Using car audio for home theatre
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=34287
Printed Date: May 20, 2024 at 9:27 PM
Topic: Using car audio for home theatre
Posted By: alex75
Subject: Using car audio for home theatre
Date Posted: June 21, 2004 at 9:08 AM
I have a 200W RCA 8" home subwoofer, the sub is fried but the amp and enclosure are fine. In fact, when it worked-this thing pounded, so I want to keep it. Can I replace the RCA woofer w/ an aftermarket car audio sub? I realize it would have to be capable of running at 8 ohms(I think all home audio is 8 ohms). I was thinking of buying a 4 ohm, DVC sub and wiring it to an 8 ohm load. I'm thinking of using a mid-quality SPL sub, something like Audiobahn or Power Accoustic. What do the experts think? All input greatly appreciated! -------Alex
Replies:
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: June 21, 2004 at 9:35 AM
You'd be much better off with a woofer designed for home use... especially if you use any of the brands you listed. I recomend looking at Parts Express anf buying, maybe a Datyton to replace your RCA. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: evanc
Date Posted: June 21, 2004 at 11:38 AM
Regardless of the driver you use, whether it be home audio or car audio, be sure to check the enclosure you have. For example, certain drivers do better in ported/sealed/bandpass. Check the volume of the enclosure as good as you can, as well as the port size/length to help you determine the correct driver to replace the old one with. Hope this helps, Evan
Posted By: kfr01
Date Posted: June 21, 2004 at 11:46 AM
Evanc is very correct. www.madisound.com also has excellent drivers for home use. ------------- New Project: 2003 Pathfinder
Posted By: customsuburb
Date Posted: June 21, 2004 at 12:42 PM
If you're looking for a new home sub (because most likely the box that the rca sub was in will not match alot of other subs closely) look at the velodyne cht series. The little 8" modle pounds.
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: June 21, 2004 at 12:58 PM
Or if you REALLY want amazing bass from a small package, get a Sunfire Super Junior sub. Man, a 7" cube that pumps as much bass as my M&K 15"... ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: Ravendarat
Date Posted: June 21, 2004 at 2:52 PM
I love sunfire subs. Bob Carver Rocks
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double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: June 21, 2004 at 2:59 PM
Ravendarat wrote:
I love sunfire subs. Bob Carver Rocks
Indeed! My home theatre sub is driven by a Phase Linear mono amp designed, built and signed by Bob back in 1977 and still pumping better than anything else I've ever heard. I also use a Sunfire Ultimate reveiver. If you can find pre-KLH Carver car audio gear it is worth whatever you have to pay for it, especially their magnetic field power amplifiers. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: jeffchilcott
Date Posted: June 21, 2004 at 10:22 PM
or you could just be a fool like myself, take all the old equipment you have laying around i should be shot for this, old polk ex components, an orion amp and 2 jl w0's in a 6th order bandpass.. and runn it for a nice cheap home surround hahaha
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2009 0-1000 Trunk WR 154.0DB 2009 1001+ Trunk WR
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2007 World Record
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Posted By: customsuburb
Date Posted: June 21, 2004 at 10:25 PM
DYohn] wrote:
p>Ravendarat wrote:
I love sunfire subs. Bob Carver Rocks
Indeed! My home theatre sub is driven by a Phase Linear mono amp designed, built and signed by Bob back in 1977 and still pumping better than anything else I've ever heard. I also use a Sunfire Ultimate reveiver. If you can find pre-KLH Carver car audio gear it is worth whatever you have to pay for it, especially their magnetic field power amplifiers.
Sunfire equipment is awesome, epspecially their subs.
Posted By: alex75
Date Posted: June 22, 2004 at 11:09 AM
Thanks guys! What kind of price range am I looking at w/ the subs mentioned-Dayton, Velodyne, Sunfire? I don't have much experience w/ home theatre equipment outside of what Best Buy, Circuit City, or Crutchfield sells. And as far as I can tell, these stores do not sell replacement subs for home use like they do for car audio. They only sell the sub in an enclosure. The enclosure is ported on the bottem and is about 1.5 cuft.
Posted By: sandt38
Date Posted: June 22, 2004 at 11:17 AM
A quick FYI... Most HT subs have a lower FS, or resonance frequency than car audio subs. They are designed that way because in room gains are not as extreme as in car gains are. In some instances, automotive woofers suffer terribly in HT applications, often lacking depth. When a HT sub is used in car, in a proper application, it may be extremely heavy on the bottom end. In car, we can mask this by shrinking the enclosure size, and creaing peaks high in the sub frequency (to level the output off, similar to boosting frequencies with an EQ). In home it is too difficult to achieve bottom end that is not there without adding mass to the cone and lowering the FS of the driver. -------------
Posted By: alex75
Date Posted: June 22, 2004 at 11:27 AM
Thanks, I've allready nixed the idea of using a car woofer. Now I just have to decide what Brand I want and how much I want to spend. The Madisound website has a lot of different brands and price ranges. I think I'll stay within the $50-100 range, there seems to be a lot offered there.
Posted By: customsuburb
Date Posted: June 22, 2004 at 12:11 PM
alex75 wrote:
Thanks guys! What kind of price range am I looking at w/ the subs mentioned-Dayton, Velodyne, Sunfire? I don't have much experience w/ home theatre equipment outside of what Best Buy, Circuit City, or Crutchfield sells. And as far as I can tell, these stores do not sell replacement subs for home use like they do for car audio. They only sell the sub in an enclosure. The enclosure is ported on the bottem and is about 1.5 cuft.
Are you still looking for a home sub to replace your rca? If so the velodyne 10" CHT sub costs around $400 I think and the 12" CHT sub costs around $500. I'm not sure about the dayton, but some of the sunfire subs range in the mid 1000 dollar area, but put out amazing bass for their size. Here is a review on the Velodyne CHT 10, I couldn't find a review on the Sunfire sub on the web (i have the article though) but here is a review on an Earthquake sub which is one of those compact yet extremely loud subs.
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