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TR4/4A TR4 Radio Speaker

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KVH

KVH

Obi Wan
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Does anyone know the correct speaker ohms or amps, whatever, for a TR4 radio?

My speaker distorts radically after a certain volume, and I remember being told something like, "Distortion means your speaker is too big for the amp."

Any help would be appreciated. Thx, all.
 
My TR4 does not have a radio so I can't speak to the specifications for the speaker, but I can tell you about distortion.

In short distortion happens when the system (amp and speaker) for some reason can't provide or deliver the full dispacement needd to replicate the sound. It can be a result of driving the amplifier too far (the volume too high, or asking the amp to deliver too much current for some reason) so that the peaks of the sound wave are cut off. It can also happen if the amplifier is driving the speaker too far (in other words the amp can deliver but the speaker can't) and in that case the speaker cone reaches its limit of travel before the peak of the sound wave. The result of both of these are the same in that you have sound waves that are "clipped" and the result you hear is distortion.

Which is yours I can't say. But unless you speaker has way too low an impendence I don't imagine it "too big for the amp" unless it is such a big speaker that in order to move the cone you are driving the amp so much it is going into distortion. My guess would be that given the age of the radio it just can't deliver the volume we are use to hearing undistorted from todays radios.
 
If this is the original radio & speaker set-up then you should not get distortion even at very high volume. It won't a great sound (kind of tinny perhaps) compared to modern equipment but will be clear.

If you're at the Tubac show Saturday you're welcome borrow a flashlight and do the dashboard limbo to get any numbers, etc. off the unit in my '4.
 
Most speakers of that vintage were 8 ohms. If you use a 4 ohm speaker you could be overdriving it. I've had my 4 for 30 years and have yet to see 2 cars with the same radio so it is tough to be specific. The old radio's were not known to be hi fidelity, their original specs were 1000 times worse than a modern radio. If you want clarity, make a new radio bracket that will house a new radio and get some good speakers
 
Eaahh, you might need to find a trans-match to get a 20-ohm speaker these days. Least I've ever seen is 16 ohm.
 
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