[HCDX]: Re: swltalk: Radio Shack "Magic Speaker" back in stock !

[Joe Buch <joseph.buch@xxxxxxx>]

At 23:19 2/5/99 -0500, Chuck Rippel wrote:

>If you have access to a Radio Shack, I highly recommend one.  
>BTW, they are on sale just now for, you guessed it, $39.95.

Chuck et al,

I went out and bought one today.. The regular price is $59.95 so the sale
price is really good by comparison.  The sale lasts until the end of
February but don't wait too long as the store I bought mine at only had two
left.

As a test I hooked the speaker up to the right channel of the stereo in the
living room.  I put the amp in mono mode so I could pan the balance control
from left to right and thereby get an A/B comparison.  The original stereo
speakers are 10 inch woofer, bookshelf, acoustic-suspension types with
pretty good bass response.  Panning the sound from the left to the right
channel clearly showed the bass end was down from the big speakers but
still surprisingly good for the size.  The high end was very similar on
both speakers.  Cranking up the volume to the "Turn that damn thing down!"
level using the 30 watt per channel amplifier showed it cleanly handled
this power level with no sign of audible distortion.

Next I connected the speaker to the output of my Collins R-388 receiver.
This receiver uses a single 6AQ5 in the audio output which is the miniature
version of the 6V6.  The audio frequency response specs on this receiver
are rated at down less than 3 dB at 200 Hz and down less than 7 dB at 2500
Hz.  The 6AQ5 will typically put out about 4 watts of audio in Class A
service.  Not exactly hi-fi but a good compromise for AM BC and shortwave
listening.  The new speaker sounds cleaner than the old one.  The base is
much tighter and less boomy than the 4 inch speaker in a vented wooden box
that it replaced.  I am listening right now to the live WWVA Jamboree from
Wheeling on 1170 KHz and it really sounds good.

It doesn't compare to the R-390A driving my den stereo from the diode load
output, but then I didn't expect it to.

Another advantage of the new speaker is that the big magnet makes it really
heavy.  It makes a great bookend for the WRTH, Passport, etc. sitting
between the speaker and the radio.

Thanks Chuck.  Good tip.


                                                 _____
                                                /     \
                                               {) o o (}
                                         _____oOO_(.)_OOo______
On the keyboard of life,                |  _               _  |
always keep one finger on the escape key| |_| @ @  @  @ @ |_| |
~~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'|      @ _____ @      |
Joe Buch                                |  @  @ |     |  @    |
Amateur Radio N2JB                      |       |_____|       |
joseph.buch@xxxxxxx                     |    @  @ /-\ @   /-\ |
-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_|        |   |   |   ||
There are two rules for ultimate success|     @   \__/Oooo\__/|
in life. Never tell everything you know.|____oooO____(   )____|
                                              \ (     ) /
                                               \_)   (_/

------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a message from Joe Buch <joseph.buch@xxxxxxx>
to hard-core-dx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx list. To unsubscribe the list, send
"unsubscribe hard-core-dx" in mail body to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
For more information, please check http://www.iki.fi/rko/hard-core-dx/
or email Risto Kotalampi, risto@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
------------------------------------------------------------------------