 

Looks pretty easy to take apart for replacing the connector with something common.

Did people pay good money for that?

 

Looks pretty easy to take apart

Wrong model... [Junk Repair] Unstable sound speaker Bose companion 2 series iii repair

And once I got it apart, the jack is molded into the plastic casting. There is nothing wrong with the jack so, if I can't find the plug connecter, I will have to cobble some parts together to MacGyver a connection. I'd like to avoid trashing up the speakers if I can, but it looks doubtful.

You can remove the speaker grills and speakers to kinda peek inside. Impressive little speakers and they wrapped everything in foam and sealed the press on front piece of the speaker enclosures as well. Only downside for this model was in the bass range, and I used them with a subwoofer that took care of that.

 

Used ebay?

That's a possibility but was hoping to find the barrel connector for cheap if it's available anywhere.

 

If there's any hope of finding a mating connector, a set like this from AliExpress may have it. Look through the pictures.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mt4LMWh

 

5mm w/ ~1mm center pin.

This is for a pair of Bose Companion2 SeriesIII computer speakers. There is an attached audio cable from the left speaker that plugs into the right speaker with this connector. The center pin has broken off, terrible design. It cannot be obtained from Bose. Unable to find on Digikey, AliX, Amazon, etc. The speakers cannot be opened, or I would already be done! It is a 5mm O.D. barrel with an insulating tip that sleeves inside the barrel. In the center of the barrel is a small, exposed pin. I tried a 0.8mm O.D. DuPont pin in the mating jack and it is a bit loose so, ~1mm O.D.? Basically, a power plug being used as an audio plug which may mean it is a custom to Bose part. I hope not, but...

QSG_C2III-SPEAKERCOMPUTR_ml.pdf

Might one of these connectors work?

https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Regu...-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

 

a set like this

Yes, I have a couple sets of those and already looked. This connector is an oddball and apparently a custom by Bose. I did find a few single speakers on eBay for ~30+ USD. Even used a set of these sells for 100+USD. So, it's either cut and pry them open or MacGyver a kludge that works. I guess I'll have to start with trying to put a kludge together.

 

What about drilling a hole in the box and adding a different socket/plug?

 

What about drilling a hole in the box and adding a different socket/plug?

That was my first option until I discovered that the speaker enclosures were glued together. There is a You Tube video from a Japanese guy who sawed and pried one open but would like to avoid doing something that extreme. I was hoping it would be a simple cut off and replace the connector but apparently that is not an option. I'll cut the plug off the cable and since it is a molded one will carve it open and see if it can be somehow repaired or used to make a kludge out of. If not... We'll see and as a last resort I may have to cut it open. Why they didn't simply use a 3.5mm audio plug I'll never understand.

 

Bose.

 

until I discovered that the speaker enclosures were glued together.

Okay.
Would it be possible to drill a hole next to the connector to access the connection?

 

Every computer speaker that I have come across has either a "phono" )(RCA) plug and jack or a common 1/8 inch two conductor plug for the external speaker. Does tha TS still have the broken pieces??
One possible work-around would be to buy an extension cable for the speaker at a computer store, such as Micro Center. In fact, that store may even have the plug in stock, in their parts and pieces section.

Popping apart a glued enclosure, if the glued seam is accessible, can be done, with a sharp knife blade and a small hammer to gently tap it. I have done this a lot of times.

 

I cut the plug off of the wire and removed the molded angle connector holding the barrel connection. You see the ground wire soldered to the barrel and the back of the broken center hot pin. The insulating plastic completely shields the center pin from the barrel by extending all the way to the tip of the barrel.


Then came the fun part. I sawed off the plastic back of the barrel to better expose the remaining center pin and drove it out of the plastic. The pin was less that 1/16" so I had to improvise using some hex bits and eventually (as the hex bit was too short) an Allen wrench driven with my brass hammer to get it out.


Now I'll have to come up with a center pin to replace the broken one (brass rod stock?) and solder and shrink wrap the results. Don't think it will go back as an angle connector but as long as it makes good connections It'll be good to go.

Edit: Found some 1mm brass rod on AliX so waiting on the slow boat from China...

 

OK, so now we re still guessing as to just what the connector actually looks like. IF you are able to measure the connector a replacement PAIR may be available. NOT AN EXACT REPLACEMENT, but probably a much better and more durable replacement. From an HONEST company that provides accurate descriptions of the products they sell.

