External Comms Speaker

Reviewed By: Steve N

Review Date: 11/02/03

One of my complaints about most modern radios is the fact that the speakers point downwards.   Given the size of most radios, I guess this is a necessary evil.    However, mount the radio in the dashboard below the normal radio/cassette – and you then have a speaker muffled by the surrounding dash.   A less than ideal situation – especially when travelling at motorway speeds, where the road noise tends to add to the nightmare.      Turning the radio up just results in distortion – and you find yourself really having to strain to hear even 30+ signals…

This external speaker is rectangular is size (probably using an elliptical speaker), and comes complete with bracket, screws, cable and plug - which fits almost all radios.

The benefit of the elliptical design, is that you get very good quality audio in a very small package.    Small square speakers tend to be quite ‘tinny’ sounding – and larger  square speakers tend to get knocked easily (ie, when getting in and out of the car).   The elliptical design gives you the best of both worlds.

When plugging this speaker in – I immediately noticed just how muffled the Maycoms internal speaker sounded.    Audio was now crystal clear, and sounded much more ‘well rounded’ – with good bass response, and voices sounding very natural.   Compared to the Maycom EM-27’s internal speaker (even when not muffled by the dash!) this sounds a hundred times better.

Following conversations during motorway driving is now easy – it’s not until you fit an external speaker that you realize just how much difference it makes.

It’s hard to give this a mark out of 10.  It’s probably comparable to other speakers of a similar size and cost, but the rectangular/elliptical design is definitely in its favour.   I certainly don’t have any complaints regarding performance.

This is probably equally useful either on the road or at home – and for the cost provides a considerable improvement in audio for very little money.