Home Audio and Car Audio Sub??

 

Ok for a party I am wanting to use a sub I have from a car.
My receiver has a sub out but its RCA. Is there anyway to hook a car audio Sub to a Home Audio Receiver?
I have tried hooking the Sub up via the rear channel and even the front but the Bass doesnt come through well.
 

superfecta
Only one way,use the car amp and hook up the rca from the home reciever sub out to your car amp that is hooked up to the sub.Too much trouble if you ask me.
 

Derek
Buy a staight amp. Run an RCA cable from the Sub-out of the receiver to the new amp and run speakers wire from the new amp to the car sub and you are in business.
 

Anonymous
buy a kickazz sub and a kickazz amp .. have the party .. return both items for a refund the following day
 

Billy Newman
Ok, so i have a sub in my car and an 250 watt amp. but when i hook it up and try to play music it goes into protection mode. I know a bit i think the sub may not offer enough resistance. is this correct? what can i do?
 

Anonymous
to power the sub, u need to use ure car amp, u must run the car amp of a baterry charger, this will give the car amp the 12volts it requires. put the red (positive) terminal into the + on the amp, and connect the black (minus) into the grnd on the amp (trust me it works), if ure car amp has a remote turn on u must put some speaker wire from the remote to the +, this will turn the amp on, theres loads more to do, if u wanna kno the rest email me n ill be more than happy to help dj_walkie@hotmail.com
 

I have 2 12" from my car that i hooked up in my room for my home theater. the speakers work fine but how do i power my car amp in my home? is there a speacial power plug i can get?
 

Unregistered guest
Hey i just got a new 12" sub. i want to hook it up to my receiver but it only has an rca out. The major prob is that i do not have an amp to power the sub. i was expecting to just hook it up. haha that makes me super stoopid. can someone please help me out.
 

New member
Username: Db2b17a

Post Number: 4
Registered: 01-2004
use a computer power supply to power your car amp
 

New member
Username: James_s

Post Number: 8
Registered: 02-2004
the major problem with using a car woofer in a home theater setting is that it is not constructed for that use. These subs are used to pound a car, they will not provide the clarity or sharpness that you want/need. Not only that, but the voice coils on car subs are completely different, and as soon as you use a car sub in a home theater, you can no longer use it in your car. The life of your sub will also be substantially reduced.
 

New member
Username: Jonathan

Post Number: 1
Registered: 02-2004
I have a 12" Lanzar in a bandpass box hooked up to my computer and it hits hard and shakes the windows.

What I did was buy a cyber acoustics computer speaker system. It came with some crappy 8" sub and the 2 main speakers. I figured the 8" inch had to have an amp inside its enclosure so I riped the box apart and took it out.

I then put it in one of those radio shack project boxes. Now the + and - wires that went to the crappy 8" I hooked up the the Lanzar 12"

Now to my surprise it powered the 12" like you couldnt imagine. The amp is only supposed to be 65 watts but it has to be giving the sub more then that. I would say around 250 watts.

Its great their is no un-wanted noises or anything the sound is very clean. Plus it only lets the bass notes go to the sub.

Now you cant beat that!! :-D
 

Anonymous
 
how do you hook up a computer subwoofer to your car system?
 

Unregistered guest
i have a 12" 250watt sub and a 250watt amp and i have the power connected to it and everything. but my reciever doesnt have an amp out on it. Can i hook up speaker cable from the reciever to the amp without damageing both the amp and the reciever.
 

