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Reviews For: Kenwood SP-23

Category: Speakers for communications

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Review Summary For : Kenwood SP-23
Reviews: 31MSRP: 80.00
Description:
Kenwood speaker matching the TS-2000, TS-570 ect...
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
13313.5
VE7POE Rating: 2023-01-22
Nice Case/Cheap Driver Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I really wanted a speaker to match my Kenwood rig. I knew they didn't sound good so I had already decided I was going to modify it as soon as it came in. I ran it about 5 minutes with the stock speaker and was also greatly disappointed. I went to Wal-Mart and picked up a Scosche FRS35 3.5" car replacement speaker for $10.00, trimmed about 4mm off of two sides with a dremmel. I Pulled the old speaker and hard-board mount out. The new speaker fits right in on the mounting ears. I lined the cavity with packing foam and it sounds great, much deeper bass, sounds good for music on Shortwave too. Also looks cool as the chrome wizzer cone is slightly visible through the front grille. I am now very happy with it. I can't figure out for the life of me why Kenwood did not put a better driver in it. The cabinet is all metal and very high quality. Of course as with any modification - you do so at your own risk.

If your looking for good sound, you definitley won't get it with this speaker in its stock state. I gave it a three because the case is awesome! My former call was VE7DTR.
N4EEB Rating: 2021-11-23
Would Not Recommend Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this to match the TS-590SG. First disappointment was that the color doesn't match. The audio quality is thin and not pleasant to listen to.
VE7REN Rating: 2021-01-30
sounds ok,looks good,and suits the shack..... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
i bought 1 of these speakers from dx engineering to try first. it came,and i thought it sounded ok,but could use some work on the inside,but hey, its better then what i had,so.... i ordered 2 more.. i use all 3 . 2 of them on ts-2000 and 1 on a icom 9100 with great reults. i will add that on the icom,the dsp settings can be tailored more than the kenwood to make the speaker sound more pleasant.. overall,i recomend. they are metal with a plastic front grill,metal bailstand and solid build. really..... you cannot go wrong. eventually i may try the foam inserts or styrofoam inside.....
K0XY Rating: 2021-01-30
...well they are Priced Right ! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had a numerous assortment of sp-23's and sp-430's over the years...they come and go...but, they are priced below $100 on the NEW market which hits my Impulse Price range. The speaker also will Match MOST contemporary rigs available on the new and used market and not look like a strange duck !

I tried the packing of foam peanuts by removing the upper cabinet top...filled it and resealed...IT WORKED...and I am now pleased with the LACK of TINNINESS...Bingo !
VE3WMB Rating: 2021-01-29
Sounds lifeless and Tinny without some work Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased a used SP-23 for use with my TS-590S (cottage rig). Having read the eHam reviews I knew what I was getting myself into and I was prepared to do some work on the speaker to improve the sound. FWIW I also own a Phonema Miranda, which is an excellent sounding and beautiful speaker that matches the TS-590-series very nicely, but it is not cheap. I was disappointed, but not surprised with the "tinnyness" of the stock SP-23. Before purchasing the Phonema Phits for this speaker I decided to try to lightly stuff the enclosure with "The Original Poly-fil" polyester fiber fill purchased from Amazon. It took about 3 fists full to fill up most of the space without packing it too tightly. The result is that the "tinnyness" is gone and overall sound is much more pleasant when listening to SSB/CW or AM broadcast. The stock speaker I would rate as a 2/5, with the addition of the fill I would say about 3.5 to 4 out of 5. The conclusion is that this is good enough for now. - VE3WMB
KE4ET Rating: 2020-04-26
Very nice, BUT ONLY IF YOU UPGRADE IT! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I do not generally post reviews.

I rebuilt an SP-23 with the Phonema replacement speaker and the acoustic foam kits from DX Engineering. I purchased the speaker intending to do just that. The speaker is for my TS-590SG which is my (primarily) field radio. I use headphones more often than not, but the speaker will let others hear.

The cost of the relatively inexpensive SP-23 plus the Phonema K23A PHITS and GPH-K23X speaker upgrade kits brings the price into the ballpark range of decent ham speakers. It is still cheaper than lots of them. I am VERY pleased with the results. The sound quality was much closer to a good set of headphones than I'm used to hearing from a ham speaker. I'd say it sounds quite good now. I wasn't feeling the need to go grab the headphones. The radio plus the speaker = nice audio! I haven't even applied any equalization.

