[rohrt]

I have use two different center dash speaks in the past. One was the kenwood with two 3.5 inch speakers. The other was the dual voice coil speaker with a single cone.

The dual voice coil speaker witht he single cone I think sounds better and I'm tempted to use that again for my 64 tempest.

Anyone find a better setup them this for the dash speaker?

[GT182]

I haven't tried one yet but I'm leaning towards the dual cone unit to replace my original front speaker. And Maybe the same dual cone for the rear speaker. Won't be true stereo but close enough for me.

[rexs73gto]

I used the duel speaker set up from Radio shack in my 67 GTO & my ^* firebird con. I liked the way they sounded & they don't kill you on price.

[68bird400HO]

If you are using your original radio, then you better make sure you are using 10 ohm speakers. A lot of new speakers are only 4 ohm.

[rexs73gto]

Guys , thats a big myth. I've used all types of speakers & had no problems ever. It's not burnt up any of my radios & I've used 4-6-8-& even 12 ohm speakers on all of my different cars . I think it's someone tyring to get us to buy the old speakers to make some money. I have 8 ohm speakers in my 73 GTO with a factory am/fm stereo for the last 20+ years & it still works as bad as it did when I put it in. No better no worse then the original am radio that came in the the car when I bought it new.

[GT182]

I was going to say what Rex said. I see the catalogs are sayin to use the 4 ohm speakers. I too grabbed higher ohmed speakers years ago and had no problems with them with the original radios. I'd think the higher watts would cause more problems.

[rohrt]

Here is the speaker i put in my bird. I believe its a 8 ohm. Has two seperate sets of leads for connecting stereo.



I did electronics for years. Lower ohms will drive the output transisters harder but at lower volumes I doubt its going to make much difference. That being said I'm still using my stock AM radio that calls for 10 ohms.

I may just use this same type of speaker in my other car.

[2002Z4CSS]

Originally Posted by 68bird400HO

If you are using your original radio, then you better make sure you are using 10 ohm speakers. A lot of new speakers are only 4 ohm.

I agree. I bought a restored Delco AM radio for my 1971 GT-37. I used another later model Delco speaker and the radio worked well for about 2 hours and now I can barely hear the volume on full. Some say I mat have damaged a transistor from using the wrong impedence speaker. Wish I knew for sure how to fix it.

[itsa68]

Guys , thats a big myth. I've used all types of speakers & had no problems ever. It's not burnt up any of my radios & I've used 4-6-8-& even 12 ohm speakers on all of my different cars . I think it's someone tyring to get us to buy the old speakers to make some money. I have 8 ohm speakers in my 73 GTO with a factory am/fm stereo for the last 20+ years & it still works as bad as it did when I put it in. No better no worse then the original am radio that came in the the car when I bought it new.

See this site: http://www.turnswitch.com/speakers.htm. They says that older Delco radios need 8-10 ohm speakers. 4 ohm speakers have less resistance that will draw more current and cause the amplifier transistor to run very hot.

[68lemansman]

Not to hijack the thread or anything. I was wondering if you had to take the entire dash apart to put these speakers in? I was thinking of doing the same thing to my bonneville.

[deJudge]

Not quite sure of how it mounts on a 67 but I figured out a way to mount a 4 x 10" 2-way in the center on my 69. I tried a couple different things before I came up with this. I used the factory speaker mount and cut out the original shot factory speaker and replaced it with this. Then I was trying to figure out how to mount the speaker with just one mounting screw then I noticed there was kind of a ledge on the other side, so I cut a piece of aluminum I had kicking around and wedged it in so it was lying on the ledge on one side and I could still use the factory mounting clip and screw on the other side.

The speaker i used was a 4x10. Here is a link http://www.kenwood.ca/Car_Entertainm...akers/KFC-415C
Works awesome and gives lots of bass. Hope this might possibly give you some ideas.

