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Need a pair of low wattage speakers for a 10 watt Solid State

BearDad

BearDad

New Member
Bought an Akai AA-810 for a song on Ebay but I don't have a decent pair of speakers for that low wattage output. I'm thinking about a pair of Realistic Minimus 7s. What else should I consider? I'm a budget electronics geek... I ain't got much money, but I love this stuff.
 
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While Rat Shack sold min7 with wpc receiver, Min7 are ok if you want a small system for back ground music. I know everyone is going to howl, but unless you find the first generation Min7, the rest absolutely suck. If you want Radio Shack look on ebay and read up here about vintage Solo series ( 2, 21, 103 ) that use the Fostex FE 103, some models had a built in contour network that make them sound really good. If you have room Nova 6 speakers pop up cheap. The other option for a mini speaker is vintage ADS 200 or 300. Craigslist is full of small home studio monitors also. HTH.
 
MaggieMaggie said:
While Rat Shack sold min7 with wpc receiver, Min7 are ok if you want a small system for back ground music. I know everyone is going to howl, but unless you find the first generation Min7, the rest absolutely suck. If you want Radio Shack look on ebay and read up here about vintage Solo series ( 2, 21, 103 ) that use the Fostex FE 103, some models had a built in contour network that make them sound really good. If you have room Nova 6 speakers pop up cheap. The other option for a mini speaker is vintage ADS 200 or 300. Craigslist is full of small home studio monitors also. HTH.
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Thanks MaggieMaggie! Appreciate those suggestions and I will look into all of them! Appreciate the distinction on the Min7s too!
 
whoaru99 is right on. The only thing I would add to that is look for speakers with an 8 ohm nominal impedance, or at least 6 ohms.

As for the Minimus 7 speakers, they are very good for what they are, especially if you have the matching reciever which has an EQ optimized for the 7's. I know, I have 2 pair with the matching reciever.

There perfect for my bedroom or small office with the EQ, Or as near field monitors for a desktop computer.

But IMO you would be better off with a decent pair of bookshelf speakers more along this line.

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BearDad said:
Bought an Akai AA-810 for a song on Ebay but I don't have a decent pair of speakers for that low wattage output. I'm thinking about a pair of Realistic Minimus 7s. What else should I consider? I'm a budget electronics geek... I ain't got much money, but I love this stuff.
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Are you talking wood enclosures or plastic?
 
Honestly you could run some Klipsch on ten watts. They would get plenty loud. But if you don't want to spend a whole lot of money then that will limit your choices for sure. What is the speaker budget?

Lots of smaller size speakers out there if they fit your budget. EPI, Boston Acoustics, Polk, Advent. But the sensitivity rating is probably what matters most. Granted I rarely use more than 1 watt of power when I am listening to music and with my speakers that gets quite loud.
 
If you're looking for speakers on the cheap, I like the Cambridge Soundworks Model Six. Or you could pick up a pair of the Ensemble bookshelfs for almost nothing. Run them through a halfway decent subwoofer and they sound great.
 
whoaru99 said:
IMO, it would be more a matter of speaker sensitivity than power. With higher sensitivity speakers you get more bang for your watts.

If volume isn't really a factor I'd focus more on what you like for sound rather than a notion of needing to align watts.
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Appreciate that perspective. What do I reference to quantify which speakers are more sensitive?
 
charles 1973 said:
whoaru99 is right on. The only thing I would add to that is look for speakers with an 8 ohm nominal impedance, or at least 6 ohms.

As for the Minimus 7 speakers, they are very good for what they are, especially if you have the matching reciever which has an EQ optimized for the 7's. I know, I have 2 pair with the matching reciever.

There perfect for my bedroom or small office with the EQ, Or as near field monitors for a desktop computer.

But IMO you would be better off with a decent pair of bookshelf speakers more along this line.

www.canuckaudiomart.com

Monitor Audio MR2 Bookshelf Speakers - 75% Off retail

Loaded with a 6.5” MMP® II bass driver and 1” C-CAM® tweeter, the MR2 is an evolution of the multi-award winning BR2, tuning the considerable talents of its forerunner to a new intensity.Description:6.5” MMP®II bass/mid driver1” C-CAM® gold dome tweeterFront portedModelled on the hugely...
www.canuckaudiomart.com www.canuckaudiomart.com
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Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into those.
 
dbuz said:
If you're looking for speakers on the cheap, I like the Cambridge Soundworks Model Six. Or you could pick up a pair of the Ensemble bookshelfs for almost nothing. Run them through a halfway decent subwoofer and they sound great.
Click to expand...
I'll look into those! Thanks
 
I think your Akai is about 10 watts. Any speaker over 90 db efficiency will work for moderate volume in a moderate sized room. If you want BIG sound, you need speaker greater than 95 db efficiency. I can push > 95 db on 8 watts or less, but speakers that will do this will generally cost quite a bit. 10 watts on a 100 db speaker will get you concert level volume.
 
If you can find a pair of Marantz Imperial 6, they have a sensitivity of 93 db (1 watt, 1 kHz, 0.5 meters), so they should do pretty well with a 10W amp.
I have a pair running now and I really have to be carefull with the volume knob.
 
Lucky Pierre said:
I think your Akai is about 10 watts. Any speaker over 90 db efficiency will work for moderate volume in a moderate sized room. If you want BIG sound, you need speaker greater than 95 db efficiency. I can push > 95 db on 8 watts or less, but speakers that will do this will generally cost quite a bit. 10 watts on a 100 db speaker will get you concert level volume.
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Thanks for that info. No, about as big as I want my sound to get is the volume on my 30w receiver turned halfway up. This little 10w receiver will sit in my basement for when I'm working down there.
 
Jens Sinding said:
If you can find a pair of Marantz Imperial 6, they have a sensitivity of 93 db (1 watt, 1 kHz, 0.5 meters), so they should do pretty well with a 10W amp.
I have a pair running now and I really have to be carefull with the volume knob.
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That's a killer suggestion! When I was a kid I had a Marantz 2215 hooked up to Imperial 6's and they sounded amazing! Really great suggestion, thank you!
 
BearDad said:
Thanks for that info. No, about as big as I want my sound to get is the volume on my 30w receiver turned halfway up. This little 10w receiver will sit in my basement for when I'm working down there.
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FWIW, maybe you know, but 1/2 way on the volume control is often well more than 50% power, if that's your implication.
 
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