Speaker for Ruby amp

[feddozz]

Hi all
I am planning to build a ruby amp (ggg schematic). I own a JBL creature set of speakers. It's a little 8 ohm active amplified system which I believe it could give me a better quality that a little speaker.

Could I connect it through the headphone jack?

It is obviously a stereo system, instead ruby is mono, is that ok? Do i need to modify the headphone jack in any way to make it work?

Would it sound better than, say, this (although I could not find the frequency response...)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Electronics-Multimedia-Aluminum-Internal-Magnet-Speaker/dp/B00WW6KGYA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1450171442&sr=8-2&keywords=4+ohm+speaker

Thanks

[Elijah-Baley]

It is not how you would to do, but I built a cabinet with a cheap 8" guitar speaker. My Smokey Amp and Punch Amp sound pretty nice and loud.

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=109077.0.

[Philippe]

It is not how you would to do, but I built a cabinet with a cheap 8" guitar speaker. My Smokey Amp and Punch Amp sound pretty nice and loud.

+1...just go out & buy a weber signature series 8" alnico speaker. they're about $35.00.

[GibsonGM]

+100    If the speaker system you show is already amplified, you wouldn't need the Ruby    These guys are right - a decent regular (guitar) speaker makes a WORLD of difference!  Regular speakers, for music - don't sound right for guitar as they're not optimized for guitar frequencies.

[PRR]

> I could not find the frequency response...

http://d2stobyut4u5rx.cloudfront.net/ImageBank/v20041223135200/Manuals/109/109CRTRIIW.PDF

45Hz-20KHz

This is a HI-FI speaker. All the "tone" has been damped-out so it re-produces "perfectly" (or as good as it gets for the price).

Guitar tone PROduction usually wants a "flavored" speaker, with limited and uneven freq response and good "throw". A raw-paper 8" or larger.

The Creature "can" play guitar, but it needs a buffer/booster in front to give a higher input impedance and bump-up the level. (Which means a power supply, tho a TL071 would run for many days on a 9V battery.) And I think it will sound "blah".

Altho there's 45 Watts of amplifier inside, the highly-damped too small speakers will have much lower efficiency than a large raw-cone speaker. It may go louder than a Ruby, but nowhere near 100X louder.

[feddozz]

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice, although this is a complete change of perspective. Initially, I though I'd build a cheap simple amp with no pretences. Now we are talking about spending between £30-50 on the finished product. Which I do not mind, but I want to understand what I am going to get for those money.

I must admit, that looking at the ruby, the initial perception is that it cannot be that great compared to say a decent commercial 10w amp (I know the ruby has far less power than that, but I am interested to sound quality rather than volume); probaly because my mind has been plagiarized by marketing campaigns that want us to believe that if it has not a big name it cannot be good. But it is also true that I have never seen or heard a ruby amp. Therefore, the real question is: is it worth running a speaker like the ones mentioned before with the Ruby?

I can understand the future proofness argument but that is not really the point here.

So if the answer to the  question above is yes, we can talk about specific products. I had a look around and in hte UK Weber speakers are less available an more expensive than in the US. Have you ever heard of these ones? Any good?

http://www.hotroxuk.com/celestion-eight-15-4ohms.html
http://www.hotroxuk.com/celestion-eight-15-8-ohms.html
http://www.hotroxuk.com/jensen-chicago-6-15-mod-speaker.html

Thanks
f

[slashandburn]

Ruby amps come in all different shapes and sizes. If it's any reassurance, I really like it and have built a fair few. Mostly in 1590B/BB enclosures, with little novelty 45mm mylar(?) Speakers or recycled hi-fi speakers and a speaker out Jack to connect it to a cab. A proper speaker for guitar is the deal breaker though! It's just a toy, until you plug it into to a proper speaker or cab.

Really though! Build one. They're brilliant. Then build some of the other low powered amp circuits. The LM386 is what brought me here, and I'm really fond of it but it's a little quirky.

Argh. All I meant to say was, you could build one with whatever speaker you have (I.e: rip one of the speakers out of that hifi thing you have) and just add a Jack on the output to connect a cab or whatever, bypassing the built in speaker whenever something's plugged in.

I'd say any of those speakers you linked would be perfect. Other s will be able to advise you better. You really want 8 ohms though, one of the links was to a four ohm speaker.

[monksanto]

http://www.parts-express.com/eminence-6-1-2-guitar-speaker-20w-4-ohm--299-402

[pinkjimiphoton]

a ruby doesn't have the power to make a celestion or good speaker's cone cry as it should, so don't waste the money.
imho the best results with a ruby for tone took an unexpected detour when i built dick wagner a "lunchbox" amp based on the ruby
with way too many gizmos in it to go wrong. but i tried a bunch of speakers, and to my ear, these worked best. they break up nice like a good guitar speaker, have a high enough wattage rating that the ruby can't blow them, and are tiny and funky in a good way and did i mention CHEAP??

4'' 8-ohm Universal Replacement Speaker



4'' 8-ohm Universal Replacement Speaker
Only $ 6.99

Cat.# 7040 / CALRAD id # 20-233

http://cablesandconnectors.com/

one is plenty for a ruby, 4 is a real nice little guitar box that will squawk nicely with a small amp and sound like a real honest to god
guitar speaker. ymmv, but out of all the speakers i've tried (i've got kustoms, kays, shin ei, marshalls, celestions, utahs, oxfords,jensens and jbl's here kicking around to try stuff thru) these ones sounded most like a celestion v30 on the edge of breakup.

jmo, ymmv

[feddozz]

Hi
Thank you all for your advice. I ended up making a speaker cab for a celestion super 8 speaker

I need to fix the jack socket to the cab, apart from that it is finished.




I boxed my ruby inside a big switch. Operation of the switch actually switches the amp on.


I forgot to say, with a guitar speaker it sounds great!

[Elijah-Baley]

Great!
With my cheap cab/box I fixed the jack trough this: http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/Parts-for-Cabs/Terminals/Dish-round-Black-Metal-Jack-Ferrule-Single-1-4::3156.html.