[Engine-Ear]

Originally Posted by itsa68

See this site: http://www.turnswitch.com/speakers.htm. They says that older Delco radios need 8-10 ohm speakers. 4 ohm speakers have less resistance that will draw more current and cause the amplifier transistor to run very hot.

This IS the truth. The power transistors of the era are germanium (not silicon) and are sensitive to more than a 20% load increase (that is, an 8 ohm speaker where a 10 ohm originally was won't hurt (much)).

Running a 4 ohm speaker where the original was a 10 ohm will shorten the remaining life of the amplifier's transistor (looks like a button on the back of the radio). Of course if you only use the radio 15 minutes per month, you probably have nothing to worry about. I have original speaker frames re-coned. Guaranteed to FIT, sounds great again and provided a proper (10 ohm) voice coil is used, the radio will be happy.

While the guys at Turnswitch are also a great resource Here's a shout out to the trusted rebuilding resources I like: http://www.rediscoveradio.com/access...storation.html

[Ben M.]

If you have an aftermarket radio or a radio that can handle 4ohm loads AND want it to fit in the spot of the original 4x10 WITH AC ductwork still intact, these guys sell one: Retrosound USA.

Practically the only dual coil speaker on the market that is less than 2" tall, which is what you need if you want to put it in place of the factory speaker and not interfere with the ductwork. Works in 70's era A-bodies and F-bodies and I can't imagine it not working in the B-body (at least '67 and later, which is my experience).

If you have an original AM or AM\FM radio, getting an original one reconed or buying a new one from the restoration speaker places is your only option.

And you CAN run a 4ohm speaker with the original radio, but as Matt points out it will run hot and be more likely to overheat and fail. Especially if you like to crank up the volume as some of the soon-to-be deaf guys do. Running low volume might not see much of a problem, but one day you'll go over the limit and it will start distorting and eventually the transistor will fail. Same thing happens if you run a vintage radio with no speaker, but much faster.

[elefantrider]

Turnswitch a slim 4x10 that fits the stock bracket. It also has the fabric dust cover which is good for stock locations. Definitely go with 8 ohms for your stock radio.

[vidguy]

I installed a Turnswitch dual cone in my 75 Formula dash position. It fit as the original. I even used the original bracket. He sent my instructions so I can wire it to two new 8 OHM speakers in the back. Good service good product.

[2002Z4CSS]

Originally Posted by Engine-Ear

This IS the truth. The power transistors of the era are germanium (not silicon) and are sensitive to more than a 20% load increase (that is, an 8 ohm speaker where a 10 ohm originally was won't hurt (much)).

Running a 4 ohm speaker where the original was a 10 ohm will shorten the remaining life of the amplifier's transistor (looks like a button on the back of the radio). Of course if you only use the radio 15 minutes per month, you probably have nothing to worry about. I have original speaker frames re-coned. Guaranteed to FIT, sounds great again and provided a proper (10 ohm) voice coil is used, the radio will be happy.

While the guys at Turnswitch are also a great resource Here's a shout out to the trusted rebuilding resources I like: http://www.rediscoveradio.com/access...storation.html

Is this power transistor probably what went wrong with my radio? Is it hard to swap out?

[elefantrider]

I will be using turnswitch's dual cone front (two 4 ohm woofers wired in series for 8 ohm) or their slim special rectangle, and their black 4x10 universal in back. All have the new lightweight magnets that are very powerful.

The Retrosound speaker looks good also, with the integrated tweeter, not sure if they have one in 8 ohms for use with the original Delco though.

[Engine-Ear]

Originally Posted by 2002Z4CSS

Is this power transistor probably what went wrong with my radio? Is it hard to swap out?

I can't really answer your question; Depends on your electronics-technician-abilities. What I CAN say is that you can't buy new ones anymore. There may be a pseudo equivalent one from NTE but being germanium (not silicon), I doubt it.

I have been working on electronics and car radios for 20 years so I can do it in an hour or so, depending on the aesthetic condition of the radio (I don't like to reassemble a crusty/dirty radio).