Using Bluetooth Powered Speakers

Mark Griffin

I see that there are Wireless Bluetooth Powered Speakers on Amazon. Is the Flex 6400 have an option for using Bluetooth?

Mark Griffin, KB3Z

Neil D Friedman N3DF

I don’t believe Flex radios have any intrinsic Bluetooth capability.

Geoff AB6BT

Neil is correct.

I always prefer direct wired connections unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise.

Why add more things that can fail as well as degrade the sgnal?

Craig_KØCF

Not to mention latency. Going through Windows instead of direct to powered speakers will introduce delays which are not desireable. Bluetooth is even worse.

The speakers that I have been using with my 6500 for a long time are AudioEngine 2A+. They are not cheap, but provide excellent audio quality, while being very compact.

73, Craig KØCF

Geoff AB6BT

Right! Bluetooth latency is a problem; perhaps as high as 150 milliseconds!

Ken Wells

I use BOSE Companion 2 series 3 (about $99-$150 depending on where you find them) and have great performance.

There are many other quality brands in the same price category ($50-$150) that are excellent performers, such as Logitech, Creative Gigaworks, Insignia, Klipsch, etc.

Don't mess with Bluetooth if you don't want to run into latency or other performance issues,

RE: USB powered speakers: The radio will not supply enough power through its USB port to power any but the cheapest, lower powered speakers.

However, There are some higher quality speakers with USB power cables that are intended to be powered from USB Wall adapters, NOT from the computer USB port, unless it is a high-current "Charging" enabled port. (the Radio does not supply enough current to run those speakers.)

I chose the BOSE because it had TWO audio inputs, one for the radio and one for the computer, that are both active at the same time. So I can use the radio and computer simultaneously without needing to switch inputs.

I also used an old powered speaker set from a Compaq Computer that worked well.

And I tried a 20 Watt Lenai amplifier with some Dayton Audio bookshelf speakers. They sounded great, but I had some RFI or Ground loop issues with that setup in my particular configuration. I didn't try a ground loop isolator , which may have solved the issue, but when I moved to the BOSE I didn't need TWO sets of speakers. So I put the Lenai and Dayton Audio stuff back on the shelf.

Mark Griffin

Here's a question. They make a Stereo 1/8 inch splitter...Amazon.com: Togconn 3.5mm TRS to Dual 6.35mm Stereo Y Splitter. [24k Gold Plated] 1/8 inch Male to 2X 1/4 inch Mono Female Audio Cable (2 Pack) : Electronics

If I was to purchase 2 mono speakers and plug them into this device, would this also work?

Mark KB3Z

Dewey WØYWW

No that's not likely to work, because your mono speakers will expect to have a mono plug inserted, with Left channel positive on the tip and Right channel positive on the other tip. On your splitter cable, the Left channel will be on the tip and the Right channel on the ring, so inserting the stereo connector into a mono jack will likely short-out the ring. Even if the mono speakers had a stereo input jack, the Left and Right positive termination has to be on the tip. Hope I'm not confusing you. The other concern that I would have, would be your buying a set of unproven speakers that may be RFI prone. The Bose Companion-2, Series 3 speakers have 2 stereo inputs each, so if you had 2 rigs or a rig and PC, you could use the same speaker for both, if that became desirable, and they have a large following by many Flex and other rig users.

Dewey WØYWW

Alternatively, they do make a cable splitter that provides a stereo Y-connector that provides tip to tip for one channel and ring to tip for the other channel, if you're set on using "mono" speakers.