Little gem: I need recommendations for small speaker: 2-3"

Started by jm35, October 04, 2010, 11:11:44 AM

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jm35

Little gem: I need recommendations for small speaker: 2-3"

Morocotopo

My recommendation: don´t bother.
Such small speakers won´t make any kind of nice sound, and they will distort, but not in a nice way. There are no speakers in that size made for guitar use, so what you can get will be unadequate. Also they will be very low sensitivity, meaning you won´t get much sound out, more so taking into account that you have low power to begin with (1 watt or so). Try to find something in 6" or 8", those will work much better.
At least that was my experience when fiddling with 386´s.
Morocotopo

Mark Hammer

Go to the curb on garbage day.  Somebody somewhere will have a pair or two or three of those cheap plastic computer speakers, each of which will come with a reasonably decent 3" full-range speaker that can sound okay in a better cabinet.  Scrounge up 4 of them and make yourself a little micro-Marshall stack.

petemoore

  Well...since I'm here now, Marks suggestion is logical.
  I saw these drivers at Parts Express for 78c a pop.
  Also worth checking out the drivers that have some of the specs listed, or other such enticements.
Convention creates following, following creates convention.

DDD

The better {cheap} speaker for that purpose is an old speaker from the old tube AM radio, say 6 or 8 inches.
These speakers are the "fathers" of the guitar speakers from the point of view of frequency response, compressing properties and sensitivity.
Check for it your father's and neighbours' garage  :icon_biggrin:
Too old to rock'n'roll, too young to die

Philippe

Quote from: Morocotopo on October 04, 2010, 03:17:19 PM
My recommendation: don´t bother.
Such small speakers won´t make any kind of nice sound, and they will distort, but not in a nice way. There are no speakers in that size made for guitar use, so what you can get will be unadequate. Also they will be very low sensitivity, meaning you won´t get much sound out, more so taking into account that you have low power to begin with (1 watt or so). Try to find something in 6" or 8", those will work much better.
At least that was my experience when fiddling with 386´s.
Tend to agree here...unless you are striving for a compact sound/tone reminiscent of those battery operated 'toy' Marshall/Fender miniatures.

One of those small 5" speakers from a Pignose 7-100 should work pretty well or perhaps a 6" Jensen MOD (if you happen to like the tone) OR better yet, DIY a small enclosure out of pine or high-grade plywood & slap something like an 8" Weber Signature Series (AlNiCo or ceramic) in it. They're pretty reasonable...will set you back about $35.00 or so.

JRM

The first thing you should decide is for what will you use the amp: It's for practice at night while the kids are sleeping (I would) or to have a portable unit like that micro-Marshall? I'm thinking to build an amp like this as well as a 6" or 8" cab, with the headphones output for night practice and the cab for traveling, holidays, etc...