Amp for Visaton FR 13 4 ohm speaker

[TASBALAA]

Hi,
I found an old speaker box in my grandfather's basement. I decided to build a modern speaker in it. I chose the Visaton FR 13 4 ohm full range speaker for it, mainly because it is cheap, and it's available in my country. So my first question is, is it any good? I didn't find any ratings on it. If not, can you please recommend a better alternative? And if it is OK, than what amplifier do I need for it? It would be nice, if it has Bluetooth support.
Link for the speaker: http://www.visaton.de/en/products/fullrange-systems/fr-13-4-ohm
Thank you

 

[kellys_eye]

The speakers rated power is 30W - a decent amplifier of 25 to 30 watts RMS output will do it justice. There are many modules and kits available on-line. You can even Google search for "30W audio amplifier schematic" and get a few hundred results.

You will need a decent power supply to power the amplifier though. Will you be using batteries or mains power?

 

[dave9]

There are some reviews on Parts Express' website:
https://www.parts-express.com/visaton-fr13-4-5-full-range-speaker-4-ohm--292-518

I'd check ebay for an amp with bluetooth. They might not be 30W but do you need that much? It's a pretty basic driver, the surround and small 5" size mean it's not going to be great for bass which limits the useful power input.

 

[TASBALAA]

I was thinking about batteries, but mains is fine, as well as the limited bass.
Thanks for the anwers

 

[TASBALAA]

Is this amp suitable: https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-30W-2-...sAAOSwVuNbG0na&_nkw=bluetooth+amplifier&rt=nc
this has the closest wattage to the speakers, but it's stereo, and I only have one speaker, can I somehow mix the outputs, or do I have to buy a mono amplifier? Or can you recommend a better one?
Thanks

 

[Audioguru]

The datasheet for the cheap little speaker shows that it produces no bass and has a shrieking peak at 5kHz.
The ebay amplifier has no detailed spec's so its distortion might be awful and its "30W" might be a lie.

If the speaker enclosure is not designed for the detailed spec's of the speaker then its sound will be much worse than you think.

 

[TASBALAA]

So what can I do? Can you recommend a better speaker with amp? And do I have to modify the enclosure? Please help

 

[dave9]

^ We can't give you that level of advice, not knowing what is available in your area, what your budget is, and whether the sonic performance is important as-in it's going to be a primary use, source of sound, or just nostalgia that you brought an old speaker back to life.

I will say that if this is a really old, furniture grade speaker then I would put better components in it than if it were just a random speaker box you found and felt it was a cheaper or easier way to make a speaker.

There are books on calculating speaker enclosures, or to do it the other way around, instead of calculating the enclosure for the speaker, in this case since you have the enclosure, you backwards-calculate the right speaker for it... and then we are back to square one, not knowing what is available in your area.

I do think the amp you linked would be sufficient for a 5" full range driver, running off ~ 12V from an AC-DC wall adapter you'd get at least single-digit # of watts out of it before terribly distorted, maybe 10W or more.

 

[Audioguru]

Half-decent woofer speakers usually have a datasheet with a recommended enclosure design. The "whizzer" cone of your old speaker was used on the cheap speakers of a TV instead of a real dome tweeter and a recommended crossover network design.

ebay sells junk. Their amplifiers might use a poor copy of a good Western IC and probably use a heatsink too small.