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Reviews For: RadioShack Extension Speaker 21-549

Category: Speakers for communications

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Review Summary For : RadioShack Extension Speaker 21-549
Reviews: 7MSRP: 20.99
Description:
Heavy-duty, 5-watt extension speaker designed for CBs, scanners and ham radios.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2036240&cp=2032052.2032075.2032078.2032104&parentPage=family
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0074.6
K9CTB Rating: 2010-11-13
Good Workhorse Speaker Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I'm not sure if it's me or what?! People really seem to beat up on the 'Shack a lot. It's sorta the same stigma enjoyed (?) by MFJ. I don't understand. I have three of these speakers and each one performs flawlessly in the role I've placed them in. I prefer to use these Radio Shack units as extension/forward-firing speakers for VHF and UHF FM radios. I use them both in my shack at home and in the cars. Can't find any reason to rate them below a "5". You want to see a really bad speaker? Try the one internal to your KenIcoYae rig. Try it mobile in a working man's car. THAT's a bad speaker. The 21-549 is a great performer, especially for the price.
AI4HO Rating: 2010-04-04
Decent all purpose communications speaker. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have two of these speakers, one in my truck that is hooked to my IC-706MKIIG, the other is connected to my Yaesu FT-8900r quad band VHF/UHF. I will say that for general all around communications this speaker does exceptionally well. For SSB use.....EH, its OK, but I may retire the one in my truck for something that has DSP to cut out the white noise.

I use the one on my VHF/UHF radio for repeater work and have no issues what so ever. It works very well for what it is in that respect. Again for SSB work its not so good, sometimes when operating mobile HF its all I can do to make out the stations call sign. That is why I may go ahead and bite the bullet and get one of GAP's HEAR IT speakers, or get the module to modify the PS speaker for mobile HF work, time will tell.

I have had both these speakers for so long now I can't remember when I actually bought them. I know I bought one and within a few days maybe a week I bought another to go in the shack. I will say that for the price I paid these are pretty good speakers and are significantly better than the one speaker I had, which was a truck stop special, I want to say it was the DIESEL brand but wont swear to it.

If you are looking for a decent all around communications speaker, and don't want to lay out a lot of cash, then these speakers will do the job with out a doubt. Are there better speakers out there? You betcha,but you're gonna pay for it too. I would not hesitate and have recommended these speakers to many of my ham and non ham friends who are looking for a decent speaker. Just my thoughts on a decent speaker.


73 de Mark
W3LZK
N1KSN Rating: 2008-03-24
Works well for me Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have two of these speakers in my shack. One is is used with my VHF/UHF radio. The other is used for SSB with my K2. (I have a homebrew 400 Hz resonant speaker for CW with the K2.) I have also used one of these in my car with a Radio Shack HTX-202.

I find that the speaker effectively reduces static noise and hiss for voice communications. Although the K2's external audio level is a tad on the weak side, I just crank up the audio gain some more. For this reason I'd likely stick to the K2's built-in speaker when portable (or use headphones, of course).

So I am quite satisfied with this product and would recommend it to others.
N9MSM Rating: 2008-03-23
Awesome Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought 2 of these for my Kenwood D700. I use 2, one for each band.

The sound is great, but price is a little high. I will buy this again. Worth the money for me.
W5ONV Rating: 2006-09-22
Great for me ! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I use one of these cheep little speakers for my TS-570 and it works just perfect for me.There is not to much bass and definetly not to much treble,no hiss,because there is no tweeter.I can set it right on top of the radio and aim it directly at my face and it sounds great.Not bad for 14.95. 73, Jim
KD1E Rating: 2006-09-22
I'll pass. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I wanted a speaker for the shack. Something I could hook my TS-830s and my Elecraft K2 to (not at the same time). The RS speaker for $20 was the first try.

It has a more focused freq response than the 830s internal speaker. Less bass and a peak in the upper midrange. I suppose in a mobile environment it would cut through nicely but in the shack the coloration made listening a tiring activity. The internal 830s speaker sounded better on SSB and on CW.

With the K2, the RS speaker was noticeably quieter than the internal speaker. K2's rather limited audio output was the issue.

So, after trying it with my rigs, I decided to return it and look for something else.
KF2EK Rating: 2006-04-22
Decent external speaker, good price, narrow voice range Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have a Yaesu FT-857 in my car and for a while have been using the built in audio system in my vehicle for the audio for my FT-857. Due to some RFI issues on various frequencies that are produced by the car's audio system and/or adapter which allows the audio to go thru the car's audio system I decided to investigate "true" external speakers.

I did not want to spend $100+ for a DSP speaker and I had previously tried the small extension speaker from RadioShack 19-318 which I was not happy with and returned the next day. I decided to try their 21-549 model which has a larger heavy duty 4" speaker and found a good location in my vehicle for it (under the armrest in my 2002 VW Jetta TDI).

After hooking the speaker up, I was very pleased with the performance. I could have the FT-857 on max volume with no performance issues from the speaker and SSB as well as AM and FM sounded great. The speaker is marketed as a true communications speaker, having a narrow frequency range of 300Hz to 3000Hz, designed to enhance voice quality. The speaker allows a maximum audio input of 5 watts and comes with a 10 foot cable terminating in a 1/8" mono plug.

I don't typically (heck ever) buy ham radio stuff at RadioShack, but I'm pretty happy with this and for the price ($20) and performance I'm keeping it. The speaker is also physically appealing and not ugly like some of their older models (my opinion...yours may vary).

73 Rob KF2EK