Anyone know a good source for little speakers?

[Harry]

I'm talking about a couple watts for a practice amp. Any that work good for guitar?


Thanks

[bancika]

Check out Weber, he has 6" and maybe 4". I wouldn't go smaller than 6"

[jrc4558]

If you happen to live anywhere near Toronto, Ontario, Canada, then - Active Surplus!

[Mark Hammer]

Lots and lots of places and companies have 8" full range speakers for use in ceiling-mounted intercom systems.  I've bought quite a few from a place near me that salvages from their other wrecking business.  Man of these have a nice bottom and top end, and provide a nice compromise size where a lot of volume can be extracted without a lot of cab space.  You can often find them for well under $15.  I've paid as little as $5@.

[Harry]

I wouldn't go smaller than 6"

Why not?

[Joecool85]

Any smaller than that and speakers are't horribly efficient, and tend to have cruddy frequency response.  I wanted a 2.5" or so speaker for my littlegem, so I bought a $5 radio, gutted it and used the speaker.  To me it was well worth the $5.  It actually sounds ok, but, on that same note, it is 2-3x louder when playing through my 10" dean markley cab.

[Mark Hammer]

Depends what you want the thing to do.  If all you want to do is work out the chords for something, or tune backstage, then you can hear those with a 2-1/2"  "beeper" speaker salvaged from out of an old 286 computer.  If you want the "feeling" of an amp, or want to test out gear with something approximating full guitar bandwidth, then 2-3" is not going to be enough.  I made myself a "leaky" closed cab practice amp with an LM380, 8-pack of C-cells, and a 6" Marsland speaker whose bass performance and volume still impresses me.  Some 6" speakers, and even 4-1/2" speakers, can have striking bass.  If "practice" for you means playing with other people or busking, though, then I suspect nothing less than an 8" is likely to deliver the sort of volume levels needed.

[Peter Snowberg]

Check out Weber, he has 6" and maybe 4". I wouldn't go smaller than 6"

+1

I've tried a lot of speakers with 386 amps and the larger, the better. They sound GREAT through my Leslie 122 (15 inch woofer & a tweeter around 6 inches).

[bancika]

I wouldn't go smaller than 6"

Why not?

Cause they sound like poo, depending on sound you need recommened size is either 12" or 10" (for fender-like sound), anything beyond that just doesn't sound good with guitar.

[twabelljr]

     MCM has some low cost full range speakers. This one seems like it would make a decent small practice amp speaker. 5 1/2 inches, 8 ohms, 25W, wide freq. range, 5 bucks: http://www.mcminone.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=MCMProducts&product%5Fid=58%2D9935&info=details

[Harry]

Insert Quote
     MCM has some low cost full range speakers. This one seems like it would make a decent small practice amp speaker. 5 1/2 inches, 8 ohms, 25W, wide freq. range, 5 bucks: http://www.mcminone.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=MCMProducts&product%5Fid=58%2D9935&info=details

Thanks, That might be what I'm looking for.

Cause they sound like poo, depending on sound you need recommened size is either 12" or 10" (for fender-like sound), anything beyond that just doesn't sound good with guitar.

OK I see what you mean. Just finished playing through a 3" and a 4.5" speaker. They do have GREAT highs, but sound rumbley and crap for the lows.

[bancika]

Yeah, smaller speaker just can't have same depth as 12", especially when played with distortion. It would sound fizzy

[brett]

Hi.
I have a MusicMan with 2 x 10s that sounds excellent.  But I feel that it is difficult to get strong bass and high efficiency out of 6" or smaller speakers.

Have a look at Sammi speakers - very cheap and very high quality.  My US$50 Sammi 12" sounds about as close to a Greenback as a Greenback re-issue does.  Here's their 40W 8" : http://www.sammisound.com/products/pro/03-17.htm
cheers

[Harry]

After only playing through small speakers today and being very happy with the brightness and clarity I'm wondering why it isn't "standard" For guitar amps to have a small speaker and a larger one with a crossover. Bigger speakers swamp all the shiny parts from the tone.

[brett]

Good question.
I think it is personal choice mostly.  I don't like that bright tone all of the time.  I have a bright MusicMan (nee Fender) and a dull Marshall.  Each has their "thing", but at the moment I use the Marshall 80% of the time (mid-life crisis = playing ACDC a lot ??).
cheers

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

The other approach, is to just take a domestic "bookshelf" speaker & stick a little amp in it!! Speakers are cheapo at furniture auction places or thrifts.

[smank]

This is a classic problem. Sometimes I think to realize a smaller box for practice... but every time I plug my small cab with G10 Vintage Celestion speaker I decide this is the smallest speaker I'll use with my guitar: it sound very good and offers a good feeling! Sometimes you forget it's a 10" speaker... But it's not so cheap. I use it at home with my AX84 P1 (class A 5W with EL84).
The choice for 8" could be the Celestion Super 8.
I don't know how sounds the Jensen MOD series speakers, but they are cheap and there is a 6,5" speaker too: instead of generic speakers I think they are acceptable for guitar.

[bancika]

+1 for Jensen MOD, I didn't hear them either, but they are cheap and made for guitar...cany be bad like car speakers or something. Also Weber Signature are very cheap and maybe better than Jensens

[Twister22]

The other approach, is to just take a domestic "bookshelf" speaker & stick a little amp in it!! Speakers are cheapo at furniture auction places or thrifts.

Hell, just take a computer monitor unit that someones throwing out with their 5yearold Dell and use a 1/4" ot 1/8" adapter.  Call it your Cyber-Pignose. 

[Mark Hammer]

Antique Electronic Supply has some nice deals on smaller Jensen Mod speakers these days.  https://secure.tubesandmore.com/