Outside stereo speakers

[Dakota98]

I have a Magnadyne LS-6000 with A/B switch, yes, I know it is ancient. (cassette player)

It has an external CD 3.5mm connection & I wanted to use that connection for both my iPod & portable CD player. So far, so good. On the back of the LS housing, I tapped the "A" speaker wires & ran external wires to the outside. Everything seems to work OK. The volume when turned up is just fine when tuned to AM/FM sound source, no distortion. But, when the iPod or CD player is connected & the volume control is turned to 3/4 volume the new external 4ohm speakers will distort. The 4-inside speakers are original Magnadyne 4ohm & they are just fine with the iPod & CD. I'm thinking the new external speakers are "just junk". Any thoughts on this ?

[ReVoker]

I have a set of Kleecker speakers that will really put out some sound. They are Bluetooth capable but charge time is only about 3 hours. It's usually enough for me. I guess I have had the sound turned up too high a couple of times since a few people felt they had to mention it to me so I turned them down as to not offend.

[BurbMan]

Good point, I was in Wally world the other day and saw some rechargable BT speakers with 12 hour battery life and amazing sound!

[APT]

Just get a decent portable Bluetooth speaker! You can use it inside the RV, outside at campfire, take it to the beach, or anywhere around the yard. I have the Sharkk, but the Creative Roar would be even better. BT or 3.5mm line input.

Once I wanted to replace my TT stereo. The HU is so un-user friendly and remote rarely works with it. Speakers suck inside and out. I was looking at $400 for a decent quality replacement HU and speakers. I'm so happy with my $20 home DVD player, $1 RCA to 3.5mm cable, and $60 speaker. Less money spent and way more versatile.

[BurbMan]

Sounds like the outdoor speakers can't handle as much power as the inside ones. Remember that the volume level on the iPod is the input to the main amplifier, so a higher volume on the iPod results in exponentially higher volume going to the speakers.

The outside speakers that came on my TT were the cheapest junk I have ever seen. They were flush mounted on the side of the TT and I had a hard time finding replacements that would fit because most decent speakers require a 2 1/2 - 3" mounting depth and the walls are only 1 1/2" thick.

I finally went with these Poly Planar MA-905 marine speakers. They are component speakers with separate woofer and tweeter, and the woofer mountes in the recess where the factory speaker was. The stick out about 1" from the side of the TT.

I added a Kenwood 200W power amp between the main amp and these speakers, and now I get some serious volume. With the cheap Jensen OEM stereo, the Kenwood amp puts out plenty of power without distorting and the speakers can handle the power. You get decent bass from these, but you're never going to get any real bass out of a marine speaker without a subwoofer. The TT came with a powered sub inside, but I have not connected one for outside use yet.

I've had the speakers for 7 yrs now and they are holding up great. What's nice is that I can leave the speakers on very low volume in a CG, and the awning deflects the sound down. When out on the beach with no neighbors, I can crank it up and hear it 100 yds from the TT.

[keymastr]

If you have cut out the interior speakers from the circuit then the only other thing I can think of beyond the input volume of the ipod as mentioned above is that you either have a loose connection somewhere or the speakers or switch you installed are faulty. What happens if you swap the outside pair for one of the inside pairs? If the distortion follows the speakers they are likely faulty. If it stays outside then some part of your wiring is bad, either loose connection, cut going through aluminum and shorting or bad switch.

[Dakota98]

opnspaces wrote:
Does it make a difference if you drop the output volume on the iPod?

My kids play games with the iPod volume up full. When I later hook the iPod into my car's AUX jack the music is just not right. I find that if I turn the volume down on the iPod and up on the radio it seems to clean up the sound.

Yes,
Originally, I had the iPod connected using the 30 pin to the 3.5 on the Magnadyne & I could not control any volume setting on the iPod like that, but when I used the 3.5 on the Pod to the 3.5 on the system, I could control volume on both. It helped the problem:S

[opnspaces]

Does it make a difference if you drop the output volume on the iPod?

My kids play games with the iPod volume up full. When I later hook the iPod into my car's AUX jack the music is just not right. I find that if I turn the volume down on the iPod and up on the radio it seems to clean up the sound.

[colliehauler]

vermilye wrote:

colliehauler wrote:
The Magnadyne is a very low power unit. The inside cheep speakers do not need much power. If you go with a higher quality speakers it takes more power to drive them to get more volume.

Actually, it depends on the design of the speaker cabinet. Some of the most expensive speakers will use far less power for the same sound pressure level as a cheap cabinet. I've used the earphone jack on a pocket sized transistor radio to demonstrate the efficiency of a good bass reflex cabinet - amazing the volume difference between the radio's built in speaker and the 3'X5' 3 way cabinet.

The efficiency of the speaker makes a big difference as well. It takes twice the power to drive a 88db/1 watt as a 91db/1 watt speaker. For every 3 db increase it takes double the power. To play at 100 decibel with a 88db/1 watt speaker would take 16 watts. For a 91db/1 watt speaker it would take 8 watts.

[Tin_Pusher]

kellertx5er, no point really, just to show how these theads take off sometimes. I wisht I had outdoor speakers too 🙂

[Dakota98]

tpi wrote:
The bottom line-is the system developing all the rated power before distortion?

Aside from the new speakers (probably junk), Yes, the system is more than likely developing rated power prior to distortion. Oddly enough, the factory installed interior speakers work just fine with any of the devices.

[Dakota98]

westend wrote:

keymastr wrote:
A large part of your problem is that you tapped in to a circuit that already had 4 4 ohm speakers attached making a 2 ohm load to the amp. When you added 2 more speakers you have now lowered that 2ohm load to something under 2 ohms and there is no way that your amp is stable for those loads. Either put those on their own circuit or put a switch in line to switch between indoor and outdoor speakers.

X2

Downstream from the "tapped" connections, I installed disconnects on the positive side only going to the "A' speakers inside the TT & have them disconnected, when running the outside speakers. Does this make any difference in what you've indicated ?

[Dakota98]

keymastr wrote:
A large part of your problem is that you tapped in to a circuit that already had 4 4 ohm speakers attached making a 2 ohm load to the amp. When you added 2 more speakers you have now lowered that 2ohm load to something under 2 ohms and there is no way that your amp is stable for those loads. Either put those on their own circuit or put a switch in line to switch between indoor and outdoor speakers.

Downstream from the "tapped" connections, I installed disconnects on the positive side only going to the "A' speakers inside the TT & have them disconnected, when running the outside speakers. Does this make any difference in what you've indicated ?

[vermilye]

colliehauler wrote:
The Magnadyne is a very low power unit. The inside cheep speakers do not need much power. If you go with a higher quality speakers it takes more power to drive them to get more volume.

Actually, it depends on the design of the speaker cabinet. Some of the most expensive speakers will use far less power for the same sound pressure level as a cheap cabinet. I've used the earphone jack on a pocket sized transistor radio to demonstrate the efficiency of a good bass reflex cabinet - amazing the volume difference between the radio's built in speaker and the 3'X5' 3 way cabinet.

[westend]

keymastr wrote:
A large part of your problem is that you tapped in to a circuit that already had 4 4 ohm speakers attached making a 2 ohm load to the amp. When you added 2 more speakers you have now lowered that 2ohm load to something under 2 ohms and there is no way that your amp is stable for those loads. Either put those on their own circuit or put a switch in line to switch between indoor and outdoor speakers.

X2