DX-398 / Sangean 909 Speaker Died, need suggestions.
 

The internal speaker on my DX-398 slowly died. It
was first noticeable on AM and shortwave, than
finally FM. Now it only makes weak very distorted
noises.

I would like to replace my speaker. The radio
shack manual says that it is part # 11965571.
SPEAKER 11965571 SPEAKER 3MM 8 OHM 3W 77MM
SP90092

Is this easy to replace? Is that speaker a common
one, or is it only used in that radio? Is there
another speaker that would work and would be
better (i.e. more reliable?) Hopefully Radio
Shack will be able to get one at a decent price.

Thanks!

The Dawn Soliloquy wrote:

How does a speaker "slowly die"?, especially when you felt that it first died
on AM and Shortwave, then FM.

The problems were first noticeable on AM. As it became worse it was more
noticeable on FM too.

The internal speaker is disconnected upon the insertion of the headphone plug.

Correct.

Have you ruled out corrosion on the headphone jack as a source of your
problems?

Yes.

Does the radio sound fine with headphones and bad with the speaker?

Yes.


Are the batteries fully charged,

Yes.

and if you have batteries in the radio as
well as using an AC adapter, is the adapter plugged in?

Yes.

If the adapter is plugged into the a correctly powered AC receptacle, and the
other end of the
adapter is plugged into the radio, when you turn on the display light, the
light should stay on continuously, and not go off again after (30?) so many
seconds.

True.

There have been individuals that thought that their radio was powered
by the AC adapter, only to realize that something was wrong and the radio was
running from the internal batteries. Unlike many other radios, when you insert
the AC adapter plug into the radio, the transition to the adapter from
batteries is accomplished by the presence of voltage at the adapter jack and
not by a simple mechanical switch operated by the insertion of the adapter
plug into the radio.

True.

Is your adapter correct for your radio?

Yes.

If unregulated, it should have nearly the same voltage and current specs.

It does.

I had a police scanner that wouldn't operate because I used an adapter from
another police
scanner that had the same voltage spec but had more current than specified.
(for you purists, apparently since it had greater ampacity, the voltage drop
was less when in use, therefore the voltage was too high for the scanner, and
it locked up).

Lastly, if you've eliminated all the above, and you find that your headphone
jack is operating normally, perhaps you can get an amplified external speaker
and plug it into the headphone jack. Be careful since I've seen more than a
few amplified speakers that produced a hum from poorly designed power
supplies, find a quiet one.

The problem is that the internal speaker died. I would like to replace it.
Thanks!

"Charlie " wrote:

Hi, if you fo a Goole search for DX-398 FAQ you will find David
Moisens web paget that has a mod to replace the speaker with a SONY
speaker, it has a much larger magent but does fit in the DX-398 and
ATS-909. I've done the switch and the resuklt are fine much better
audio and SONY has very good quality parts

Regards

Thanks! I will check that out. Should I be concerned about the magnet though?

Samantha Williams wrote:

"Charlie " wrote:

Hi, if you fo a Goole search for DX-398 FAQ you will find David
Moisens web paget that has a mod to replace the speaker with a SONY
speaker, it has a much larger magent but does fit in the DX-398 and
ATS-909. I've done the switch and the resuklt are fine much better
audio and SONY has very good quality parts

Regards

Thanks! I will check that out. Should I be concerned about the magnet
though?

No, it's just a reference to the speaker's size.

"Charlie " wrote:

Hi, if you fo a Goole search for DX-398 FAQ you will find David
Moisens web paget that has a mod to replace the speaker with a SONY
speaker, it has a much larger magent but does fit in the DX-398 and
ATS-909. I've done the switch and the resuklt are fine much better
audio and SONY has very good quality parts

I ordered a new speaker and read the 398 FAQ regarding opening the case. Does anyone have any
additional information to share about opening the case? Based on the FAQ, I'm nervous about
breaking one of the tabs that holds the radio together. Where do you apply the pressure?
Thanks!