How to Make a Speaker Horn Into a Microphone

Any speaker can be made into a microphone.

Speakers and microphones are much more closely related than you might think. In fact, speakers and microphones use exactly the same principle and mechanism in their operation, but are designed to work best as one or the other. As a fun project, or to achieve a unique sound in a recording environment, a speaker can be made to function as a microphone with very little modification.

Things You'll Need

• Speaker
• Speaker wire
• Wire stripper
• Amplifier or recording device
• Microphone connector

Instructions

1. Measure and cut a length of speaker wire long enough to reach from your amplifier or recording device to the desired speaker location for capturing sound.

2. Split the speaker wire at each end. Grip the split ends and pull apart 4 or 5 inches.

3. Strip one-fourth of an inch of shielding from all four ends of the speaker wire with the wire stripping tool.

4. Connect one end of the speaker wire to the positive (+) and negative (-) contacts of the speaker.

5. Connect the other end of the speaker wire to the positive and negative contacts of the microphone connector.

6. Connect the microphone connector to an amplifier or recording device and test that the speaker is capturing sound. The volume level of the captured sound from the speaker will be much less than a regular microphone. You may have to adjust the input levels of your amplifier or recording device to compensate.

Tips & Warnings

• Speakers used as microphones work especially well at capturing low frequencies, as the speaker's cone or "horn" is much larger than a regular microphone's diaphragm. Great results can be achieved by using a speaker as a microphone to capture a drum kit's kick drum or a bass guitar amplifier.

References

• Zyra.org: All speakers are microphones