Hello everyone. I am thinking of building my daughter a pair of speaker's for her room? I see a lot of options in the car audio speakers and they are easy to replace and everything is done for me but the boxes. I did this years ago and it worked out nice but, again I was a lot younger. So if this works out I might build a pair for my family in the living room for their t.v.? But, again I just wanted to see if it was worth it before I waste my time and money. (I hope all of this makes sense)? Thanks Jeff
Most car speakers (coaxial type speakers) are 4 ohms. Some home receivers/amplifiers are made to drive 8 ohm minimum.
If you use 6x9s, prefab boxes are cheap and readily available. Adding a bit of poly-fill may help the quality slightly.
I'd suggest buying speakers locally. Coaxial type speakers can sound very good or awful. You won't know which they are unless you listen to them.
If you use 6x9s, prefab boxes are cheap and readily available. Adding a bit of poly-fill may help the quality slightly.
I'd suggest buying speakers locally. Coaxial type speakers can sound very good or awful. You won't know which they are unless you listen to them.
Your right about the amps being 8 ohms but, mine goes from 2 ohms to 16 ohms so thats good. Also yes listening to the drivers before I buy them is a great idea will do. I don't know if am going with a 6 by 9 as of yet? I will have to look into it? Just looking at all my options for now? Cheers Jeff
I've used component car speakers with good results. Prices vary widely and the tweets sound better than being in the center of the cone. (And usually better quality) The crossovers can be easily tweaked and are more complex than most all standard coaxial types, which is usually just a capacitor to the tweeter..
Hello,
Apart from the 4 ohm speakers already mentioned car audio speakers tend to have a high Qtc, which means they work better in "free air" rather than a small box. So if you were installing them into the walls of your living room I would say this might be an option. However, when putting them inside a sealed or ported enclosure the box would have to be very large or you will have a large spike/boom, in the mid-bass and very little bass.
Also the upper midrange/treble tend to be overemphasized as they are designed to be mounted far off-axis. If listening to them mounted like normal home speakers this might be overbearingly harsh. If going down this route I would suggest to get a pair with external crossovers with tweeter attenuation or if you are handy you may tinker by adding a resistor to attenuate the tweeter or make a high pass filter with gentle slope (add a capacitor).
The good thing about car audio speakers is that they generally can take a beating/handle a lot of power, look cool, can get external crossovers with adjustments, and the tend to be made from more weatherproof materials. The downside is that the sound quality is generally quite average/poor and midbass/coaxials do not work well in small sealed or ported enclosures. Car audio subwoofers on the other hand are generally designed to fit in small sealed and ported boxes but will need much more power to drive them compared to home audio subs in larger boxes.
In summary, unless you are planning to mount the speakers in the walls or want cool looks I would suggest home audio speakers as they are cheaper and offer better sound quality for the money (in general).
If ease of installation in a box is a big factor, I would consider a home audio full range speaker, and adding a tweeter if required. For a simple install, the tweeter can be added with just a capacitor for a HP filter without needing to add a low pass filter on the full range woofer. Try to get a tweeter with the same sensitivity or a bit less than the full range. I would say any inexpensive 1 inch or 3/4 inch tweeter crossed above 5kHz should be sufficient. The box size of the woofer can be calculated by plugging the values from the datasheet into any "subwoofer box calculator" to aim for a Qtc of 0.707 to 0.8.
Hope this helps.
Apart from the 4 ohm speakers already mentioned car audio speakers tend to have a high Qtc, which means they work better in "free air" rather than a small box. So if you were installing them into the walls of your living room I would say this might be an option. However, when putting them inside a sealed or ported enclosure the box would have to be very large or you will have a large spike/boom, in the mid-bass and very little bass.
Also the upper midrange/treble tend to be overemphasized as they are designed to be mounted far off-axis. If listening to them mounted like normal home speakers this might be overbearingly harsh. If going down this route I would suggest to get a pair with external crossovers with tweeter attenuation or if you are handy you may tinker by adding a resistor to attenuate the tweeter or make a high pass filter with gentle slope (add a capacitor).
