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Reviews For: Yaesu SP 8

Category: Speakers for communications

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Review Summary For : Yaesu SP 8
Reviews: 64MSRP: 173.00
Description:
External speaker with filter.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00643.8
W4KVW Rating: 2023-12-08
Better than ICOM SP-23 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well anyone that knows me knows I'm a DIEHARD ICOM Man.I have owned a couple of the ICOM SP-23 speakers & I felt they reduced the volume of the received signals.I purchased the SP-8 at a local Hamfest a week ago & I had to wait on an adapter plug so I could plug it into the radio.I am surprised at how good it sounds.I am running the audio though my CLEARSPEECH DSP Speaker so it's getting some help with noise filtering as was the ICOM SP-23 & it honestly sounds much better than the SP-23. It sounds so good that I have it sitting on my main desk plugged into my ICOM 7610 & I may just keep it.I had one many years ago with my First HF Base the Yaesu FT-990 back in 1994 & I don't remember it sounding that good but it's been a very long time since then & I'm now 50% Deaf in both ears so maybe it's just my hearing? I'll buy them all day for what I paid for it because it was a STEAL of a DEAL for sure.Take it from a DIEHARD ICOM Man & just know that it sounds much better than the SP-23 & it was far less expensive.It's a Keeper for now until something better comes thru the shack.
W4AIN Rating: 2023-03-26
Quality Audio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The Yaesu SP-8 is a perfect match, cosmetically and functionally, for my main Yaesu rigs. Have used it for years on my FT-920 and recently added an FT-1000MP Mark-V Field to my station. With the dual input and selective output of the speaker I have both radios connected and it is easy to switch radios without having to unplug/plug cables. Operating in conjunction with the radios onboard DSP makes for a very sweet sounding station.
M66GMR Rating: 2023-03-25
Not impressed Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had an SP8 for a few years. It did not seem to improve the output from my FT450D.

With the FTDX10 the SP8 seems much worse than the internal speaker. The sound is muddy and the 'filters' make no difference.

Today I ditched it and replaced it much smaller front facing voice-optimised speaker from Solid State Systems - amazing improvement.

I really cannot recommend this at all.
KE7OPK Rating: 2021-02-03
Excellent. Tried it in the store, first. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have a degree from the USC School of Music which states that I am a qualified recording studio engineer. I do not believe the acoustic space in the cabinet would benefit much from baffling or acoustic absorption media. Filters are robust, and well suited to that portion of the audio spectrum which most communications occur best. Build quality is excellent.
The speaker/transducer itself is nothing special. If it were "tinny", which it is not, I would first be sure the screws are tight - it is no fault of the manufacturer that handling, temperature change, and initial "stretch" could mean that the fasteners need to be re-torqued.
Tried it in the store using AM broadcast as a source, and was immediately SOLD.
Everyone has different degrees of hearing loss as they age, and this may account for differing impressions from a variety of users. Then, there are those who are only satisfied when they have achieved the result they desire (attention) to a well-worded, negative comment.
I purchased the last new unit available anywhere (to my knowledge) from Gigaparts today.
DE KE7OPK
N4UE Rating: 2020-05-04
Better than most OEM speakers Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently found a mint Yaesu SP-8 speaker on e-bay. As a bonus, it has a BHI noise reduction unit built into it.
It was a great deal. I recently found a nice FT-920 and wanted a 'matching' speaker......
Before it arrived, I went to Parts Express and bought a couple of higher end replacement speakers. Not needed. I was surprised that the SP-8 has a nice, BIG magnet speaker. Huge, compared to the ones in my Icom and Kenwood OEM speakers.
I also purchased a Phonema Acoustic kit for it. I have had great results with the Phonema kits in the past. Getting those sound absorbing panels in the speaker cabinet was 'fun' because of the BHI.....

I believe the seller sold the speaker for 2 reasons...
1. the DC power connector was VERY flaky. I replaced it.
2. There were 2 cold solder joints on the small board where the external speaker/headphone jacks are. It took a while to track that down, but it's fine now.

So, maybe the stock speaker is a 4, but the 2 upgrades make it a 6.....


ron
N4UE
WD9IQN Rating: 2018-12-15
WORKS GREAT !! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I found a mint SP-8 speaker at a hamfest for 80 dollars. A great deal and a great sounding speaker.
I use it with several of my HF rigs. It's a keeper.
26JLH Rating: 2014-08-21
ok but expensive Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
like the speaker could do with a better speaker element.
150.00 pounds uk for a box with 5 quid speaker
i expect a 50 quid speaker element for that.
ok to get it used and mod it but get a good used one

tnx jeff ..
AB7MC Rating: 2014-01-23
Nice ext. spkr. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am using this SP-8 for more than five years. Two years ago I made a modification by changing the speaker to Tang Band 8 Ohms same size but bigger magnet from Parts Express. The speaker alone cost me $32.00 plus shipping. I notice the big improvement because the new speaker has a bigger magnet. When West Mountain Radio release their new DSP/CLR-949 I immediately bought one from HRO. Now I am very very satisfied with my audio receive using FT-1000MP, FT-950 & IC-7410. Take note: My antenna is only a regular dipole.
WA2E Rating: 2013-06-04
Not bad at all Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Not perfect but I would give it a 4.5 compared to other ham speakers I've tried. Initially I wasn't thrilled but was happy I purchased it used. The trick as some others have said is foam. I completely filled the entire empty space. Totally changed the sound for the good. Of course it matches up perfectly with my MKV Field.

Mike
K1SMA Rating: 2013-02-03
Good speaker! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I'm also wondering why this speaker doesn't have better ratings. I bought mine used from a fellow ham. I've had it over a year now. I used a Cobra hg-s500 with noise cancelling before, which is loud but noise cancelling isn't much. This one has great filters, it's SO much quieter than the Cobra or the radio speaker as far as static and noise.