Using home powered subs

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bluesdeluxe

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Joined: December 16, 2005

Posted: December 31, 2005 at 1:36 AM / IP Logged

This question comes courtesy of my father. He has a powered sub unit he runs on his home stereo that he likes and as I was/am reading reviews on car subs for my small system, he asked why I don't just buy an AC converter and run the home unit he already has. We own a nice motorhome for vacations and it uses converters to run small appliances, lights, and even the sub he has when we crank up the stereo (it also has a generator for the air conditioner, frig, and microwave). Is there a reason people don't use home powered subs with ac converters? It seemed like a crazy idea to me but I guess they make 150+ watt converts so it seems like it would work. Any thoughts on this?

menace2sobriety

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Posted: December 31, 2005 at 6:11 AM / IP Logged

The only thing I can think of is home subs are made for bigger areas than a car. And they may not be suited for humid conditions. Which could maybe hurt the performance of the sub in a car. you can give it a try. run a power cord to your car and give it a whirl.

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geepherder

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Posted: December 31, 2005 at 8:49 AM / IP Logged

It's also not very efficient because of the need for the inverter.

My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

stevdart

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Posted: December 31, 2005 at 10:08 AM / IP Logged

Dads are like that. That type of subwoofer is what he is familiar with, so it seems like a good idea to him. A motor home would be very similar to an actual house install, so it would probably work fine there (take it out during times of storage!). But as said above there are big differences in a car environment and home, and so if you are working on getting a sub for your car you should follow the tried-and-true methods of selecting subs and building enclosures for the unique environment your car poses. And as stated, any type of conversion that takes place results in an efficiency loss. You will have enough efficiency loss already in just following the accepted practices.

Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

DYohn

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Posted: December 31, 2005 at 12:13 PM / IP Logged

If you did want to try and run a home theatre sub in a car (which may or may not sound good) the best bet would be to remove the amplifier in the sub, patch the hole with some MDF and sealant, and power the speaker with a car audio amplifier. Far more efficient and safer than trying to use an inverter and a 120V amplifier. But for all the reasons stated above, using such a system should only be a very temporary situation if you want the speaker to survive very long.

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bluesdeluxe

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Joined: December 16, 2005

Posted: December 31, 2005 at 1:38 PM / IP Logged

thanks, that makes sense. I don't know much about converters so I dont' know how the efficiency loss thing works. And yes, a motor home has a lot more room and acoustical space compared to a car trunk/storage area. Thanks for the advice

giff

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Joined: November 23, 2002

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Posted: January 15, 2006 at 9:19 PM / IP Logged

I put my SVS home theater sub on the back seat. It was very unpleasant to listen to, it actually hurt. And the 1800 watt inverter was not able to power it (yes it was coonected directly to the battery with 8 ga. cables).

I tried it with this one:

http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-cyl-pcultra.cfm

SVS makes the best HT subs for the money. (endlessly arguable of course, but nevertheless they WILL blow your mind the first time you watch a movie with one)

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Using home powered subs

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