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Reviews For: MFJ ClearTone 281 Speaker

Category: Speakers for communications

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Review Summary For : MFJ ClearTone 281 Speaker
Reviews: 61MSRP: 12.95
Description:
Communication Speaker
Product is in production
More Info: http:// http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-281
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
25613.9
W8KQE Rating: 2005-02-12
Excellent Low Cost External Speaker! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This compact external speaker works very well on all voice modes and CW. It beats the pants out of many internal speakers on rigs, especially smaller mobile transceivers with top-firing speakers. One of the best values in Ham Radio. Am very satisfied!
K4EQ Rating: 2005-02-11
I'm satisfied. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I use two in the shack: one for the IC-706 and the other for the IC-703. They sound fine to me, do what they're advertised to do, and the price is great. --Dale, K4EQ
WA5MTT Rating: 2005-02-11
Used It 1 Hour Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have a IC-706MKIIG that I use for HF mobile with a cheap Workman external oval speaker. I bought the MFJ "Cleartone" thinking that I was upgrading. I tried it for about an hour and couldn't stand the way it sounded on SSB signals. It was tinny sounding and seemed to distort when turning up the volume. I yanked it out and put the Workman back in. I think I'll spend a lot more money next time and get a Clearspeech mobile speaker.
K0MCI Rating: 2004-08-31
Quality vs price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Paid 12.95
It's worth 12.95 for use on repeaters.
However I probably wouldn't dream of doing HF SSB or CW with it.
73, Kev
AC5AA Rating: 2004-06-23
OK for CW, bad for audio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought one for use in my vehicle with an IC-706. Works well for CW where it's "peaky" response fits well. Does not sound good on voice, however. I replaced with a new surplus Motorola mobile speaker (available for $15 from Hosfelt Electronics and other places) and I'm very happy with that one.
WI4NDS Rating: 2004-06-07
Decent Speaker Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used these over the past few years and have had good results on SSB, AM, and FM. The idea is to hear distinctly what is said and this speaker does so. It does its job well for its price.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by WI4NDS on 2000-04-12

A narrower range speaker is always beneficial on all voice and tone reception. Wide range means more static noise, etc.. MFJ understands this and brought out this very handy speaker. It works very well. Great investment!
KG4MCC Rating: 2002-03-15
Much better than some internal speakers Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I own a Kenwood TM-G707A Dual-Band FM transceiver. Good radio, lousy internal speaker!

Connected the MFJ cleartone 281 speaker, now I can hear what is said on the radio.

It is not Hi-Fi, but if you are mobile and have to hear over road noise, this speaker works very well.

73's
Dave - KG4MCC
N5TUI Rating: 2002-03-15
Good enough... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
For the price, it's hard to beat. If it's full, rich tones your looking for this is not for you. I like it on SSB; it works better than the speaker in the TS-430S. When I'm DXing I use headphones anyway. It comes with a bracket that allows it to pivot, which is nice. The cord seems to be long enough. The case looks to be plenty rugged too. It's small enough to be good in a mobile situation. I have not tried it on FM.
For 13 bucks, what the heck! It was a good value.
K6XR Rating: 2002-02-20
I like the clear tone Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I use the mfj clear tone speaker on my ts-570 for ssb and cw. I rather like it and put my heil speaker on the shelf!
K8RBT Rating: 2002-02-20
It hurts my ears Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This thing sounds terrible for FM. I have it installed in my vehicle and an Icom SP-10 in my wife's car. When switching between vehicles it is amazing the difference. The MFJ speaker is tinny sounding and very harsh. The Icom speaker is much easier to listen too, especially at a little louder volume. Pretty surprising since the Icom speaker is smaller. However, the Icom speaker is about 5 times the price. For me it is worth the difference.