modifying internal pc speaker

[RogueTrip]

I hate how loud PC speakers are, always have, If I boot my computer while my gf is sleeping it will sometimes wake her up. So, other than unplugging it I am thinking of just reducing voltage. Would it serve me better to use a 5 to 3.3v regulator (LM2937ET-3.3) or something like a 10k trim pot?

I know the trim pot would make it adjustable, but if someone has tried this before, is it a noticeable difference at 3.3v?

 

[Elledan]

I don't know exactly how effective it will be, but a resistor/potentiometer is the easiest way to reduce the signal voltage in this case, yes. 5k/10k should work fine, depending on the adjustment range you need.

Thought about a 'mute' switch as well?

 

[grjr]

A typical PC speaker is an 8 ohm load, you'd be better off using a small value resistor in series instead of a kilo-ohm range potentiometer which would give you a limited real world range of adjustability. Try experimenting with different value resistors (resistors are cheap), I'm guessing something like 100 ohms would probably work out well.