I like listening to shortwave and ham stuff using biggish speakers.
Little speakers like computer speakers sound chintzy to my ears.

As examples, I have an old 50's Caliphone record player/PA system that
has two remote 15" speakers and I just love the way my shortwave and
ham stuff sounds through these speakers. I also have some Electovoice
EV5's (again, big old mellow speakers) and I love the way things sound
through these.

But I don't want to undo my record player setup or stereo system setup
to borrow the speakers. If I wanted a new speaker with similar
qualities - nothing fancy, just a big speaker in a big wood box -
where would I look? Would a guitar amp speaker (something I can buy at
a guitar store?) be the right thing for me to buy?

Going into Short Circuit City or Radio Shack I don't see anything that
really seems like what I want. I did get a couple of Radio Shack patio
speakers (5 inch drivers in a metal box) and those are better than
anything else new I've found, but they still don't sound mellow enough
and still a bit tinny. They're sort-of listenable and I've been using
them for a while but their tinny is kinda grating after a while. I
want big and mellow. Where do I go and what do I ask for?

Tim.

wrote:
I like listening to shortwave and ham stuff using biggish speakers.
Little speakers like computer speakers sound chintzy to my ears.

I know what you mean, my station extension speakers are some 8" stereo
speakers I found at a thrift store. No tweeters, just an 8" cone driver
and I like how they sound.

... Would a guitar amp speaker (something I can buy at
a guitar store?) be the right thing for me to buy?

It would probably get the sound you're after but it would be expensive
and big.

... Where do I go and what do I ask for?

I've had success in thrift stores like Good Will, pawn shops, etc. I
look for old stereo speakers with wood cabinets, not plastic.

In my van I use an old GE land mobile extension speaker. It sounds
great for voice communications, not tinny, not boomy. There's usually
someone at a hamfest selling old land mobile radios, they might have
speakers.

Happy Hunting!
- Galen, W8LNA

Speaker designed for use with amateur and two-way radio, shortwave and
scanner listening.

http://www.soundssweet.com

Look at how it is constructed and buy the parts from www.partsexpress.com
..
Here are reviews from hams that own this speaker:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2754

Randy AB9GO

On Jan 25, 11:26 am, gwatts wrote:
wrote:
I like listening to shortwave and ham stuff using biggish speakers.
Little speakers like computer speakers sound chintzy to my ears.

I know what you mean, my station extension speakers are some 8" stereo
speakers I found at a thrift store. No tweeters, just an 8" cone driver
and I like how they sound.

... Would a guitar amp speaker (something I can buy at
a guitar store?) be the right thing for me to buy?

It would probably get the sound you're after but it would be expensive
and big.

... Where do I go and what do I ask for?

I've had success in thrift stores like Good Will, pawn shops, etc. I
look for old stereo speakers with wood cabinets, not plastic.

In my van I use an old GE land mobile extension speaker. It sounds
great for voice communications, not tinny, not boomy. There's usually
someone at a hamfest selling old land mobile radios, they might have
speakers.

Happy Hunting!
- Galen, W8LNA

In article , gwatts wrote:
wrote:
I like listening to shortwave and ham stuff using biggish speakers.
Little speakers like computer speakers sound chintzy to my ears.

I know what you mean, my station extension speakers are some 8" stereo
speakers I found at a thrift store. No tweeters, just an 8" cone driver
and I like how they sound.

... Would a guitar amp speaker (something I can buy at
a guitar store?) be the right thing for me to buy?

It would probably get the sound you're after but it would be expensive
and big.

... Where do I go and what do I ask for?

I've had success in thrift stores like Good Will, pawn shops, etc. I
look for old stereo speakers with wood cabinets, not plastic.

In my van I use an old GE land mobile extension speaker. It sounds
great for voice communications, not tinny, not boomy. There's usually
someone at a hamfest selling old land mobile radios, they might have
speakers.

Happy Hunting!
- Galen, W8LNA

Cheap autosound speakers, 6 X 9. etc, tend to have high Qts giving a nice low
mellow boom, when mounted right. One without a tweeter would be best.
Listening on communication speakers like 4 inch types, give little
excitement to music and speech. Of course most of the older radios had
the "big" sound.

greg

In article
,
AB9GO wrote:

Speaker designed for use with amateur and two-way radio, shortwave and
scanner listening.

http://www.soundssweet.com

Look at how it is constructed and buy the parts from www.partsexpress.com
.
Here are reviews from hams that own this speaker:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2754

I don't know if I would trust that speaker to "sound sweet", it is a
"tuned port, bass reflex speaker", and those tend to have a peaky
resonant bass, not a sweet bass sound. They probably used the "tuned
port, bass reflex" because the box would have had to be larger than
their target size otherwise.


Regards,

John Byrns

--
Surf my web pages at, http://fmamradios.com/

On Jan 25, 12:31*pm, John Byrns wrote:
In article
,

*AB9GO wrote:
Speaker designed for use with amateur and two-way radio, shortwave and
scanner listening.

http://www.soundssweet.com

Look at how it is constructed and buy the parts fromwww.partsexpress.com
.
Here are reviews from hams that own this speaker:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2754

I don't know if I would trust that speaker to "sound sweet", it is a
"tuned port, bass reflex speaker", and those tend to have a peaky
resonant bass, not a sweet bass sound. *They probably used the "tuned
port, bass reflex" because the box would have had to be larger than
their target size otherwise.

