Bob's 4" Speakers

[RayB]

So, today I took apart some PC speakers, since I need the amplifier, and I took the opportunity to test out a couple 4" speakers I bought from Bob Roberts.

http://www.homearcade.org/BBBB/spk4.jpg

Well, IMO they sound like shat. Lots of high-end, with next to no mids and of course no lows.

I have an old arcade speaker lying around that was in my JAMMA cab. It's a 6", but otherwise same specs as the 4" ones ( 5 watt, 8 ohm). I tested this one, and it sounded much better. Unfortunately, I only have one.


Have any of you out there used those speakers Bob sells? The ones I got are the shielded ones. I know that when you bolt a speaker to the wood of a cabinet, the "box" ends up helping with the sound, especially low-range, but I don't know if it will help much with these 4" ones. If anyone has experience with them, let me know. Otherwise I have to find new speakers. :-(

~Ray B.

[HaRuMaN]

I dunno about Bob's speakers, but I bought a cheap 4" speaker from Wal Mart ($9.00) to replace my Mortal Kombat speaker.  It sounded like crap on its own, but when I hooked it up to the MK and bolted it in, it sounds fine, with good bass response. 

[SirPeale]

Proper mounting is *crucial* to how good a speaker sounds.  It depends heavily on the cabinet surround to give feedback.

We just replaced some subwoofers on a juke @ work.  I plugged them in and...wow...crap.  But when I mounted them...beautiful!

[Minwah]

Those speakers look the same as the ones I bought from Happ.

I agree they sound like crap.  Somtimes they are not too bad, but certain frequencies make them sound distorted or something.

I am about to look into changing mine, but first I'm going to check the cable I used to the speaker is ok, just in case.

[RayB]

Keep in mind Minwah, that the levels you feed in to your amplifier matter. If you feed in levels that are too high, your amped sound will get distortion. It's always best to keep the levels low in to the amp, and let the amp amplify it up to the level you like.

I emailed Bob and he says that he's used them for 5 years with no problem. No one else has ever complained about them, and that yes, a 6" or larger will of course sound better.

I guess I'll mount them and see how it goes...

[Glaine]

I bought a pair of the small shielded speakers from Bob long time ago. Still use em regularly in a Mamed Roadblasters cab. Sounds great to me on all ranges, and I'm supprised such small speakers make such good sound actually. They are soldered into an old PC speaker card.

Two things I can think of that might affect quality are what you wired them into and just how loud you play stuff (small speakers ain't made for stadium sound of course). Didn't think of the accoustics of the case, that probably does matter.