I have a couple of phonos where the original speakers are just worn out--paper surrounds are tissue-thin, and distortion increases as a result. As you are no doubt are aware of, replacements are hard to come by. But what about using car stereo speakers, as long as they have compatible specs?

The ones I need to replace are 6". I like the fact that the car stereo speakers are 4 ohm, which is pretty close to 3.2 ohms. I realize that they are surface mount, but I'm ok with the idea of back-spacing. And they are designed for open-air environments (ie, no ported enclosures).

But the big question is, are there some that will have the sensitivity I need? I'm guessing I'll need something that's at least 96 db, do they exist?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give

T4L,

The sensitivity should be listed for the speaker you are trying to use. Most car speakers are 90-92db sensitivity. Not the best, but not the worst.

The Renegade 8" three-way speakers work and sound nice. They only cost about $25 each.

Thanks, guys, I will start looking to see what I can find in a 6" with high sensitivity

T4L,

One option might be to look for Zenith speakers from 40-60's era stereo/radios.

Zenith speakers do sound nice

They do indeed! I don't know if Zenith made any 6" speakers, but they certainly made some quality 6x9's--if I have enough space, I would not be adverse to using those

Just thought I'd post an update. Tonight online I bought a pair of Alpine 6" car stereo speakers...25w rms, 90 db sensitivity (90 was the best I could find). I should have them in about a week, I'll give another update once I have them installed

it won't be nearly as loud, that's the only problem.

Low wattage tube amps can be really tricky with speakers.

Keep us posted.

My Crosley Buddy Boy has a Renegade 8" 3-way speaker driven by just one '45 tube, yet is more than loud enough. I just listened to it, and it way loud with the volume just partly up, an annoyingly loud with it higher. The same with the Gloritine cathedral in which I have used that speaker.

I'm also driving one of those speakers with the push-pull 6L6GC amplifier I recently built, and it sounds nice indeed with that much power and a clean signal from a quality FM tuner.

Nice amp. Do you remember the sensitivity specs of the Renegade?

I could not find that specification. No matter, the proof is that they work well driven by a single '45.

Ok, here's the update. It's not going to be a one sentence summary, because I don't think that will help anyone else looking to do the same thing.

First let's talk about fitment. As these are car stereo speakers, they are front-loaded...as a result, back-spacing is required (which I already knew). They fit with no problems at all, because they are actually more shallow than the original speakers. Keep in mind though that the magnets are much larger, which could result in fitment issues in some installations.

Sensitivity. These are 90 db, which is no doubt considerably less than the originals. In this instance, I have a transformer-powered amp running 7189 finals, so output was hardly affected. But in a phono with an ac/dc amp with 1-2 watts, output could be compromised.

Sound quality. My original complaint was excessive distortion due to worn-out surrounds. Distortion is now much less, however bass response is also reduced. Perhaps a component of reduced sensitivity? Bass isn't absent, just not as strong as before (albeit with loads of distortion). One very nice "extra" is that the car stereo speakers are two-way---this unit does not have dedicated tweeters, so the addition of them brought a welcome boost to the high end.

My overall thoughts. They certainly sound better than the originals. The bass is reduced, but so is the annoying distortion. They are an upgrade, but are they ideal? No. The ideal speaker would have 100 db sensitivity, while at the same time having bigger bass and low distortion. But in today's speaker market, good luck finding those. This is probably not a worthy upgrade for those running lower-powered amps.

Hopefully this review will help someone