Good Evening all.
It is good to see that I am not alone in my desire for better audio from
today's rigs.
Last month I traded for a Corsair II with power supply/spkr combination. The
unit was described by the owner as mint condition--which it turned out to be.
When I first hooked up the Corsair I noticed a low level of audio output, plus
sound that was less than desirable.
I have another Corsair II which I use with a generic 12 Volt power supply and
a home-built speaker enclosure. The speaker is a six inch "cheapie" from Radio
Shack.
I decided to switch speakers before digging deeper. Eureka! The sound came up
to normal and sounded much better...as good as the other Corsair. Yes, the
sound is indeed louder with a better speaker and enclosure.
I removed the TenTec speaker for inspection and testing. It was fine--no
problems--just a small cheap speaker.
Now this is no big deal...Speakers are cheap and still available practically
everywhere. I made a trip to my local home repair outlet and picked up a piece
of 5/8 inch white pine. They have it is various sized sheets--all overpirced.
I choose a piece about 36 X 18...the cost was around eight bucks. Using noting
but a sander and little scroll saw I built a speaker cabinet large enough to
hold a Radio Shack
5 X 7 speaker, and an old MFJ audio filter I purchased years ago at a
Hamfest. The audio filter does little for the Corsair--but think what it will
do when using this speaker with a simple home built regenerative receiver....
The back of the speaker enclosure was covered with 1/4 inch plywood. I sawed
two holes in the back cover--each hole two inches in diameter for "ports"-- a
poor man's bass-reflex speaker.
Now even with the anemic output of solid state transceivers this speaker
sounds good. It could sound much better for about 20 bucks more. Total
investment in the unit I built is about 35 bucks. Total time--probably six or
eight hours. Working with no power tools is a slow process.
The point is...let's not make a big thing out of something this simple..Just
about any speaker in any wood enclosure is going to improve the sound of your
solid state rigs. Let your pocketbook and your critical ear determine the
quality of speaker installed. I plan on building another to match the Corsair
II and use a better speaker.
I designed this cabinet to match some 1935 gear that I will probably end up
using the speaker with. I use external speakers on all my rigs including the
Kenwoods, the Omni and the Corsairs. I do use the standard Drake speaker with
my "B" line.
Soon, I will have a picture of this speaker ready to upload if anyone wants to
see what it looks like..
E-mail to NR5Q@AOL.COM
73,
Bruce, NR5Q
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