New member
Username: Bigsexyrob

Post Number: 1
Registered: May-04
I been reading through these and I am not sure what to do. I got these 2 tall house speakers that have 2 10" subs, a mid range and a tweater in each one. I got them free because the 2 10" were blown. I put 2 10" 4 0hm subs in each of them and I am not sure exactly how the boxes were bridged for the speakers but I just connected them the same way they were for the old ones. I hooked them up to my home receiver which was just a high watt aiwa shelf system. It sounded very good but soon as I turned it up my aiwa shut off and would not come back on. I made calls to see if there was a reset switch. But nothing I did worked to get it going again. So today I went out and bought a used sony receiver which is 200 watts it has 4 speaker inputs. But just A an B. I found out the speakers that were originally in the boxes were 16 ohm and with having 2 subs and a mid and a high in each one they must have been bridged down a bit. When I put 2 4 ohm subs in them I think that bridged it maybe to like 2 ohms. Now I disconnected one of the subs in each one and and left the other subs in there to keep the encloser. I hooked them up to this sony receiver and turned it up a little bit and it sounds great but I am affraid to turn it up loud because of what happened last time. Can anyone tell me if I might be safe this time??? Other than what I have seen in here everyone is telling me that you can not run anything less than 8 ohms on a home receiver. I don't have any money to go out and buy 8 or 16 ohm replacement speakers so I am hoping this will be ok. I have lots of car subs and no house speakers, so could anyone tell me if what I got now should be ok? so right now I have 1 10" 4 ohm sub, a mid range that is 8 or 16 ohm and a tweeter which is also 8 or 16 ohm in in each speaker box bridged in parralel I believe. Thanks Rob
 

shawnmack
Unregistered guest
just run speaker wire from the sub enclosure to the back of the receiver.
 

Unregistered guest
i have an Onkyo HTS760. http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?a=&s=0&cc=01&g=376 00&id=morephotos&i=580HTS760

i want to hook up a 12 inch JLW6 http://store.yahoo.com/discave/12jlaud12car1.html just wondering if the 2 are compatible. probably not since one is for home audio and the other car audio, but reading some of the things you guys have posted it seems possible. Does anyone know how i can hook this up without damaging, overheating my receiver or put it in a Protect mode. (for those who are not familiar with the protect mode; the receiver locks itself and will not be able to turn on. when the receiver is in this mode, it is not damaged but will need to be rested by an Onkyo techincial.)If and when i get that car sub hooked up, will the entire system be less efficient and will it cause the life of the system to shorten?
 

convey
Unregistered guest
i need advice on the sony explode sub 12" it runs 1200 max each n lookin to get 2 subs. i have a 1000 watt boss c650 amp. and a pioneer 50x4 head unit. is this an alright set up????
 

JZsnowboardalot
Unregistered guest
I have a Kenwood KAC-606 amp, a 10" MTX blue Thunder sub and 2 Pioneer 6"x9" 100W speakers left over from my old car. How do i hook them up in my house as a "home theatre" system for a reasonable price?
 

Unregistered guest
hey guys, i would really appreciate your help on this one as im useless at electronics. I have a 110 x 5 amp which has 2 holes at the back to put in a sub, the amp does not provide wattage to an amp, i was wondering if it would be possible to attach a car amp to it and how to do it. would it be possible, if so, what would the result be i.e good sound or not? or would it be possible to hook my PC up to the car amp through to the hi-fi system, if it would be possible i would not know if itd be able to reach, please help me as much as you can. thanx
 

SPL
Unregistered guest
The only diffrence between car and home amplifiers is power requirements(dc/ac)
and the electrical resitence the amplifier can handle. Car amplifiers are generaly desinged to handle 2-4 ohms. Home audio amplifiers generaly can handle between 6-8 ohms(there are many exceptions, comp. amps,ect, that can go lower or higher). But as long as the THD of the car amp is decent and the subwoofer(s) are of good quality and placed in a decent enclosure sound quality should not be an issue. RCA hookups are universal. Same in the car as they are in the home. The only issue is getting the correct voltage and amperage to the car amplifier. For this u would need to buy a 12v+ power supply with amperage to meet the needs for your amplifier. IF u go to high u have to fuse the line(witch u should do ne ways) and too low and the power supply will over heat due to overdraw. And because there is no "remote on" on the home amplifier u have to attach the 12v+ from the power supply to the remote on terminal on the car amp. I have a pyramid 13.8 volt power supply that puts out 35 amps running an alpine mrp-m350 d class mono block(200rms at 4 ohms, 350rms at 2 ohms) into an infinity perfect dvc rated at 300rms which is in a custom 7th order bandpass. Every thing shakes. And if u do it right it can cost alot less then buying a self powered sub of equal power which can run into the 600-700$ range. Placement of the sub is also critical. Place it near a wall or corner of the room. For each wall it faces u can gain up to 3db of noise. In order to hook up the PC to the home amp or the car amp it either needs RCA outputs or u can get a wire with a 1/4 inch jack at one end(for the headphone output on the comp) and rca plugs at the other end.
 