The good thing about car audio speakers is that they generally can take a beating/handle a lot of power, look cool, can get external crossovers with adjustments, and the tend to be made from more weatherproof materials. The downside is that the sound quality is generally quite average/poor and midbass/coaxials do not work well in small sealed or ported enclosures. Car audio subwoofers on the other hand are generally designed to fit in small sealed and ported boxes but will need much more power to drive them compared to home audio subs in larger boxes.
In summary, unless you are planning to mount the speakers in the walls or want cool looks I would suggest home audio speakers as they are cheaper and offer better sound quality for the money (in general).
If ease of installation in a box is a big factor, I would consider a home audio full range speaker, and adding a tweeter if required. For a simple install, the tweeter can be added with just a capacitor for a HP filter without needing to add a low pass filter on the full range woofer. Try to get a tweeter with the same sensitivity or a bit less than the full range. I would say any inexpensive 1 inch or 3/4 inch tweeter crossed above 5kHz should be sufficient. The box size of the woofer can be calculated by plugging the values from the datasheet into any "subwoofer box calculator" to aim for a Qtc of 0.707 to 0.8.
Hope this helps.
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In general I found car speakers too expensive for what they are. And inefficient.
Most people with experience put good home audio speakers (ported speakers only) into car.
I had 4ohm pioneers separate tweeter and woofer for a year. Then put Cambridge soundworks m60 (20$ from garage sale). M60 are 8ohm but a lot more efficient. Sound a lot louder cleaner and better in every way.
Car audio is overpriced. When I heard those 500-700$ hertz speakers I thought it was some Chinese counterfeit or scam. Utter garbage compare to half decent home audio speakers . Muffled lows. Muffled tweeter. Those hertz were in show room.
Most people with experience put good home audio speakers (ported speakers only) into car.
I had 4ohm pioneers separate tweeter and woofer for a year. Then put Cambridge soundworks m60 (20$ from garage sale). M60 are 8ohm but a lot more efficient. Sound a lot louder cleaner and better in every way.
Car audio is overpriced. When I heard those 500-700$ hertz speakers I thought it was some Chinese counterfeit or scam. Utter garbage compare to half decent home audio speakers . Muffled lows. Muffled tweeter. Those hertz were in show room.
Car speakers have to function within a very confined space and must contend with a reflective, resonant and noisy environment. They are therefore designed to overcome these disadvantages.
A neutral, uncoloured frequency response may not be desirable when it comes to designing car speakers.
In home hifi systems, which operate in a more revealing acoustic environment, low levels of noise and distortion and a flat frequency response are the prime design considerations.
It's a case of horses for courses!
A neutral, uncoloured frequency response may not be desirable when it comes to designing car speakers.
In home hifi systems, which operate in a more revealing acoustic environment, low levels of noise and distortion and a flat frequency response are the prime design considerations.
It's a case of horses for courses!
Through my adventures in using car speakers, I've found using 4" coaxial drivers with a soft dome tweeter has decent results. Paper cones usually have lower SPL and not so shrill, as others have stated. Poly cones have a sound of their own and a more narrow sweet spot and are more sensitive to EQ adjustments in the mid sound region..
My choice is a 4" driver with a poly cone and a soft dome tweeter. Finding a 4" in a component type configuration is tough but just remember the realm you are playing in..
Install in a solid enclosure with ~1.5 Ft. of internal volume with a 2" square vent in the front baffle. Line the interior with ~1" of fiberglass insulation. Disregard the baffle size and play with a BSC circuit and focus on sound..
Price and pleasure ratio, you won't be disappointed. If it's too boomy for your taste, close the vent up a little..
Happy New Year everyone!!
My choice is a 4" driver with a poly cone and a soft dome tweeter. Finding a 4" in a component type configuration is tough but just remember the realm you are playing in..
Install in a solid enclosure with ~1.5 Ft. of internal volume with a 2" square vent in the front baffle. Line the interior with ~1" of fiberglass insulation. Disregard the baffle size and play with a BSC circuit and focus on sound..
Price and pleasure ratio, you won't be disappointed. If it's too boomy for your taste, close the vent up a little..
Happy New Year everyone!!
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