SUGGESTIONS FOR REPLACMENT ORIGINAL MADISON SPEAKER

[Sonar]

Although I've both original uniden Madison speaker's I only use one. It's not only a lack of space but both speaker's sound different. One gives a decent mix of high and low tone while the other is very bassy. I use the one with the better high and low tone mix. I'm assuming speaker technology has changed since these Madison speaker's were offered with the rig about 30 years ago. I'd like a single speaker with a 3.5mm (1/8") plug but I do have several 1/4" to 1/8" (3.5 mm) adapters. If the speaker is going to make the difference I'm expecting it too I don't mind what plug it comes with as long as I can purchase an adapter. I'd also like to be able to mount it to the utility cart that houses my setup. If the one suggested has a mounting bracket all the better. I am open to an amplified speaker if that's going to make a difference for the better. I've never used an amplified speaker but would rather not worry about powering it up unless it can be plugged into a 110 outlet. I don't know what the actual size of the speaker that's encased in the president labeled speaker housing but the case/housing appears to be 4" by 4" Square. It's much longer in length which to me is actually a waste of space. I have read that stuffing insulation or even an old shirt inside the housing usually gives the speaker a better sound. I doubt sound can come close to a new external speaker made specifically for ham, CB Radio or SW listening. There are so many available on eBay the choice seems daunting. Can someone suggest one that they use or have heard and will help the incoming sound on this radio. I have to believe there's a better soeaker then what was originally offered with the Madison (fourth generation) which I currently use. If you can share a link or two I would appreciate it greatly. It doesn't have to be an eBay seller. HRO, Cheap Ham or any seller of this type of speaker is fine.. Anywhere between $20 and $50 would be nice. If sharing Link's isn't an option suggesting frequency response of speakers that should make this Antiquated speaker I'm using
not only make my received sound better but actually blow it out of the water' would be excellent. thank you my friends. 73

 

[wavrider]

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/3712

http://qrznow.com/dsp-noise-cancelling-speakers/

OR be cheap like me and purchase some computer speakers from a thrift store or flea market, usually get the pair for $1.they sound good, take up less space in the shack.

No need for the amplifier in them but you can use if it suits your purpose

 

[space cowboy]

My mobile speaker is an unamplified advent computer speaker. didn't need to rewire it either. left the stereo plug and cut the off channel speaker cable where it splits off.
For many years I ran a speaker from a junk all-in-one stereo in the back seat. it was a cheap 4 or 5 inch with a small port. box was made from masonite. cut the rca off and rewired with the 1/8th. best cb speaker I've had. just too big for the car. I still keep it just in case.

 

[Sonar]

There's a few Goodwill industry's and the like stores all within a 15 mile radius. I never thought to check them out. I'd rather purchase a speaker that's specifically for our hobby equipment but for a few Buck's I might be plesently surprised. I don't own a PC but have heard the sound that comes out of them. They actually sound incredible while playing music. I will give my local Goodwill a look see. Thanks. 73

 

[Sonar]

There's a few Goodwill industry's and the like stores all within a 15 mile radius. I never thought to check them out. I'd rather purchase a speaker that's specifically for our hobby equipment but for a few Buck's I might be plesently surprised. I don't own a PC but have heard the sound that comes out of them. They actually sound incredible while playing music. I will give my local Goodwill a look see. Thanks. 73

I purchased the westmoutain DSP speaker from cheap ham for the excellent price of $185. I did an unbelievable job but I was offered $100 and about $400 in miscellaneous equipment. There was an item unrelated to CB that I not only wanted but needed. So I made the swap. Included in that deal was an autek qfa1. I used it for awhile with good results but I knew it would from my research take some time to figure out how to get it dialed in. I didn't have the manual but ubtained one 2 days ago. I'm beginning to figure out how to get the best out of it. That's when I thought if I'm going to use the autek I might want a better soeaker. Don't get me wrong the president speaker I'm using with the Madison sounds ok but it's not only 30 year's old but taking up much space. That's when I looked on eBay and saw many speaker's that can be mounted out of the way and I'd venture to say speaker technology has changed since these presidents were made. I'm hoping to get something smaller that I'm assuming will give my recive a nicer sound. I'm going to take the advice of space cowboy and try a computer speaker but hope others who've purchased a particular speakerfor their rig will whaigh in. Thanks. 73

 

[DJboutit]

https://www.walcottradio.com/wilson-electronics-305600-chrome-cb-external-speaker-p-2523.html

https://www.walcottradio.com/uniden-bearcat-bc20-external-20-watt-cb-speaker-p-2398.html

 

[StrangeBrew]

I know people who use center channel speakers for surround sound setups with good results, a bit of patience can usually get you a deal on one on craigslist or ebay.

 

[space cowboy]

I'm hoping to get something smaller that I'm assuming will give my recive a nicer sound.

actually, in most cases smaller gets you worse sound, at least to my ears. the smaller the speaker the less air it moves and the more loss you experience in the lower registers. granted cb isn't high fidelity but with most of the audio in the mid range you'll tend to get your best audio from a 5"-6" full range speaker. you don't need larger because there's limited bass and no tweeter required for highs.
speaker tech hasn't changed much.