SPL
Unregistered guest
The only diffrence between car and home amplifiers is power requirements(dc/ac)
and the electrical resitence the amplifier can handle. Car amplifiers are generaly desinged to handle 2-4 ohms. Home audio amplifiers generaly can handle between 6-8 ohms(there are many exceptions, comp. amps,ect, that can go lower or higher). But as long as the THD of the car amp is decent and the subwoofer(s) are of good quality and placed in a decent enclosure sound quality should not be an issue. RCA hookups are universal. Same in the car as they are in the home. The only issue is getting the correct voltage and amperage to the car amplifier. For this u would need to buy a 12v+ power supply with amperage to meet the needs for your amplifier. IF u go to high u have to fuse the line(witch u should do ne ways) and too low and the power supply will over heat due to overdraw. And because there is no "remote on" on the home amplifier u have to attach the 12v+ from the power supply to the remote on terminal on the car amp. I have a pyramid 13.8 volt power supply that puts out 35 amps running an alpine mrp-m350 d class mono block(200rms at 4 ohms, 350rms at 2 ohms) into an infinity perfect dvc rated at 300rms which is in a custom 7th order bandpass. Every thing shakes. And if u do it right it can cost alot less then buying a self powered sub of equal power which can run into the 600-700$ range. Placement of the sub is also critical. Place it near a wall or corner of the room. For each wall it faces u can gain up to 3db of noise. In order to hook up the PC to the home amp or the car amp it either needs RCA outputs or u can get a wire with a 1/4 inch jack at one end(for the headphone output on the comp) and rca plugs at the other end.
 

Unregistered guest
hey i have been reading through all the postings and im not seeing the help i need- anything anyone offers would be great! plan and simple how do i hook up my 2 12'sony subs to a computer. do i have to use my amp as well? is it easier just hooking up the subs somehow? well i just want them hooked up somehow im my room, so like i said, any help is great. thanks
 

Unregistered guest
hey i have been reading through all the postings and im not seeing the help i need- anything anyone offers would be great! plan and simple how do i hook up my 2 12'sony subs to a computer. do i have to use my amp as well? is it easier just hooking up the subs somehow? well i just want them hooked up somehow im my room, so like i said, any help is great. thanks
 

Unregistered guest
Yea, like nicole said, why can't anyone answer the question? How can one use a car subwoofer through home audio equipment? In my case, what i plan to run from my PC a cable to my Bass guitar amplifier, and replace the bass speaker with a 15" cerwin vega. Does this make any sense? Also, if anyone has sucessfully installed a car subwoofer to their computer system, pleez email me and let me know how! vybz05@earthlink.net Thanks!
 

Unregistered guest
Yea, like nicole said, why can't anyone answer the question? How can one use a car subwoofer through home audio equipment? In my case, what i plan to run from my PC a cable to my Bass guitar amplifier, and replace the bass speaker with a 15" cerwin vega. Does this make any sense? Also, if anyone has sucessfully installed a car subwoofer to their computer system, pleez email me and let me know how! vybz05@earthlink.net Thanks!
 

