Good speakers for a low power receiver?

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I am looking for opinions on which (affordable) speakers would work well with a Pioneer SX-434, which has 15W per channel RMS.

I am currently using Sony SS-MF400H speakers, but I would like something that is just a bit more efficient.

This receiver has a great, wide stereo sound to it, so I'd like to match it up with an ideal pair of speakers. It will make the Sonys loud enough to feel in my chest, but at the expense of tight response.

I'll probably put the Sonys on my SX-780 when I get it next week.
 
The room that I currently have the receiver in is 20x9. Though it is my workshop, so it won't be staying there too much longer.

I only paid $30 total for the receiver, so I don't really want to pay more than $100 or so for a used pair of speakers.

I can build stuff DIY, but I don't have the tools to make my own boxes from scratch yet.

I do have a pair of Kenwood JL-670 speakers that sounded good with it, but they need a lot of work (new tweeters, woofers, and some box repairs.
 
As an open baffle convert can I suggest that you consider making a simple (say full range with helper woofer) on open baffle. Since the "box" you have to make is just a board with a hole in it the tools needed are minimal. Just find a nice fullrange with decently high Q and moderate sensitivity (not really high sensitivity because you xover will just have to pad it down) and add a high Q woofer with sensitivity not too much lower than your FR. Simple 2nd order crossover and you are in.

Parts express sells quite a few high Q woofers under the Goldwood brand name. They are cheap but they work. PE also has several nice wide range drivers in the 3 to 5 inch range.

Might just do the trick for you. For best results a 12 or 15 inch woofer would work best I think. I use a 10" in my system but I am biamping. Another thing you could do if you receiver does not mind 4 ohm loads is to use a 4 ohm woofer and 8 ohm full range and compensate in the crossover design.

just some ideas.

mike
 
I just picked up a nice old set of Zenith Allegro speakers, rated at 40 watts. Haven't tried hooking them up, but they just may be what I need for the SX-434. For $5, I'm not going to complain.

I also got a nice older Pioneer turntable to go with my SX-780, and I'll be pairing that up with a bigger set of speakers once I can afford them.
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
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Maxxarcade said:
]I just picked up a nice old set of Zenith Allegro speakers, rated at 40 watts.

Which ones? Impedance on the back?

2000, 3000 have some nice drivers, but the boxes leave a lot to be desired. If you got ones with backs that screw on, taking the back off helps remove a lot of the box issues (but you do get less bass). If you have the one's where the back is glued on (and the drivers are mounted from the inside), you need to carefully cut the back off (if you want to continue to use the cabinet. If you don't then a hammer and prybar/or poundable screwdriver work.

They built these over a zillion year period and the drivers inside vary from batch to batch. Ignoring the oldest & the newest the tweeters are invariably Foster alnico horns (or a close to identical National/Panasonic). The midbass in the 2000 is more often than not a quite nice Foster or Onkyo (althou there are subspecies), i've heard tell of an alnico 8 but never seen one. The 3000 has a 10", If it says 16 ohms on the outside you very likely have the desirable Rola 10" alnico (althou i have seen 1 single instance of an 8 ohm alnico), the newer ceramic magnet 10s are all over the map.

These drivers tend to work nicely in an OB, but are fairly versatile. The Zenith cabinets do them NO justice.

The 1000s have a 6.5" driver & typically a paper cone tweeter, i don't have as much experience with them.

dave
 

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