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Reviews For: Sounds Sweet Communications Speaker

Category: Speakers for communications

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Review Summary For : Sounds Sweet Communications Speaker
Reviews: 121MSRP: 160 USD
Description:
Speaker designed for use with amateur and two-way radio, shortwave and scanner listening.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.soundssweet.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001214.7
KU4MO Rating: 2004-03-07
Sounds Sweet speaker and hockey pucks Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Sounds Sweet speakers sounds great with my JRC NRD-535D. I just ordered a second one to use with my JRC JST-245. I prefer to have my external speakers on top of the radio but the sounds sweet speaker is so big it didn't allow for proper ventilation so I put some rubber feet on it. It worked ok but I wanted there to be more of a gap for air flow than the small feet provided. I found the answer, official size hockey pucks they work great and provide enough of a gap. There's no need to glue them on just place them on top of the radio and put the speaker on the pucks. the color matches too. 73-ku4mo
2E1IKM Rating: 2004-02-29
All the great reviews are justified! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After paying a further £21.76 in VAT and handling charges, I came away from the postal depot grumbling that 'this speaker better be worth it!'. I'm delighted to say that it was indeed worth every penny (a shade over £100 GBP including shipping and taxes!). I don't know what the secret is, I can only assume that it is a combination of dense cabinet material and a quality speaker which makes the sound so rich.
A great addition to my shack that I shall never part with.
WA2MGB Rating: 2004-02-24
Soothing to ears... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I never thought I'd spend 100.00 on a speaker. I have more speakers than I need. From Heathkit to Hallicrafter, from the US to Japan. However, I fell to my own weakness and bought this speaker. I listened for hours, did A/B comparisions etc. Bottom line: Was it worth it?

Verdict: Yes indeed. Gone are the harsh highs, and distorted lows. I use this speaker on SSB where is does great..try it on AM and you'll love the smooth mellow sounds of clean, yet warm amplitude modulation. Interestingly you can not overdrive the speaker. Lows will not distort, highs needed for the human voice reproduction are there in just the right amount. Treat yourself, you'll be surprised what you've been missing.
K9FLP Rating: 2004-02-21
Good communication speaker Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had the speaker a short time and using it with a 756PROII. I have no complaints with this speaker it works very good for my needs. This is not a HI-FI speaker system but is a very good communications speaker and it works. I have no regrets and have not seen anything out there cheaper that works as good.
WB2FDE Rating: 2004-02-18
One of THE best purchases I've ever made! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've owned this speaker for a while now and have been putting off writing a review. After seeing the last one, I figured it was time. I use the speaker for phone, CW and general monitoring and have been extremely pleased!!!

The previous review mentioned measuring nulls in the 500-800hz range and a spike at 10khz. I have NEVER observed this and wonder about the measurement method (the only way to measure it accurately is to use a calibrated generator w/AF amplifier capable of properly driving the speaker and a calibrated microphone). As for the claim of it being inefficient, the sensitivity is 95db SPL for 1 watt. Can't get much more efficient than that! Also, the foam ring is mentioned as a negative. In fact, this makes the speaker more efficient and less prone to resonances. I have NO TROUBLE using it with my IC-756 PRO. I've found this speaker to be very efficient and I have had no trouble getting decent volume from it using any of my rigs. Phone is FAR more intelligible than any speaker I've ever used and CW is extremely clear. And what's wrong with PVC? My expensive hifi speakes at home use it... I guess everyone is entitled to an opinion, but I must respectfully disagree!

