Replacement speaker options

[Benjh96]

Hey all, I have a cheap little Matrix practice amp that I'm cleaning up a bit and wanted to put a new speaker in. Is it required to match the wattage and ohms? It currently has a 15w 4ohm speaker and I cannot for the life of me find one like that which matches the size. Thank you!

[Bakersdozen]

Hey all, I have a cheap little Matrix practice amp that I'm cleaning up a bit and wanted to put a new speaker in. Is it required to match the wattage and ohms? It currently has a 15w 4ohm speaker and I cannot for the life of me find one like that which matches the size. Thank you!Can you show us a picture of the chassis anywhere that has some text or details?

[McCreed]

In very general terms, you have to at least match the ohms. The power rating of the speaker should not go below the output rating of the amp. You can go higher (most amps do - eg: a 10w amp with a 15w speaker) but you don't want to go absurdly higher or it will not sound good. It won't hurt the amp or speaker though, as long as the ohm load is matched.

And FWIW, speaker swaps in "cheap practise amps" are generally not going to improve the sound much and not necessarily worth the investment. If you're replacing a broken or dead speaker, that's a different story.

BTW, the only Matrix amps I could find online were high-end boutique amps. Not what I would call cheap. I presume yours is not one of those?

[Bakersdozen]

@McCreed I love it when you talk about ohm loading so early in the morning [emoji1787]

[McCreed]

Ohm load, truck load, boot load, boat load...

There... that ought to keep you going!!!

[DrNomis_44]

Hey all, I have a cheap little Matrix practice amp that I'm cleaning up a bit and wanted to put a new speaker in. Is it required to match the wattage and ohms? It currently has a 15w 4ohm speaker and I cannot for the life of me find one like that which matches the size. Thank you!

Is it a Valve or Solid-State amp?, if it's a Valve amp you need to use a 4 Ohm speaker, something like a 20 Watt 4 Ohm speaker will do the job fine, same goes if it's a Solid-State amp.

[McCreed]

Another question is, what inch size is the existing speaker?

If 8", something like this is a good start:

https://www.evatco.com.au/jensen-mod-8-20watt-speaker

6" -
https://www.evatco.com.au/jensen-mod-6-15watt-speaker

I've always liked Jensens, but it's a very personal choice.

[Simon Barden]

Is it one of these?

40004

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373527610641?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338014673&toolid=10001&customid=dealsan

[Benjh96]

That's exactly it Simon thanks! Been battling to upload some pics and reply but it hasn't been working. I believe it is a 7 or 8 inch speaker. As long as I get a 4ohm speaker and don't go crazy on the wattage it should be fine?

[DrNomis_44]

That's exactly it Simon thanks! Been battling to upload some pics and reply but it hasn't been working. I believe it is a 7 or 8 inch speaker. As long as I get a 4ohm speaker and don't go crazy on the wattage it should be fine?


A 4 Ohm 25 Watt speaker should work fine.

[Simon Barden]

It's a 4 ohm speaker to get the most power out of the small solid state amp. An 8 Ohm speaker will just about halve the output power the amp produces, down to 5W from 10W, but in reality the volume drop will be minimal, about 3dB in the SPL produced, which isn't a lot. However, a good replacement speaker may well be more efficient than the original, and produce more dB SPL for the same power input.

But the reality is it's a very basic practice amp, so I wouldn't spend too much on a replacement speaker. You wouldn't have to spend a lot more to get a much better sounding basic modelling amp.