Thanks for all the suggestions - including the wonderful comments about you not having a speaker. Great.
it's my airplane.
Since I know there are a lot of lurkers on here (I am usually one of them) searching out different threads sometimes YEARS in the past on whatever current subject I am looking for some answers/ideas on, I'd like to say this as far as having a speaker goes:
Remember - opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one.
If you fly out of a tower controlled field fairly often, IMO you want a speaker. Why? On the ground, picking up an IFR clearance, writing down atis (yeah I have a great memory, just short, gotta write stuff down), loading a flight plan into the box**ALL WITH THE ENGINE OFF**. If the engine is off, I don't want to wear a headset but I want to hear what is going on with ground control. Hence a speaker.
One lesson POUNDED into any airline training program is heads down is dangerous. NEVER do we allow both pilots to be heads down doing sometime like described above with engines running. Single pilot on a ramp with a spinning propeller - you must be eyes outside at all times. Hence do all of this with engine off, enjoy the quiet, and take your time.
If you only fly VFR, grass or small strip, love the small quiet pancake breakfast runs on weekends - save the 8.8oz of weight and don't install a speaker. My '47 champ never had one either - man I loved that airplane.