What is the purpose of the opening on the back end of the connector??
Are you able ro accurately measure the diameter and length of the pin part of the connector?
IF you can make accurate measurements of the diameter of the broken off pin, and the diameter of the outer pin, then it will be possible to build a replacement plug, if materials are available. on mm solid copper wire and 5 mm diameter copper or brass tube. a fine file, or a coarse sharpening stone to shape the ends. Then thin plastic tape to wrap around the wire to hold it stable in the center of the larger diameter tubing.
If you can't find a plug you can build a replacement.
AND, if nor that, post photos of the speaker housing including the front and corners. I DO FIX THINGS SUCCESSFULLY!! AND I am willing to share information. If the enclosure is glued, then the speaker did not go in that way.

 

What is the purpose of the opening on the back end of the connector??
Are you able ro accurately measure the diameter and length of the pin part of the connector?

It is where I knocked out the center hot pin (which has diameter of ~1mm) and the mount that held it. I will check the fit of the rod into the socket of the jack and adjust diameter accordingly. Notice that the pin's base that I knocked out has a larger diameter end. That was the end holding the pin inside the barrel so I was able to measure the end that was soldered to the cable and it was exactly 1mm so that is close to what the brass rod should be. I already checked the fit of a 0.8mm O.D. DuPont pin in the socket and it was a bit loose so ~1mm should be a good fit. When I place the barrel into the socket, I will then insert the brass rod through the opening in the rear of the barrel and seat it into the socket to set its insertion depth. Then superglue the rod into the plastic with the rod inserted into the socket to keep it aligned as the glue sets. Trim the rod, solder the cable back onto the rod and barrel, and shrink wrap it with a couple layers of tubing. I may even paint the solder joints with liquid tape rubber compound before shrink wrapping it if I deem it is needed. The only real problem that I foresee may be the gluing of the rod into the plastic opening depending on the fit of the rod into the hole which I know has a slightly larger I.D. than 1mm. Which I hope will not be a problem but if it is I will address it. If superglue doesn't work, I may try some epoxy. The actual pin that broke off was lost. After being unplugged, I noticed the pin end bent over against the barrel and when I tried to straighten back into position it fell off. Absolutely a terrible design when a simple 3.5mm Audio plug would have been perfectly acceptable... Also, having one end hardwired into the speaker enclosure which was then sealed shut not such a good idea either.

 

The alternative being to neatly remove the front grill, remove the speaker, and run wires out the opening where that connector was. Then reassemble it and splice on the connections.

 

Nope, I removed the grill and speaker to find there is also a circuit board (filtering?, amplifier, balance and volume control) as well in the base of the enclosure that you can barely see that is unreachable without breaking open the enclosure. This connector is to plug the 2nd speaker into the main control speaker. There are NO circuit diagrams or even a blow-up diagram with parts list or ANY parts available from BOSE. The only part for sale is the basic 3.5mm stereo audio cable from the computer to the speakers or the wall wart to power them. BOSE is highly protective of their designs. They are no longer in production, so they don't repair/replace them. Terrible design... Which is probably why they no longer make this model. Other than that, they are great little speakers and even on eBay are ~100USD used and 170USD for new old stock.

 

OK, and now it is clear that this IS NOT the speaker shown in the you tube video. Evidently it is the powered speaker that includes the amplifier for both channels. That certainly does add a lot of complexity. BUT it is possible that the circuit board was installed thru the speaker opening, so that it might also be removable that way.
BUT, thinking back to a Bose sound bar thatI was asked to repair,, I recall that it was made to be serviced as an assembly..

 

The Japanese You Tube shows the breaking open of the sealed enclosure. After assembly the front piece snaps on to the back shell of the enclosure. However, BOSE chose to glue that seam in addition to the 4 connection clips holding the front piece onto the shell. I can only assume it was done to eliminate any potential resonance caused by the vibration of the joint. For whatever reason, it made it a real bear to get the enclosure open to service anything inside. I did remove the grill and speaker, but the opening is too small to be of any use in servicing anything inside. Simply a way to change out the speaker unit itself. The really strange thing is that the wires to the speaker, there are 3 of them. The two driving the speaker are wire wound onto pins and not even soldered! The third wire is soldered to the frame of the speaker, and I would assume it is for grounding but without the schematic I am only reverse engineering the design by likelihood. And there are no polarity markings on the speaker terminals so marking the wire colors is recommended if replacing it. For which there are no replacement speakers available from BOSE. It seems that BOSE does not want anyone other than factory repair licensees doing any work on their products. In my opinion, overly protective of their product design...