stereo speakers

[denise 20352]

   I went shopping for some inexpensive 6x9 speakers today, and I noticed that there were some for $20 and some for $60.  Both had three-way tweeters, both seemed to be made of the same materials, and the magnets were about the same size.  What is the difference that makes one brand of speakers more expensive than another?


-d

[Doug Houston]

Thats a difficult question to answer. In general, 6X9 speakers sound very good. They first appeared around 1940-41  and were popular for automotive sets, because thay offered compactness and good sound.

There are dozens of brands and styles of speakers in the stores. The bigger the magnet, the more efficient and sensitive they are. They have some really hellish magnets these days, and the ones with bigger magnets will probably be the most expensive.

Another factor is power handling capacity. You see some pretty high claims for power ratings. For the most part, these are over-rated. The power ratings are for calculated power for bursts, rather than for continuous power application. Ive seen power ratings of possibly 50 or 100 watts for even 12 inch spaekers. If you were to pump that much power into those speakers, youd have smoke and a shredded speaker cone on your hands.

Fortunately, the radios in our cars have little output power, so a conventional speaker can do a decent job. On the bigger systems, as a lot of cars have, there is an outboard power amplifier from the radio (Bose, etc.), and they do kick more power into the speakers, but they use several speakers in the car. I have an 88 Mercury with a similar system in it, and the speakers do indeed, work hard.

In home systems, anything can happen. I have a tube-type receiver, driving a couple of Electro-Voice cabinets with 18 inch woofers in them. They often get a lambasting from some of my pet recordings. Its tough on the house structure, too!

[denise 20352]

Well, I got the $20 speakers, not only because I couldnt tell any difference between the $60 ones, but because Billy Joel said that I would get more mileage out of them.  He also said that I could be a real Bullbrummer with a pair of pink sidewinders and a bright orange pair of pants, but they didnt have those at Wal-mart.  They said to try back again around March.

These speakers say that they are rated at 400w max and 80w RMS, which, I assume, means that any more than that will fry the coil of wire inside them.  One thing that I noticed a long time ago about automotive stereos is that the THD (total harmonic distortion) per watt is always several times higher than home stereo.  Maybe youre not supposed to notice it over the road noise?  I have an idea that these speakers would explode if I put more than 25 or so watts into them, but fortunately, thats all that the new stereo does.

I cant wait to hear it, but unfortunately this is not a GM car, so I had to run an extra wire to each speaker for floating ground.  I also have to run a battery circuit, because modern stereos run from the battery and just use the switched circuit to tell them to turn on and off.

-d

[Eric Kahn clc 20839]

What kind of car was it?
not sure what you mean by the "floating" ground, the only time I had to run rgound wires for speakers was in a really old car (do not remember the make) that grounded the speakers to the body and had only 1 wire going to each

[Doug Houston]

Its like I just said: wattage ratings for speakers are more BS than real. That high wattage rating is ridiculous, but the dingaling kids believe it, and its the basis of their one-upsmanship. The only speakers that can handle high power like that are special compression drivers for high power PA horns.

As far as the "floating" ground goes, you can some times have what is known as a "ground loop", which is the condition where the ground to the signal source is not good, and the speaker will actually have signal injected into it, usually by the alternator. To avoid that, a separate ground wire is used to the speaker, and the possibility of a ground loop is eliminated.

[JIM CLC # 15000]

01-11-06
Denise, Fast story. My BIL (Brother-in-law) had a house built. Paid about $300.00 per speaker for in the house. When it came to his garage, he installed a $30.00 speaker and swares it sounds better then the $300.00 speakers. Glad hyou went for the $20.00 ones.
Good Luck, Jim

[denise 20352]

This is my Chysler.  The speakers are actually grounded to their own cases, and there is only one wire going to each.  I had to run one new wire to each one.

GM cars, since at least as far back as the 80s, I think, have had two wires going to each speaker, so no new wiring is necessary to put in a modern stereo.

-d

[denise 20352]

  I had a friend who spent hundreds of dollars each for some speakers called Magnapans.  They were big flat things, with no cones, but more like a membrane with magnets running around it.  I was skeptical at first, as I was with the $200 preamp that had vacuum tubes in it, but I have to admit that the system sounded totally live.  There werent any bass or treble controls on it, because, as he said, if you spend a lot of money on a stereo system, you want to hear the music back exactly as it was recorded.  The bass coming out of those speakers sounded totally natural, with no thumping, popping, or mudiness.  I wonder if they make Magnapans for cars.

-d

[Eric Kahn clc 20839]

No magnapans for cars, they really on a very large surface area moving a little bit to make the sound, the whole door panel would have to be the speaker and it would not sound right as bass is boosted in cars so you car hear it over the noise of the car and magnapans do not do loud bass very good

I have Klipsch chorus 2s at home, very large speakers that sound great and require next to no power to drive them

[denise 20352]

  I have finished it all except for fabricating a back strap and repairing the antenna connector.  I put in a CD test it, and it sounds fantastic, better than many of the home stereos that Ive owned.  Not a bad deal at all, for a total cost of $170.

  Now my only problem is, where do I put the remote control?  Obviously it cant go on the key ring.

-d

[denise 20352]

  Suppose you made every panel in the car a speaker.  Instead of having the sound come out of certain places, the whole car would be a living, breathing thing.  Wouldnt that be freaky?

-d

[Rhinoguy 21150]

The remote gets stuck to the center of the steering wheel with self adhesive velcro strips. Then you can get a second velcro band and put it on your sleeve. Assuming its radio and not infrared.

[denise 20352]

It is infrared.  I can actually point it through the back window and it works, but wherever it is, it has to point at the radio.  I put a keychain ring on it and I put it on my snap keychain, then I can easily take it off and put the ring on my finger.  That seems to work pretty well.


-d