Turbo Express Speaker Upgrade

Started by Amerika, 08/26/2018, 09:12 PM

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Amerika

Is there a particularly good drop-in speaker for the Turbo Express that is better than the stock one?  Mine is loud and clear enough but I can't help but think that I can't get a bit better sound out of it with something a bit more modern.

Oh, and this is completely off-topic, but if somebody has an original TE screen for sale as a leftover part from a dead unit, let me know.  I'd be interested.

Thanks!

NightWolve

I can't find the thread, but if you know which capacitor is for sound, you can replace it with a slightly higher value to boost the existing speaker's max loudness. That's another idea.

But yeah, I'd imagine a speaker built under today's science standards/tech/experience performs a bit better than what was made ~30 years ago. You figure the black paper cone of the speaker was probably cheap/low quality, and that does deteriorate over time, some types faster than others...

As for stock screens, you can contact/PM turbokon, he has had some for sale in the past. If not, try thesteve who you can also ask about the sound capacitor (he might remember/know about that too).

Amerika

Quote from: NightWolve on 08/28/2018, 11:10 AMI can't find the thread, but if you know which capacitor is for sound, you can replace it with a slightly higher value to boost the existing speaker's max loudness. That's another idea.

But yeah, I'd imagine a speaker built under today's science standards/tech/experience performs a bit better than what was made ~30 years ago. You figure the black paper cone of the speaker was probably cheap/low quality, and that does deteriorate over time, some types faster than others...

As for stock screens, you can contact/PM turbokon, he has had some for sale in the past. If not, try thesteve who you can also ask about the sound capacitor (he might remember/know about that too).
Oh, no worries about the capacitor.  I replaced all of them and a few other things on my TE which restored my sound (and everything else broken) and it's extremely loud.  I just wanted to know if anybody knew of a solid upgrade for the TE speaker as it sounds "fine" for the era but I wouldn't mind a nice little upgrade if there was one that was known and could still be sourced.  If not, I'll get some measurements on the speaker and see what I can find.

As for the stock screen, I found a guy that does repairs that had one he would sell.  So I got that covered!  Thanks for the reply.

Amerika

I have an update to this in case anybody needs to replace their speaker in the future.  I pulled the speaker out of my Turbo Express and measured it and it is 28mm in diameter and ~4.5mm thick.  I used that information to find TONS of speakers that are the same size.  Mouser looks to have a couple of solid options but I ended up going the quick/simple route and buying https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EJI8UWI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1.  I did a before and after test and the drop-in sounds slightly better than my old speaker (used Dungeon Explorer and Bonk) to my ears...but it wasn't a huge change.

So if you need a good/quick/cheap drop-in replacement, the speaker I linked works just fine.  I'm curious about the ones listed on Mouser as they might be higher quality.  https://www.mouser.com/Electromechanical/Audio-Devices/Speakers-Transducers/_/N-awp4u?P=1z0x281Z1yyy7vm

Here is what the new speaker sounds like:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/3ciFf4JGCvh8WK8eA

NightWolve

Yeah, could be useful, I don't remember anyone else ever pursuing modern speaker replacements like we have for the LCD panel, or other types of mods/upgrades (YPbPr video output, gamepad input).

So the cone on that is all plastic-icky-looking, probably lasts the longest. I don't see the fiber-foamy stuff and I'm guessing the original was the black paper-ish kind ? It's been years since I had my Express open (for capacitor replacement).

Amerika

Quote from: NightWolve on 09/09/2018, 12:39 PMYeah, could be useful, I don't remember anyone else ever pursuing modern speaker replacements like we have for the LCD panel, or other types of mods/upgrades (YPbPr video output, gamepad input).

So the cone on that is all plastic-icky-looking, probably lasts the longest. I don't see the fiber-foamy stuff and I'm guessing the original was the black paper-ish kind ? It's been years since I had my Express open (for capacitor replacement).
Yeah, the original speaker, at least in my TE, was paper-like and was super ragged and dirty.