Workmanship is excellent. It's one of the best ham purchases I've made!
N4LQ Rating: 2004-02-13
Requires too much drive power. Poor on CW Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
First let me say: I am a CW operator so my opinion may be different than those who operate phone. After trying dozens of speakers over the years, I have found the MFJ-281 ClearTone to be the ultimate for CW. It has a sharp resonance at around 650hz and requires very little drive power. For general use such as SWL or SSB, I've found that the larger, metal, open back speakers like the Drake, Heath, Hammarlund and Hallicrafters usually sound great.
So being curious, especially after reading all of these glowing reviews, I had to give the SoundSweet a try. After placing the order, I immediately received a tracking number and within 3 days, the speaker arrived. I was impressed with it's rugged appearance. I disconnected my ClearTone and plugged in the S.Sweet. For a moment, I thought something was wrong until I cranked up the volume. This speaker takes a lot of AF power to drive (compared to the MFJ). Now don't get me wrong, it does take less power than the average HI-FI bookshelf speaker but when you consider the power output of the typical ham rig (IC-756PROII in my case), there just isn't much to work with! With my gain up that high, I was approaching the distortion point. Sweeping across the CW bands, I noticed that the frequency response dropped off rapidly below 1000hz, not good for CW! Although CW was fairly clear, it didn't have the "presence" of my other speakers. Tuning across the SSB band I noticed it did have some bass response that was lacking in my other speakers and it sounded fairly good. It did not sound as good as my antique 10", open back, metal case speaker....a real boatanchor! The old speakers were designed to be driven with 5 watts or less and these newer speakers, with their large magnets and foam cone-rings always require more power.
Being somewhat disappointed, I put the S.Sweet on the bench, connected my signal generator and scope then swept across the audio spectrum. I noticed the big null across the cw tone range, 500-800hz and a big spike way up around 10,000hz. This seemed odd since 10k is way above the vocal range. Several other peaks and nulls were noticed. It would be interesting for someone with proper gear to plot the response of this thing.
Again, being curious, I removed the speaker to peek inside. The metal grill pops off easily and drywall screws are used to hold the speaker. The inside of the cabinet is lined with sound sound deadning material. The speaker is a simiple, cheap 8" speaker with a "whizzer" cone in the center. The 2 wires go directly to the input jacks. The speaker was made in Taiwan. The "tuner port" is a piece of PVC plumming pipe painted black on the inside. Well, so much for SoundsSweet. It's just a cheap speaker with nothing really going for it. Why it gets so many good reviews is beyond me. I do believe there is a market for a really good communications speaker. One that is resonant across the vocal range and is larger than the average speaker that comes with your rig. $99 isn't really a bad price considering how much the matching speaker cost for most rigs and believe me, most of those are total junk! One has to go back 30 years to get a good speaker for phone operation. For CW, spend the $12 and try the MJF ClearTone. Location on the desk is important. It works best when setting down on the desktop instead of on the shelf. Also it works better with something behind it. Don't bother with it if you're a phone operator. You'll think it sounds tinny, and it does. I sent my SS back for a refund. Shipping both ways cost me $27. I suppose it's the price of a good education! 73
WA2UCJ Rating: 2004-02-03
One more time Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It has all been said before. Chalk me up as one more happy customer. WA2UCJ George
K9IUQ Rating: 2004-02-03
Deserves the 5"s Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I really wanted to give this speaker a 4. It's gotten WAY too many 5's. But in all fairness I cant. It truly deserves a 5.

Had a friend that bought one a few weeks ago. Went to his house with my favorite speaker to compare. The Sound Sweet won easily. Ordered one the next day, got it in 4 days. Now, when I talk to my friend on the air, I can truly say he Sounds Sweet.
N1OGC Rating: 2004-01-27
Great speaker Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It's bigger than a bread box! And so is the audio. Have the speaker hooked up to my Kenwood940, Jupiter, and FT-101, via an old 75ohm
3way selector switch. All 3 sound great. All my other speakers including the sp-940 are now in the closet.
Paul is one of the nicest guys to do business with.
Great product, great company....winning combo.
N3WT Rating: 2004-01-23
Mellow, perfect for CW Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Sounds Sweet Speaker removes the harsh sounds of the IC-756PROII on CW. I thought I was already using a good external speaker , but the Sounds Sweet Speaker made a dramatic improvement. Very smooth transition of tones, no distortion at various audio frequencies. No need for the headphones to dig out the weak DX.

The speaker case finish is very nice, looks great on my shelf. This speaker is not ugly, it's quite good looking actually. When ordered, very fast shipping and well packaged.

I'm making fewer contacts because I enjoy tuning around and listening to the fine audio sounds coming out of this speaker. I even listened to some of the HiFi SSB guys on 20 meters. yikes

There are three inexpensive "must have" accessories to greatly improve most modern rigs, especially a IC-756PROII; the TRX-Manager PC control program, Logikey K-3 Keyer, and a Sounds Sweet Speaker.