 

[Sonar]

https://www.walcottradio.com/wilson-electronics-305600-chrome-cb-external-speaker-p-2523.html

https://www.walcottradio.com/uniden-bearcat-bc20-external-20-watt-cb-speaker-p-2398.html

It's coincidental that you sent me a link for that Chrome speaker. I was looking at it and originally considered it as my first choice. Problem is I'm not a chrome type of person. I did choose a$13 speaker from an eBay seller. The reason why I chose the particular speaker I did was that the seller offers a 7 day return policy and he will pay the shipping return price. Now I must say that I I'm not a Frugal person and the reason I chose the speaker was because if the seller is so confident that the speaker work so well as to offer a 7 day return policy where he pays the shipping I would think the seller believes it's a quality sounding speaker. My purchase was a 7 watt 8 0hm with mounting bracket. He sells many related items but most of his items consist of speakers. Most of all his feedback is from buyer's of speakers. I wish I could share with you my eBay purchase but for some reason cannot. I saved the eBay purchased to my drive but when I choose the option to share that or anything from my drive with this site I get a notice in a large red window saying that this option is not possible for some reason or another. I will let you know how the speaker worked out. Thanks to those who responded. Much appreciated. 73

 

[space cowboy]

Why would you need anything from your computer? just copy the link for the sellers ad page and paste it into the reply box.

 

[Onelasttime]

Why not just hose a good home stereo speaker used or a 6X9 in a box? Sadly even in the 1990's a cigar box with a 4x6 sounded better than factory speakers. A huge metal and plastic case designed to match the size and shape of the radio does not do anything for the sound. A coaxial speaker 2 or 3 way aimed at the wall not you would likely perform better than the factory radio's speaker. I like to use bigger speakers myself with lots of damping to eat up some of the white noise but you have to be careful not to lose all your mids and highs when doing this.

It is not so much about cost rather matching the speaker to what you actually want to hear, the fidelity of your radio and any hearing loss you might have either from occupational exposure or even just age related!

Decent formerly high end book-shelf and center channel speakers can often be had cheap at Good Will, Salvation Army and the like if you shop around and wait for a deal. I take a fairly dim view of most speaker's sold specifically to the CB world as "external speaker's" they are often over priced and if they do have any filtering or amplification they are normally not that great! Generally the enclosure does not matter since we do not want more bass in our sound and I am not sure anyone makes a highly tuned cabinet for HF specific audio freq. coverage. DSP and such are outside of your budget.

Unless you can hear it first I would not spend big on a radio specific external speaker!

 

[sonoma]

I bought 2 rear deck car boxes for my speakers and put good quality 6X9 speakers in the boxes. the speakers have tweeters built into them and the audio will sound a little off on the stock speakers and plug in the 6X9 speakers and the audio clears up.

 

[Sonar]

Why not just hose a good home stereo speaker used or a 6X9 in a box? Sadly even in the 1990's a cigar box with a 4x6 sounded better than factory speakers. A huge metal and plastic case designed to match the size and shape of the radio does not do anything for the sound. A coaxial speaker 2 or 3 way aimed at the wall not you would likely perform better than the factory radio's speaker. I like to use bigger speakers myself with lots of damping to eat up some of the white noise but you have to be careful not to lose all your mids and highs when doing this.

It is not so much about cost rather matching the speaker to what you actually want to hear, the fidelity of your radio and any hearing loss you might have either from occupational exposure or even just age related!

Decent formerly high end book-shelf and center channel speakers can often be had cheap at Good Will, Salvation Army and the like if you shop around and wait for a deal. I take a fairly dim view of most speaker's sold specifically to the CB world as "external speaker's" they are often over priced and if they do have any filtering or amplification they are normally not that great! Generally the enclosure does not matter since we do not want more bass in our sound and I am not sure anyone makes a highly tuned cabinet for HF specific audio freq. coverage. DSP and such are outside of your budget.

Unless you can hear it first I would not spend big on a radio specific external speaker!

$12 and change isn't exactly big bucks. I should have the speaker by Friday and will check it out over the weekend. I'll let you all know how it goes. If I get a slight improvement in the quality of incoming stations on top of the space saving I'll get out of it will have been worth the small price. I'm not expecting it to sound as my west mountain DSP but even with the old president speaker and the autek qfa1 I'm expecting good results. The manual for the qfa1 has been a tremendous help and I'm beginning to get some good results so far. This qfa1's was a nice edition to my Madison. Made some contacts on AM from Tenn. and Virginia yesterday. The qf1a helped big time and I know I haven't exactly figured out the correct setting for optimal performance. It's baffling no one has copied these little Autek filters. I've seen them on eBay from $30-$100. They really work. I'm hoping the edition of a modern speaker will be a pleasant surprise. I'm not expecting much so if the $12 speaker happens to work better than the 30 + year old president speaker I've been using for almost 3 year's now I'll keep it. If not I'll send it back on the sellers dime. I'd rather not because these president speaker's don't sound good at all. They look nice when both hooked up in the bookend configuration but I'm not going for looks. Thanks again for all the responses. 73.

 

[Sonar]

Why would you need anything from your computer? just copy the link for the sellers ad page and paste it into the reply box.

I'm using a smartphone. I don't have a computer. A few others have given me directions on how to share but besides photos I keep getting a message telling me I'm unable to to complete the link share. I know I'm not copying/pasting correctly, I'll give it a few more tries. Thanks. 73

 

[unit_399]

The OEM speakers that came with older rigs like the Madison and such are outdated technology. Those paper cone speakers are almost 40 years old, and in most cases the paper is ready to fall apart. The current-day mylar cone speakers are light years better. I use a Pioneer 6x9 3-way for my external speaker. I built a small sealed cabinet using the plans from a book called "Building Speaker Enclosures" that I bought at Rad Shack years ago. Sounds good, but I think anything would have sounded better than the POS I was using.

- 399