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Reviews For: Yaesu SP 8

Category: Speakers for communications

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Review Summary For : Yaesu SP 8
Reviews: 63MSRP: 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
23633.8
M3RDX Rating: 2002-12-30
well pleased Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have the Yaesu SP8 on my Kenwood TS2000 and have no problem at all I had it side by side with the Icom SP20 speaker and nothing to choose between them maybe they changed things but mines fine I am very happy with it
good dx
Ian m3rdx
W9WHE Rating: 2002-09-03
Looks good, sub-par sound Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Great appearance. Sub-par sound.

Filters are nice, but who can hear them with that hollow-tinny ringing sound? It sounds like they put a small speaker in a tin pop can...Oh, that's right, that IS what they did!!! You could spend HALF the money and get TWICE the speaker.

I bought mine used for $95. That's about where I place the value. Why spend $2400 for a top-end HF rig, extra $$ for Xtal filters, and then DEGRADE the sound with a sub-par speaker?

IF you are inclined to buy one, DON'T buy a new one. You will just be overpaying.

Buy a used one, then stuff the box with speaker stuffing. This $5 investment (radio shack or any car stereo store) will DOUBLE the sound quality by eliminating the hollow-tinny-ringing sound of this otherwise very nice accessory.

Yaesu....your cost to DRAMITICALLY improve the quality would have been a few dollars....what is the deal????
W3GJD Rating: 2002-07-14
Upgrade: Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Replaced speaker with Radio Shack #40-1040.
4" Full Range, 80Hz-20kHz

Must use longer screws.
Acoustic insulation used to damp tin sound.

Some improvement notice.

----------------------
Earlier 4-star review posted by W3GJD on 2001-01-22

Install a 3.5" speaker in rear, (Radio Shack #40-1417 or #40-1419.
Use rubber feet/bolt.
Wire RCA plug from spk to audio/out. If you are using the audio/out, get a "Y" adapter.
Place acoustic insulation (#42-1082), inside Top-Bottom-Sides to damp the "tin" sound.
----------------------
Earlier 0-star review posted by W3GJD on 2000-06-22

SP8 looks nice as a matching book end for MP.
Well,off to Radio Shack to custom build my own.
Two speakers front and rear, crossover network,
balance control, etc? Experiment.
KY1V Rating: 2002-07-05
What's all the fuss? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought a new FT1000MP Mark V about 10 days ago. I just received the SP8 (was back ordered) today and hooked it up right away. Mine sounds great. It isn't tinny sounding at all.

I think I will open it up and see if Yaesu changed anything. If not, I am not sure what all the fuss is about. I am happy I purchased the SP8 and it looks great with my rig.

I think I will order the VL1000 Quadra System to go with it.

By the way, I have been a ham since the 70's and have had a lot of rigs (never liked any Yaesu gear either), including ones with "tinny" sounding speakers...this isn't one of them.

My primary rig has always been a Drake C Line...with a very tinny sounding MS4!
KO9LR Rating: 2002-04-09
Make it sound better yourself Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have to agree with most reviews posted. Yaesu dropped the ball on this one. But you can make this a great sounding speaker believe it or not. As we all know (those of us who own it) it has an awful out of the box "tinny" sound or echo about it. But you can EASILY get rid of that tinny sound by simply stuffing the cabinet with fiberfill (pillow stuffing, ya know, that fluffy cotton like stuff, but it's stiffer than cotton) to baffle the speaker and cabinet. Once I did this, that "tinny" echo sound was gone!! And you could actualy hear the difference between the filters where you really couldn't before. By doing this, it really makes a BIG difference in this speaker. Sounds great now!
So if you really want a speaker to match your 1000 & 920, and don't mind spending an extra buck or to for fiberfill to baffle the darn thing, then it might be worth the purchase for you. But if you don't want to take that time to improve it (I KNOW, WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO FOR THAT KIND OF MONEY) then don't get this speaker, you will be very disappointed. I had to give this speaker a 2 out of 5 directly out of the box, but after adding the fill, I give it a 4!! What a difference! Good luck to ya! 73's, Jerry - KO9LR
WB9WHE Rating: 2002-02-15
Looks good, sounds fair, way too expensive Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
After using this speaker for quite a while, I give it very mixed results.

Asthetically, I give it a 5.0

Acoustically, I give it a 2.0.
Rather dissappointing from a company like Yaesu. While the filters are excellent, they are attached to a "tinny" sounding speaker box, that rings a little too "hollow" for me. Add a little baffling, and the "hollow" sound is somewhat improved. Why can't Yaesu do that? ESPECIALLY for the price.

As for value, I give it a 1.7

Overall, I give it a dissappointing 2.4.
AF4VS Rating: 2001-04-09
Nice addititon to station Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I was looking to get better audio out of my Heil headphones. While in retail outlet, I plugged in my headphones to an SP-8 instead of the FT-1000mp headphone jacks. Much better and clearer sound. I highly recommend that you use your headphones in this manner. I do not like the audio quality of the ClearSpeech speaker as compared to the SP-8 speaker. The phone patch feature is nicely packaged and accessable to operate. I cannot figure out where Yeasu came up with the unusual phone line plug to connect the phone line.
FORMER_AE5DX Rating: 2001-01-22
As expected Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I do not know what other people expect of the SP-8, but it is exactly what I expect. The built in filters obviously can not replace crystal filters in the radio! I have two SP-8s, one for my FT-920 and one for my FT-1000MP. I also have owned two previously. I am well pleased with their quality and sound, as I would expect from Yaesu.
FORMER_WA_4RX_ROB Rating: 2000-09-27
Expensive for what it is Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I can't be as enthusiastic over this speaker as the last ham's comment. I see very little effects with the changing of low and high filter settings. It's nice to have, though, for matching the 1000MP or 920 or 847..etc. And, the extra phone plug is nice on the SP8.
But overall it really is just an expensive low end speaker accessory. Alternatives? Maybe an ICOM SP 20 or Clearspeech or TimeWave..
KB9VHU Rating: 2000-09-27
Nice Speaker! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I'm a little stumped with the other reviews here on this speaker. I have added this speaker to my FT-847 to compensate for the poor volume sensitivity of the radio at low levels. I can now have great selectivity at low volume. The Low and High filters work well and adjusts the frequency response as needed on the speaker and also at the headphone outputs. I also have an amplified speaker with a "Y" connection that I use when I'm listening from another room (I select Mute on the SP-8 for this). The speaker has a SSB and a CW switch for best tone in those modes. Only because the speaker has a hefty price and the fact that I am not an audio expert is the reason that I give the SP-8 4 out of 5 rating. A nice toy if you have a high end rig or plan to add the phone patch.

73 John