Install an audio speaker?

[Brian Vickers]

All,
I am working on the panel of my RV4. My C-172 has a switch to turn on a speaker within the cabin. You all know what I mean. Are you installing a speaker or just providing for headsets only? My whole flying career has been in Cessna?s with a loud speaker. I do use it while preflight checklists take place when the engine in not running yet. Help me get into the proper orbit. Omit?

I did wire in a music input for my wife's Ipod. My C-172 does not have this luxury.

Sincerely,

Brian Vickers

[az_gila]

My Tiger also has speakers, but I've never bothered used them - yes it has two, one on each side of the glareshield, but no stereo...

I'd also like to hear comments from others whether installing a speaker is needed. At this time, I don't think I would bother...

gil in Tucson

[airguy]

Lot's of hours in a 172, never used the speakers. I bought a good headset before my first PPL lesson and have never even been tempted. Cabin noise levels are too high and I like my hearing.

[L.Adamson]

I put one in. A self contained Radio Shack speaker attached to the side panel in the baggage compartment. This way, you can listen to pattern traffic, atis, etc. before ever putting the headsets on.

edit: It's all for ground use only!

L.Adamson

[tonyjohnson]

I put on in. It is cheap, less than $5 at a surplus store, and easy to wire. Weighs a few ounces. Don't know if I will use it much, but I would rather have it and not need it than visa versa.

[SteinAir]

After many dozens of panels wired up with intercoms and such...we've installed a whopping total of ZERO speaker outputs. Why? Because I can normally convince everyone that installing a heavy chunk of magnetized iron in a plane that is too noisy to use anyway is a waste - but that's just my own opinion Sure, you could use them on the ground, but think about how often you'd actually use it in reality.

Extra wire, extra weight, and extra magnets. Nothing we need too badly! It's kind of like the external microphone type of a thing. Sure you could, but the goal is to build the plane for the 99% percentile of usage, not the 1% of "maybe will use once and awhile someday".

Cheers,
Stein.

[gmcjetpilot]

Originally Posted by Brian Vickers

Help me get into the proper orbit. Omit? Brian Vickers

Negative on the speaker. Headset all the way all the time.

One reason the speaker was needed in the past, old days, was the old radios had speaker outputs that NEEDED a speaker load. With out the load wired to it you would damage the radio. Modern radios don't care if you connect up the aux speaker or not. I'll go on a limb, 99% of the RV's I have seen don't have aux speakers.

I have two headset jacks and I usually have two headsets on board. Redundancy covered. Also flying VFR or even in class B or C or D airspace, it would be a simple 7600. I also sometimes have a handheld with a jack for a headset. So safety is not an issue. Number of total headset failures in my experience? Zero. I had one lost com but a speaker would not have helped.

Pre-flight ATIS? A speaker could be handy. I just put the headset on or around my neck with a little volume or wait until I buckled up and started.

I almost guarantee you, in flight, if for some unlikely reason you lost headphone audio and tried to use the speaker, assuming it still worked, you would NOT be able to hear the speaker in flight. A RV is way louder than a C-172. Also the speaker will not be mounted right above your head, next to your ear; with a bubble canopy the speaker will be around you knee or elbow. Forget about hearing it.

The other reason for my negative on the speaker: weight, cost, build time and more stuff to wire and install. Weight adds up. Even a cheap aux speaker, with its steel frame and magnet (a couple of ounces) weighs a total of what.... 1/4 pound or 1/2 pound? The speaker has to be something substantial, at least +5 watt, 4 ohm, 4" round, if its going to be effective at all, so it will weigh a good chunk.

The guys saying put it in are not wrong, but I say why? There is no right or wrong or definite yes or no. Hope that helps the orbit?

[tonyjohnson]

I intend to use mine only on the ground, with the engine off or at idle. Otherwise I think it would be worthless. You would never hear it in an RV.

Its value is really for listening to ATIS or copying clearances prior to startup and/or taxi.

[kentb]

Why not put in a sub-woofer.
It would be nice when camping with your plane. The neighbor annoyance factor would be incredible if you cranked up some "in-a-goda-davida".

[Norman CYYJ]

I personally think a loudspeaker is a great idea. The benefits are numerous. Such as listening atis while doing your walk around and gassing up the plane, it can be mounted so as to bring your CG with in the proper range and it will help stabilize your compass from swinging around too much.