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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on February 16, 2015 at 12:50pm

Most important is to match the speaker ohm rating to the amp circuit. Most cbg amp circuits require either/or a 4 or 8 ohm speaker. But I have seen a few cbg amps on Youtube that were made with car speakers. Another consideration is the watt rating. A car speaker that is rated for 50-300 watts really needs the extra power to operate at optimum performance and sound quality. Most cbg amp circuits are rated for 1/2 to 5 watts, with some alternate all-purpose amp circuits available online that are rated at 25 watts or so.

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Permalink Reply by Chuck Davis on February 16, 2015 at 2:16pm

Thanks for the quick reply!

So even if I can match the ohm rating to the amp circuit, chances are I'm not going to find a car speaker that will work well with the 5 watts or less amps from Guitar Fuel, etc. 

Correct?

 

Chuck

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on February 16, 2015 at 2:33pm

You'll likely get some sound. But the higher the car speaker's wattage rating, the further it will get from sounding good.

You can always connect the amp circuit to the speaker BEFORE installing it into a box to see what it does do. If you like it outside of the box, chances are it will sound even better inside the box, since the enclosure helps with the overall tone f the whole package.

A good and reliable option is to try a thrift shop. Always find used stereo speakers in the 3-6" range, 2-20 watts and 4 or 8 ohms that will only set you back about $3 to $5, maybe even for a pair.

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on February 16, 2015 at 2:37pm

To add to this, I have used full range speakers from a 6" stereo speaker rated as high as 20 watts with good results. So you're not limited to speakers in the 5 watt or under class.

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Permalink Reply by Chuck Davis on February 16, 2015 at 3:11pm

Thanks everyone for the ideas and guidance.  It's not that I'm opposed to using something other than car speakers, it's just what I already have lying around.  I like the TV speaker idea. 

I'm also thinking of building a small cab and running a 5 watt Hotone Nano head through it.  It runs 4-16 ohm speakers, but then again, it's just 5 watts.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on February 16, 2015 at 6:54pm

I have successfully used cheap car 3-way speakers, but I have found that, so far, my old paper cone JBL 6.5" full range speakers sound the best on my cheap DIY amps...

They work, but a lightweight paper cone is hard to beat.   Go down to you local car stereo shop, they will have pulls from car installations... Most will let you have old speakers for very little, if not free...

John

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on February 17, 2015 at 1:25am

Your car speaker is probably 4 or 8 ohms. With that out of the way, I say "Give it a try" Since you already have the speaker, hook it up to your amp circuit, plug in your CBG and try it out. I did that before building a cabinet and found that the two 3-way car speakers I had sounded pretty good with the cheap low watt amp circuit board I found on ebay. After that I built the cabinet and moved on to other projects.

Now, this isn't a stage-level amp, but is great for practice in the garage.

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on February 17, 2015 at 3:08am

Or as an old bartender friend used to say as he drained a glass before putting it in to the wash "Waste no want not..........."

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Permalink Reply by Chuck Davis on February 17, 2015 at 4:17am

This is the angle I should have come at this with, but learned something from everyone, which is the whole idea of these forums!!!

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Permalink Reply by Bufo Bill on February 17, 2015 at 11:10am

Chuck, the above advice is all great, but I would just like to clarify one point: using car speakers in homemade amps is much less likely to give you a herpes infection than the actions of Tom's bartender friend.
All the best from Bill. :D

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on February 17, 2015 at 12:22pm

I would pass the warning along if it didn't go back forty years to college days. His theory was that the alcohol did double duty as an antiseptic (easy to justify any behavior when you're twenty something).

Still good advice.

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Permalink Reply by Mungo Park on February 18, 2015 at 11:29am

I have gone around this a lot, low watt amps need efficient speakers, which are more expensive.

 I also have a roland microcube which also exelent if you put a better speaker in it.

Lots of things around like this:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/201128958032?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_t...

 And you can buy a laptop charger for a few bucks to power it, but it is not portable.

Something like this will make it portable:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/181112543103?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_t...

 it can then be run by a bunch of triple A batteries.

 good luck  Ron

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