The upgrade process is a bit fiddly getting the replacement speaker nicely centered and rotated just the right degree... Rotate it too far and it touches the sides of the face plate. Rotate it not enough and it interferes with the mounting screws.

For those who don't know, the replacement speaker is a little larger than the original so it is 'adapted' to fit. When you get it right, it fits nicely. But as I said, a bit fiddly.

The foam kit is pretty straight forward, and high quality. Note - if you do only half the upgrade, I'd recommend starting with the foam. IMHO you'll hear more of a difference from just the foam nuking the resonances than you will from just the speaker element upgrade. A good speaker element in a lousy box is still a lousy speaker. If you do only the speaker element upgrade you'll likely be disappointed. So if you're on a budget, start with the foam.

After both upgrades, the speaker must have doubled in weight. Rap the speaker on the side, and it now has a dead sound. It is no longer a hollow metal box, and it no longer sounds like one.

I can't say what my impression will be over time. Just that the early impression is WOW, that sounds better than I'd hoped! Another ham who used to be in the business also thought it sounded very nice.

KE4ET
W5ZYX Rating: 2020-01-18
Plastic Pellets Help a Lot! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have two Kenwood SP-23 speakers in my shack and like both their size and look. However, as many reviewers have stated, the sound quality leaves some to be desired. While commercial enhancement kits are available for the SP-23, the suggestion that several reviewers have made about filling the case with plastic pellets makes a considerable improvement to sound quality and is a zero cost alternative. Highly recommend that approach! I originally rated the SP-23 as "Needs Help" (2 Stars) but the plastic pellets bring it to a 4 or 5 Star rating.
WQ8Q Rating: 2018-03-22
Great - with help Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Several years ago I had a Kenwood SP-23 with my TS-440S. It sounded terrible. I replaced it with my old standby TenTec speaker and all was good.
However, now that I have a new Kenwood TS-590SG I wanted a nice little speaker to sit next to that rig. The old TenTec speaker worked fine but was too large for the space I had designated. The old SP-23 sold long ago at Dayton, I decided to buy another one – but only because Phonema was making a replacement speaker and custom acoustic foam inserts for the SP-23 housing. The price of the SP-23 and the Phonema accessories would bring the total price up to near the price of supposedly super-duper ham speakers. However, going on the reasoning that IT'S A HOBBY AND YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SPEND MONEY! I ordered the new speaker and the Phonema accessories from DX Engineering (great folks to deal with) and in a couple of days had the goods. I had a bit of trouble installing the speaker (I was following the included photograph instead of using common sense) but after a quick note and response from DX Engineering all was put right. So to cut this short (too late!) I tried out the SP-23 before the new parts were installed (and yes, it was as bad as I remembered) and then afterwards it was just what I was looking for. I am a casual contester (both CW & SSB) and both modes sound just right through the speaker. No, I didn't want a “full range” hi-fi speaker because in Ham Radio we are concentrating on voice communications or CW communications. The “new” SP-23 is now a usable speaker.
So, considering the rating system use here: It would be 3 stars for the speaker. Add two more for the speaker with Phonema accessories.
N5XJT Rating: 2018-03-04
Good.....afterwards Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Perfect match for my TS-450 but poor sound as purchased. Installed a 1/2 inch thick solid styrofoam baffle to fill the entire cavity placed in the middle of the speaker interior. Audio clarity was much improved and a little more bass resulted. Previously would have rated a "2", this minor change improved the speaker to a "4" and cost was insignificant.
AC5KD Rating: 2018-03-04
Kenwood SP-23 Upgrade Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Wasn't very impressed with the sound of my new SP23, but, I found a way to upgrade to a better speaker with a bigger magnet driver here:
https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/pne-gph-k23x

After installing this better speaker, it sounds much better, but you have to decide if it's worth buying the SP23, and then buying this speaker upgrade at $36. I wanted a speaker to match my Kenwood TS2000, so the SP23 does that, but, it really needs this speaker upgrade to make it as it should be from the factory. If you get the SP23, and do the speaker upgrade, you can get an acoustics kit to line the inside of it here: https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/pne-k23a

So, if you buy the SP23, then buy the better speaker for $36, and the acoustics kit for another $36, you'll probably have a really good speaker, and it'll still be much cheaper than a Kenwood SP990. If you have a SP23, consider at least getting the speaker upgrade, and you'll be happier with it.