Re: [FWDLK] Radio Speakers

While we are discussing OEM speaker replacement, I just replaced my ‘56 Plymouth dash speaker with an improved 4ohm 6.5” diameter speaker. Since I a set/pair of speakers, I have one left over along with the proper 55/56 Ply/Dodge mounting tabs for “angled” placement as was the original. JVC CS-V628 6.5” with proper 4ohm impedance for a 55/56 Plymouth & Dodge. $20 plus shpg. Picture attached of angle mount brackets.

Please email me with any interest.

Thank you,

Gary Pavlovich

glpavlovich@xxxxxxx

From: Lou Vecchioni

Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2017 4:33 PM

To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Subject: Re: [FWDLK] Radio Speakers

If you are sticking with the factory OEM transistor radio, then it would be easiest and safest to use a factory rated speaker (probably 4 ohm impedance, and likely no wattage rating available, since they were pretty low in power)
If you want louder and higher fidelity music, then you’d move up to an aftermarket stereo system and select speaker(s) that are appropriately matched for that set up (2, 4, or 8 Ohms, with 100, 200, 300 watt ratings)
The radio/amplifier generates the power (wattage) which is the main thing that determines loudness. Factory radios are very low wattage (5 watts or less).
Ideally you want a speaker that is not only compatible in impedance (ohms) but has the appropriate power HANDLING capacity (watts)
In old cars, its only when you start using non-factory, high powered stereos and amplifiers that you start talking about “100 watt” or “200 watt” speakers
You don’t get any louder sound out of a "high wattage" speaker UNLESS YOU ALSO have an associated high wattage radio/amplifier
The discussion below about ohms (impedance) and pushing different power levels to the speaker is related to the fact that when there is an impedance rating mismatch, the amount of power that makes it from the radio to the speaker is impacted, (its sort of like the speaker either allows more power or resists more power from the radio amplifier) which affects the loudness.
If there is too much “draw" or too much resistance from the speaker, it can cause problems in the radio if the circuitry is not designed to tolerate the extra power drain or heat or whatever-weird-electrical-characteristic happens when the wrong speaker impedance is present
As stated below, low power radios like the original transistor models in a ’59 dodge might not be impacted much if you move from a 4 to 8 ohm speakers (overheating, etc.) But I worry about old electronics…especially since transistors were not as good quality as they were later. They used selenium-based components back then which I understand can burn out easier.

There’s also a whole other area of “speaker efficiency” or “speaker sensitivity” ratings (measured in dB) that affects how loud a speaker can be at a given wattage and impedance. Its all about how much power the speaker needs in order to to move (vibrate) the paper cone and reproduce sound. Some need less power than others. That discussion is usually limited to audiophiles who are trying to squeeze out as much sound as they can at a lower wattage in a home sound system.

On May 9, 2017, at 2:48 PM, Larry Ashbaugh <000003991ab8a71e-dmarc-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Ok, So if the speaker is set up for 8 ohms (seems to be the consensus) what wattage can I hope to push through the speaker (not looking at blowing the doors off, but don't want to over/underpower the system). Is 200 watts or more too much? How does wattage impact a tube-type radio (what is too much)?

Does it matter if the speaker is dual-cone, coaxial, etc?

Thanks. This is uncharted country for me.

Larry (Akron)

In a message dated 5/9/2017 2:04:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, mml-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

Date: Tue, 9 May 2017 12:59:25 -0500
From: Steve Lacker <lackersg@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Mopar Mailing List <mml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Radio Speakers
Message-ID:
<CAD4PAiGT0ZmGibkMeeXp9cGuoJ5zoaEr7hrBq+GQCTskyAaD=Q@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

At low power like stock radios, 4 or 8 ohms won't usually make much of a
difference. The radio can always push the most power into the speaker its
matched for- if its an 8-ohm radio and you hook up a 4-ohm speaker, you
won't get as much power into the speaker and so the volume will be a little
lower (and there'll be a little more heat in the amp itself since it will
be trying to push more current than its designed for, but at 1-5 watts of
output it doesn't matter much). By the same token, if the output of the
radio is 4 ohms and you hook up an 8-ohm speaker, the volume will be lower
also- in this case because the amp cannot generate enough voltage swing to
push full power into the 8 ohms. There's usually not much risk to the amp
in this case, until you get to 10s of watts where the higher voltage could
damage the output stages.

The one caveat I'd point out is that if that '59 has a vacuum tube radio,
all bets are off. Vac tubes required a transformer on the output, and the
speakers could have a lot of different impedances depending on how the
transformer was wound.

On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 8:37 AM, cdcooke--- via MML <mml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> Basically the lower the ohm value of the speaker, the higher watts the amp
> can push to it.
>
> IE if you have an 8 ohm speaker and the amp pushes 100 watts to it, if you
> drop that to a 4 ohm speaker the amp can then push 200 watts to the
> speaker.
>
> With a bone stock AM radio, I would just go with what is commonly available
> which should be a 4 ohm speaker today. Most everything is 4 ohms for auto
> speakers anyway. That factory AM radio won't push enough power to be of
> much concern anyway.
>
> On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 5:17 AM, ALIENVOICE--- via MML <mml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
> > I want (need) to replace the dash speaker in my 59 Dodge (5x7), but need
> > to know what ohm the AM radio will support. Appears most modern
> speakers
> > are much higher ohms than the older cars and I'm not up-to-speed on how
> > that
> > works.
> >
> > Ideas?
> >
> > Larry (Akron)
> >
> >

*************************************************************

To unsubscribe or set your subscription options, please go to
http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=l-forwardlook&A=1

Help The Forward Look with every Amazon purchase by clicking here!
Help the Forward Look with every eBay purchase by starting your search here!

*************************************************************

To unsubscribe or set your subscription options, please go to
http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=l-forwardlook&A=1

Help The Forward Look with every Amazon purchase by clicking here!
Help the Forward Look with every eBay purchase by starting your search here!