Basic Speaker Advice

[mike696]

Hi,

I'm just looking for some basic speaker guidance.

I would like to buy a single speaker to plug into the 3.5mm jack output of a mini amp, but I'm a bit clueless as to what spec the speaker would need to be.

I've listed below the specs from the mini Amplifier/Speaker:

INPUT SENSITIVITY: 1mV
INPUT IMPEDANCE: 5K OHMS
POWER OUTPUT(1KHz): 200mW (16 OHM LOAD)
DISTORTION (1KHZ): < 2% THD @ 200mW
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 100Hz - 10KHz
POWER SOURCE: 9V ADAPTER

From what I understand I think I'd need a single 16 ohm speaker, but I don't really understand what wattage I'd need? Also, the speaker would need to be quite loud, used for playing high frequency sounds (bird calls to be exact). Would there be a certain type of speaker better suited for this than others - which wouldn't distort the sound too much at high volume?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks a lot

Mike

 

[captain8ball]

Mike:

Short answer: most any speaker will work.

Long answer: Your amplifier is optimized for a 16 ohm speaker. Any speaker you find today will be between 4 and 8 ohms. This mis-match should not be a problem. If you hear "motor boating" or heart beats from the amp, add a 6 to 10 ohm resistor inline with the speaker. Your amp supplies 200mW of power. Therefore, a speaker rated for less than 0.200 Watts may be damaged. Most every true audio speaker can handle MUCH more power than that!

 

[americanaudiophile]

I think that you are going to have a problem if your application requires loud volumes especially outdoors. There are 16 ohm speakers available but I think that you just won't have enough power. A 16 ohm paging horn type speaker might be your best bet. Check these out.
http/www.gai-tronics.com/indcomsystems/ancillary_products/speakers/industrial_horn_loudspeaker.htm