Is this speaker any good???

[hubble]

i got an old Zenith speaker box from the goodwill to use for a Ruby amp and found this inside.  looks old, i think maybe alnico?  any thoughts, will this be goot for a ruby or should i go with a 4 or 8 ohm?


and i think this tweeter might be nice for a smaller ruby, looks pretty cool

[the_random_hero]

Well there's only one way to find out if it sounds good or not...

[km-r]

Well there's only one way to find out if it sounds good or not...

running it with a 1000W boom-bass? 

[hubble]

i kind of wanted to put 2 6.5 inch speakers inside for a little practice combo but if this thing sounds good i might just leave it in

[Mark Hammer]

Given that it is part of a 2-way system, there is a distinct possibility that neither would sound "good".  The larger one is intended to not have any treble, and the smaller intended to not see (or reproduce) any bass.

On the other hand, if you were in the mood for making yourself a porta-amp for an amplified acoustic, that might be a nice setup.  Just note that speakers which divide the frequency spectrum up after the power amp are noticeably less efficient by virtue of the passive loss.  A more effective way to use them might be to make an active divider network (crossover) before the power section.

Alternatively, if simplicity and 386s is your bailywick, try this.  You are likely familiar with the loop between pins 1 and 8 of the 386 being used to set the gain.  Typically, one might see a 10uf cap in that loop to permit adjustment of the gain for the entire spectrum.  If that 10uf cap is replaced with smaller values (e.g., .05uf) the gain is increased only for higher portions of the spectrum.  One can tinker with that loop and essentially provide an "amp for the tweeter" by goosing the gain asymmetrically (more for treble than bass) and sticking a smaller value cap in series with the speaker to help out.

Conversely, if you look at the 386 datasheet, you can see that a cap+resistor loop between the pin 5 output and pin can serve a "bass boost" function.  That can be used to derive a dedicated "bottom only" amp section.

Putting it all together, if you took a feed from the FET source of a Ruby (http://www.runoffgroove.com/ruby.html) to a second cap, volume pot, and power amp, you could make yourself a nifty little bi-amped portable acoustic amp with the speakers you've found.