[Hallicrafters] Communications Receivers - why speakers separate?

[Greg Gore via Hallicrafters]

If you examine commercially built communications receivers from the  
thirties to present you will find the low cost entry level receivers  usually 
included speakers while the more expensive equipment usually does  not and 
generally speaking that arrangement is still true today. There  is a multiplicity 
of reasons for this and most of them have already been  mentioned but you 
also have to consider what the amateur communications  receiver market 
preferred and what the emerging casual short-wave fan listener  market wanted and 
follow the progression of receiver engineering  and evolution of receiver 
design. Before the advent of commercially  produced equipment most hams built 
their own equipment and headphone  operation was generally preferred with 
the regenerative receivers commonly  in use at that time. Most of the country 
had not yet been connected to AC  power so battery operation was common 
which meant loudspeaker  operation would not have been practical. Most loud 
speakers then were  rather large cumbersome electro-dynamic type and methods of 
AC  hum reduction had not yet been perfected either but as technology  
progressed "socket power" accessory power supplies began to appear which  did 
permit practical loudspeaker operation. About this time a new  market was 
emerging from the rapidly growing audience of  short-wave fan listeners wanting 
in on the popular short-wave  craze and who also wanted arm chair reception 
of foreign broadcast with  loudspeaker operation so manufacturers began 
providing accessory  electro-dynamic speakers in cabinets to compliment the 
styling of their  receivers. Permanent magnet type speakers also began appearing 
about this  time but since AC hum reduction techniques had not yet been 
fully  developed manufacturers preferred to keep speakers away from their  
receivers in separate cabinets in an effort to minimize hum pick up. Possibly  
these early beginnings set the standard for good communications receiver 
design  for many years to follow. 
 
In a nutshell I would tell them good communications  receivers have so much 
equipment inside there is insufficient room to  include a good speaker 
while a cheap receiver has more than enough room  inside for a cheap speaker 
also.
 
Greg
WA1KBQ
 
 
In a message dated 5/31/2014 2:51:41 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
peter_may at optusnet.com.au writes:

I've  been chatting with some younger amateurs on a local net, and the 
question of  why communications receivers did not come supplied with built-in 
loudspeakers  emerged.

Some of the younger guys reckon that  it appears to be at  the outmost 
extremity of "stinginess" that you would have to buy the speaker  separately.

Historically, broadcast receivers from the crystal set era  onwards came 
with a built in loudspeaker.

I shot down the argument that  it was just USA companies (which was the 
original beef, aimed at the Lafayette  HA-600), pointing out that Eddystone 
(UK) STC and Kingsley (Aust) also  followed the practice.

Does anyone have any ideas on this one? I don't  have any sensible answers 
for the young blokes.

Regards

Peter  VK6PM

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