Regards,

John Byrns

I think you've got a good point John. The speakers I like
(Electrovoice EV5, Califone PA speakers) are not reflex or tuned port
speakers. They're just big speakers in big boxes.

I have been consistently disappointed by "multimedia" speakers with
subwoofers. In fact I'm pretty uniformly disappointed with what I've
heard in Short Circuit City et al lately. Loud and shiny is not my
current taste. Maybe 20 years ago it would've been my taste!

The Radio Shack patio speakers (metal box) aren't awful. But if I've
got them on for hours, it's a big relief to my ears to switch to a
mellow speaker instead.

I'm thinking about taking AB9GO's advice, just buy a big speaker and
put it in a big box.

Tim.

In article , John Byrns wrote:
In article
,
AB9GO wrote:

Speaker designed for use with amateur and two-way radio, shortwave and
scanner listening.

http://www.soundssweet.com

Look at how it is constructed and buy the parts from www.partsexpress.com
.
Here are reviews from hams that own this speaker:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2754

I don't know if I would trust that speaker to "sound sweet", it is a
"tuned port, bass reflex speaker", and those tend to have a peaky
resonant bass, not a sweet bass sound. They probably used the "tuned
port, bass reflex" because the box would have had to be larger than
their target size otherwise.


A properly tunned box will sound pretty good and not boom.
The decision of ported vs open or closed depends greatly
on the driver itself, dictating which enclosure is best
suited for itself. Higher Qts is a closed box, and higher still is
open box. Lower Q must be ported to get the bass back from the higher
damping.

The box no doubt goes too low. You need a roll off
above 50 Hz. A larger computer system also goes too low.

grge

On Jan 25, 12:31*pm, John Byrns wrote:
In article
,

*AB9GO wrote:
Speaker designed for use with amateur and two-way radio, shortwave and
scanner listening.

http://www.soundssweet.com

Look at how it is constructed and buy the parts fromwww.partsexpress.com
.
Here are reviews from hams that own this speaker:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2754

I don't know if I would trust that speaker to "sound sweet", it is a
"tuned port, bass reflex speaker", and those tend to have a peaky
resonant bass, not a sweet bass sound. *They probably used the "tuned
port, bass reflex" because the box would have had to be larger than
their target size otherwise.


How much bandwidth would a "Ham" speaker be expected to cover? Perhaps
the same as that required by basic telephony (300 - 3400hz)? Less?
Wiki gives:

Soprano (240 - 1170 Hz)
Mezzo-soprano (220 - 900 Hz)
Contralto (130 - 700 Hz)
Tenor (130 - 440 Hz)
Baritone (110 - 350 Hz)
Bass (80 - 330 Hz)

And Ham Radio ain't nohow opera... harmonics and overtones are
certainly less of an issue, perhaps? And no need at all to reproduce
basso-profundo notes for sure.

Looking at that information, things get a bit easier, perhaps?

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

On Jan 25, 1:43*pm, Peter Wieck wrote:
On Jan 25, 12:31*pm, John Byrns wrote:





In article
,

*AB9GO wrote:
Speaker designed for use with amateur and two-way radio, shortwave and
scanner listening.

http://www.soundssweet.com

Look at how it is constructed and buy the parts fromwww.partsexpress.com
.
Here are reviews from hams that own this speaker:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2754

I don't know if I would trust that speaker to "sound sweet", it is a
"tuned port, bass reflex speaker", and those tend to have a peaky
resonant bass, not a sweet bass sound. *They probably used the "tuned
port, bass reflex" because the box would have had to be larger than
their target size otherwise.

How much bandwidth would a "Ham" speaker be expected to cover? Perhaps
the same as that required by basic telephony (300 - 3400hz)? Less?
Wiki gives:

Soprano (240 - 1170 Hz)
Mezzo-soprano (220 - 900 Hz)
Contralto (130 - 700 Hz)
Tenor (130 - 440 Hz)
Baritone (110 - 350 Hz)
Bass (80 - 330 Hz)

And Ham Radio ain't nohow opera... harmonics and overtones are
certainly less of an issue, perhaps? And no need at all to reproduce
basso-profundo notes for sure.

Looking at that information, things get a bit easier, perhaps?

Most communications speakers are rated at something like 100Hz to many
kHz. The oft-quoted number needed for voice communication (at least
male voice communication) is 300 to 3000 Hz.

The frequency ranges you posted were, I believe, fundamentals; a
certain amount of voice comprehension requires accurate reproduction
of the the harmonics, and I think I've read that for the lowest male-
voice frequencies, having the harmonics is more important for
comprehension than having the fundamental. (Makes sense... otherwise
the 300Hz to 3000Hz would exclude all the voice ranges you give, in
particular nearly ALL of the bass range!)

I have an unfounded belief that for voice communications, any
resonance or substantial variation in response in the 300 to 3kHz
range is in large part responsible for the "tinny" sound that I
ascribe to small speakers.

Tim.

Save your $160 and stop in at your local Hamfest:
http://www.arrl.org/hamfests.html
and look for a communications speaker that appieals to you. Those old
Motorola police car type speakers are great for voice.

Paul P.