Suggestions for Speakers for 3w + 3w stereo amplifier

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JDbeats

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Joined 2015
#1
Hi everyone this is my first post,

I am trying to put together a boombox and have a small 3w stereo amplifier! If any of the more experienced members could give any suggestions of good drivers will be greatly appreciated! I have spend quite some time searching for suitable drivers but can't seem to find a brand that does 3w speakers! Most speakers I have searched for are minimum 15 watts, and I am sure putting those in will damage the amplifier!

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Have a good day
 
#2
Are you really tied to your 3 watt amp? Unless it is a fancy class A or tube amp, there is no reason not to get a decent class D amp like a TPA3110D2 (8 watts to 15watts depending on power supply) or a TPA3116D2 for 40watts. These are all under $20. If you like class AB get a TDA7297 for $6 - they sound fantastic. No kidding. Then you can get normal drivers in the 85dB to 91dB sensitivity range and have SPL levels that are appropriate for a boom box.

But if you are stuck on your 3watt amp you need expensive $100 plus 95dB sensitive drivers and a large back loaded horn to extract bass from them. Not a boom box anymore.

Most sensitive budget driver that sounds smooth and suitable for boom box is Faital Pro 3FE25. $19 and 91dB.
 
#3
Hixrk971, thanks for your reply and suggestion and I will have it in mind for a future build, but as I had a few pam8403 i bought from ebay a while ago lying around, plus I wanted to use 4 aa batteries to power it. I wanted to make a portable well maybe not a boombox 🙂 as you have pointed out, but something like those portable cd players, but I'm really having trouble finding 3w branded speakers, even though I have been searching everywhere on the net for quite some time now! I don't know if anyone else build something similar that may point me in the right direction or have a suggestion!
 
#5
OffGridKindaGuy said:
4 "AA" batteries is too much voltage, if its the same one that I'm thinking of. Use a bank battery for simplicity..

Those little amps will work on just about any speaker. Just find some that have high sensitivity..

Here's some pics of one I just built.. (Bluetooth Too!)

https://imageshack.com/a/6Ur4/1
Click to expand...

Did you get those buyout Phillips TV speakers? I always wondered how those sound - and 3w is enough? That PAM is tiny - probably what they use in Bluetooth pod speakers.

Love the red chicken!

I just got two of these 50w TDA7492 amps for $7ea shipping included. How can you go wrong?

http://m.aliexpress.com/item/32331637010.html
 
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#6
OffGridKindaGuy said:
4 "AA" batteries is too much voltage, if its the same one that I'm thinking of. Use a bank battery for simplicity..

Those little amps will work on just about any speaker. Just find some that have high sensitivity..

Here's some pics of one I just built.. (Bluetooth Too!)

https://imageshack.com/a/6Ur4/1
Click to expand...
Hi OffGridKindaGuy, sweet build on those speakers plus added bluetooth thanks for your suggestion on the power supply, will definately look into that! My only consern is, if you match a 3 watt amplifier, with 15 watt speakers fry the amplifier as you are always overdriving it to max output to power those speakers, or correct me if I am wrong reduce the output quality of the speakers and or damage them as your are not providing the power they require to function properly?
 
#7
No, you won't fry your amp - the amp only puts out as much power as your level inputs or volume knob is set. At higher powers near 3w limit you will hear distortion. A speaker never fries an amp, it's the other way around. If you have a 500 watt amp and a 50 watt speaker, you can damage the speaker if you turn the amp up to full power. The power rating of an amp jut tells you its max limit, not what it will fry at.
 
#8
The wattage rating of a speaker is how much power will the voice coil will handle before it fries. As long as you stay below that maximum rating, yer fine..

The "Loudness" depends on the sensitivity of the speaker. More sensitive, more volume. More Efficiency.. 😉
 
#10
OffGridKindaGuy said:
The wattage rating of a speaker is how much power will the voice coil will handle before it fries. As long as you stay below that maximum rating, yer fine..

The "Loudness" depends on the sensitivity of the speaker. More sensitive, more volume. More Efficiency.. 😉
Click to expand...
Sweet, thank you OffGridKindaGuy, if I understand correctly it doesn't make any difference if you power a 30 watt speaker with a 3 watt amplifier, and should get the full 82db sensitivity of the speaker, thus full loudness when powering it with 3 watts! But then I am wondering what difference in sound quality or loudness will anyone gain with using a better (i.e more expensive amplifier) rated for 30 watts driving 30 watt speakers! I will use 2 FRS8-4 - Visaton 8 cm (3.3 inch) HiFi fullrange driver (2003) - Europe Audio rated at 30 watt rms, with a sensitivity of 82db!
 
#11
A higher power amp doesn't have to operate at its limit and thus has lower distortion. Power ratings on amps are usually specified on basis of at what point is the THD > 10%. Usually, the 10% is the absolute max people can tolerate before saying it sounds bad. For hi fi, the value should be much less, like 0.1% THD. The PAM probably is 10% THD at 3 watts. The TPA3116D2 on the other hand, is 0.1% THD at 40 watts with a 24v supply. So if you ran it at 3w or even 10w, it will sound very clean and its THD is insignificant compared to speaker THD.
 
#12
Thank you guys , I know my questions might of been a bit noob, but I get it now, really appreciate all your help and time you took to reply! I will build the portable speakers having in mind your recommendations and inform you how it turned out, maybe put a couple of pictures up when it's finished!
 
#13
Yer not gonna git earth shakin' bass with 3 watts BUT you can achieve great fidelity. Speakers with more sensitivity have less bass. It's a trade off in over all volume level verses bass sometimes..

I've had great luck with book shelf speakers. Connect that little bugger to a decent set and you will be amazed..
 
#14
82 dB sensitivity is how loud a speaker goes with one watt, and is a very low figure. With each doubling of power output from the amplifier the speaker output will increase by 3 dB. So 2 watt will give 85 and 4 watt will give 88 dB. This is not very loud. (And more than your amp will put out)If you want to go that cheap and cheerful with your speakers the FRS8m has a sensitivity of 88 dB for 1 watt, which is a bit more practical. This would be okay for gentle, or background listening but if you want serious sound levels you need more than 3 watts, or some rather specialised speakers.
 
#16
I can fill a 12'X16' room with enough volume @3w/Ch. that the Wife says.. "Turn that thing down so we can talk!" 85-88 dB is plenty, IMO..

A couple of these guys and maybe a tweeter for each will provide good fidelity easily in a small enclosure (~.2 ft/ea.) with a port @ 1" ID 2" long. Lightly damped inside.

Tectonic Elements TEBM65C20F-8 3-1/2" BMR Full-Range Speaker 8 Ohm

Won't give ya a rock concert but will sound pleasant and provide nice, smooth bass..
 
#19
F8I9CU.jpg


Looks nice, JD!

I don't have a DB meter but at ~20' away from the screen porch, this little system makes it very hard to talk to each other at ~3/4 volume..

8wshZ4.jpg
 
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