GTK
Unregistered guest
Is it possible to use a computer subwoofer in a home audio system? If so how do i hook it up to my receiver
 

Anonymous
 
i have a bose system and in the back it has a 12ac power hookup i can hook my car amp right into the bose reciever it sounds okay but it doesn't sound as crisp as i would like its much better for a car if you want to use a sub in your house buy a sub made for a home theater system
 

drewt
Unregistered guest
if you have an AC amp, then you can connect a sub to it as long as the amp will go down to 2 or 4 ohms. If you have a 4 ohm DVC sub, then you can wire it in series and have 8 ohms. Then you just hook it up to the power amp, and connect that to a reciver's or computer's sub output.

Basically, you have to buy stuff. No real way around it.
 

Unregistered guest
i got a question, i wanna got the premier w5000spl and its 2000 rms and 5000 max, what amps/amp should i go for, should i go for the highest to 5000 i can get or go for like 2500 watts or something
 

helpmeout
Unregistered guest
hey is it better to get a sony lower watt amp,with all the options and extra channels or is it better to get a sub with less options but more wattage?????i am going to pwer 2 subs... help me out
 

gottaquestion
Unregistered guest
hey i have two sony explode 12 inch subs, can i buy a pionner amp and it work with them or do i need to buy a sony xplode amp for them to work thanks a lot...... ps i have a pioneer deck
 

New member
Username: Ibadam

Post Number: 1
Registered: Oct-04
Hey, for Xmas im gettin two Pioneer TS-W255C 10" subs, i aint got a car yet so im putting them in my room hooked up to my reiceiver. How much sound quality is lossed???? Will i still be able to use them in my car when I get it in the spring?
 

Realist
Unregistered guest
Here's an idea for all of you...get some education in a field you like, maybe not stereo related. Then go work for a company, or if you're daring open a company of your own. Make some real money. Then buy a real car and pay a company to hook it up. So in other words, stop wasting time on stuff you know nothing about.
 

New member
Username: Ibadam

Post Number: 2
Registered: Oct-04
Hey heres a thought for u "Realist"... did u ever think that these people might be trying to mind a way of doing it themselves.... IE Not

willing to pay a whole crap load of money
 

aussie_audio
Unregistered guest
Hey i am buying an xms amp http://www.strathfield.com/ViewProduct.asp?ProdID=789
And 2x 12" eclipse 600watt subs + 1x eclipse 6x9"s, i would like to know if this amp would be suitable to power the speakers as i am not looking to spend craploads on an amp, this is just a temporary set-up whilst i get my car...would it be viable or would the amp have trouble powering or possibly go into "safe mode"whatevr that is??, a friend has no troubles powering a pioneer 10" and 2x avalanche 8"s of it plus jensen 6x9"s....will this be alright or will the car audio be damaged if used in this fashion??????????...please respond to question not make a smarty comment......
please email me solice@hotmail.com
 

urg
Unregistered guest
ya there realist, thats what this forum is for ask question, im sure you can go find one for morons to discuss about w/e they want..... have fun findin that......in the meantime, help us out, ask away or get the fvck away from here.....keep it real;)
 

aussie_audio
Unregistered guest
Sorry any answers to my question could they be forwarded to igrunert@gmail.com i forgot that the other email was invalid thankyou!!!1 :-)
 

Uncommon_sense
Unregistered guest
Well first of all, for REALIST: you can get the bling bling mang, but if you don't know your stuff some installer is going to rob you blind, install pretty looking crap for you, and do a crappy job. The guys winning the SPL Drag Races are USUALLY experienced DIYers who started off where these guys did - experimenting and causing things to melt, ignite and explode. Thinking money is a replacement for know how and experience is what these "custom install" shops thrive on. Go hard man.

Secondly...computer power supplies? Don't even go there - unless you have a fire extinguisher by your bed. They are NOT designed to run car audio amplifiers (which takes pulses of HUNDREDS of amps during bass notes) - but are designed to run steady state current values to low ampacity computer parts. Besides, the caps in those supplies are SO SMALL you'd be lucky to have a damping factor over 50. Bass can NOT sound good if the amp is starved for current - then again some guys think that bloated, boomy, fuzzy and distorted bass sounds "phat" so long as it hurts their ears.

