ICOM IC R-75 external speaker

[East Troy Don]

Just landed a used R75 on EBAY - should get it within a few days.   Looking for any recommendations for an external speaker to pair up.   Any ideas?
Thanks

[flexoman61]

I got the R-75 when they announced they were discontinuing. Great radio but I guess you already know how disappointing the speaker is. The External speaker Icom sells for the R-75 is (was) over $200, screw that. I got a fairly cheap pair of generic speakers off Amazon that were an improvement.

[Josh]

Ive used home stereo speakers from garage sales and closeouts for ages but have to admit my fav for just about anything, from scanners to hf ssb voice to swl, have been the rat shack minimus series. These tiny things are amazing. Also, get yourself a good set of phones, you will not be disappointed. Try to get the kind that enclose the ear, not compress on it, makes for longer listening periods sans fatigue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrgGEdbWBSg

[East Troy Don]

Thanks guys.

[Todd Vanderbilt]

I have several Radio Shack Optimus speakers that I picked up used.

[pinto vortando]

Don,

Take a look at the MFJ 722B Optimizer.  It does a good job of filtering out the jumble (especially on the crowded
AM broadcast band).  The MFJ along with a set of headphones will work well for serious DXing.

[ChrisSmolinski]

I use a Fender Frontman 15G guitar amp I picked up from the second hand store for about $15 plugged into one of my iMacs (which runs the AFE822x SDR). Previously I used it with one of my knobbed radios. Might want to consider looking for something like that? It has tone controls, which can be useful. 

I made a simple patch cable with an isolation transformer to cut out ground loop 60 Hz hum.

[Todd Vanderbilt]

I also use a West Mountain Radio CLRdsp  with my R75, even though I have the onboard DSP filter.   The CLRdsp has a small amp and gives you the DSP with tone control which is quite helpful. 

[East Troy Don]

Great suggestions .   Thanks again everyone.

[ThaDood]

I still like rocking HF rigs with Radio Shack Nova-15's. Great voice tonal quality in all modes. Certainly sound fan-freakin'-tastic on the Kenwood rigs, and brought out the AM quality on an IC-735, (To my surprise!) Less than 1W powers these speakers nicely. https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/13595

[Josh]

I still like rocking HF rigs with Radio Shack Nova-15's. Great voice tonal quality in all modes. Certainly sound fan-freakin'-tastic on the Kenwood rigs, and brought out the AM quality on an IC-735, (To my surprise!) Less than 1W powers these speakers nicely. https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/13595

Lol I always wondered what model mine was! I got it in the late 80s and have used it on anything I wanted good audio from. Carried from state to state even. The rat shack at 90th and Dodge in Omaha had it by itself on clearance with a bunch of other stuff, it was cheap so didn't hesitate. For some reason the cloth cover thingy likes to walk off the cabinet after a few months but the plastic pegs are easily pushed back into place.

I was going to mention home stereo speakers and stopping by pawn shops as they always have stereos, one might find a very high quality speaker or pair for cheap. Just make sure you test them before you spend money/take home. The great thing about typical home stereo speakers is they can produce thunderous bass, the R8 in wide synchro mode on a clean cuban jazz bcast and the Nova-15 would rock the house.

[East Troy Don]

I still like rocking HF rigs with Radio Shack Nova-15's. Great voice tonal quality in all modes. Certainly sound fan-freakin'-tastic on the Kenwood rigs, and brought out the AM quality on an IC-735, (To my surprise!) Less than 1W powers these speakers nicely. https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/13595

Lol I always wondered what model mine was! I got it in the late 80s and have used it on anything I wanted good audio from. Carried from state to state even. The rat shack at 90th and Dodge in Omaha had it by itself on clearance with a bunch of other stuff, it was cheap so didn't hesitate. For some reason the cloth cover thingy likes to walk off the cabinet after a few months but the plastic pegs are easily pushed back into place


I was going to mention home stereo speakers and stopping by pawn shops as they always have stereos, one might find a very high quality speaker or pair for cheap. Just make sure you test them before you spend money/take home. The great thing about typical home stereo speakers is they can produce thunderous bass, the R8 in wide synchro mode on a clean cuban jazz bcast and the Nova-15 would rock the house.

I KNEW I should've hung on to those Sansui's !

[pinto vortando]

If you want to rock the house with tunes from say, WTWW or WRMI, just about any
of the suggestions would be a vast improvement over the built-in speaker.
Otherwise, if DX is your objective, headphones are the way to go.

[Looking-Glass]

Yaesu and Kenwood knock out good external speakers for their top of the line base stations, using the external speaker for my FT-1000D on the Icom R75 with great results, manual filtering options on front of the Yaesu speaker are an added bonus too...works great!

Yes, the R75 inbuilt speaker leaves a lot to be desired, hence the above move.

[Josh]

I consider the built in speakers of hf rigs to be nothing more than test or emergency use only equipment. Most external speakers made by Ikensue, Yaekencom, or whoever have all sucked in my opinion, mostly due to the limited bandwidths designed into the speaker. They look nice as they match the gear but they're made for voice work, not hi fidelity.