Next, you need to check the T/S (Thiele Small) parameters of the sub you want to use in the home. You STILL need a proper box for the thing, and ported is usually the way to go. Sealed box do NOT work very well in the house due to their roll-off rate, and may require active electronic equalization. The woofer MUST have a sufficiently low Fs for home use (I usually run a 15" incher with an Fs of 27 Hz or lower). If the Fs is over 30 hertz don't even bother. Speakers do NOT like to produce high levels of bass below their Fs in ported boxes - and you will use up the xmax of your sub very fast if you attempt to "eq up" the bottom end.

I HAVE used car stereo subs for home theatre applications with much success. The way to do it is to get a PROPER AMP. Look for a used pro-sound BRIDGEABLE amplifier that can deliver at LEAST 1000 watts into 4 or 8 ohms. If you have a 2 ohm DVC sub, put the coils in series and bridge into 4 ohms, if you have a 4 ohms DVC sub, put both in series and run 8 ohms bridged mono. Sony, JVC, Harmon Kardon, Marantz, Pioneer, Yamamaha are home use amps NOT PRO SOUND AMPS even if they boast 'hi current ratings'. You need a QSC, Crown, Bryston, BGW, or Crest Audio or similar amp.

These amps have the low impedance handling capabilty, the headroom as well as the damping factor to drive a low impedance load at high levels. Remember that a 200W home amp will burn up a 500W speakers voice coil 10 times easier than a 1000W amp. Read that again. Make sense that a lower power amp will destroy a voice coil faster than an amp with DOUBLE the power rating of the speaker? It's true - and here is why. The lower powered amp is WAY more succeptable to CLIPPING, which causes the output voltage of the amp to 'appear' closer to DC than an AC audio signal. A speaker VC is an inductive load that has a reactive IMPEDANCE only to AC applied voltage. The DC voltage during clipping causes too much current ot flow in the voice coil, and it simply burns out. Distortion heard during clipping is a SYMPTOM, and not a CAUSE of the burn out. It's current.

I guess why I posted is because it drives me absolutely NUTS how much misinformation there is floating around about car audio equipment. It seems everyone and their dog is either a "car audio installer/expert" or their best friend is.

My way is not the ONLY way, and is definately no the el-cheapo way, but by the time you add up the cost of all the JUNK you're going to burn up doing it the "trial and error" way, you may as well get a REAL amp and a proper box for that car sub.

Right now I am running a QSC MX2000a amp bridged mono (for 2000W RMW into 4 ohms) into a 15" Visonik V815D2 in a 5 cubic foot ported box (tuned to 25 hertz). The dual two ohm coil are in SERIES for a total of 4 ohms. The amp cost $950 CAN used, the sub was a steal at $180 CAN (new) and the box I got used for $120 from a car audio 'pawn shop'. Total cost: $1250. Can a 8 or 10" $1250 sub from an electronics store come even CLOSE to this animal? Not even close! Most subs at stores costing from 1000 to 1500 are a total rip off and sound like floppy crappy 'all boom boom' bass. This thing pounds like a $7500 15" JBL home theatre sub. No kidding - chest pounding bass.

Cheers,

Audio Maniac

 

Bronze Member
Username: Natediggidy

Baltimore, Maryland U.S.A.

Post Number: 54
Registered: May-04
Hey Uncommom, don't hold back, tell us what you really think. J/K =^]

You make some valid points. I'm glad I'm not the only one using car subs for home use. Before somebody replies and slams us both, you did qualify which car subs to use.
Here's what I'm using. A Cerwin-Vega V-Max 15-DVC (17, yes 17 Hz.) in a 5.6 cu-ft box, powered by a Yamaha MX-830 stereo power amp (230 w.r.m.s/430 watts dynmic power per channel @ 4-ohms).
The C-V is in a sealed box. WinISD says the f3 point is 25.5Hz. The Yamaha amp doesn't have the sheer output of your QSC, but it was made back when they didn't skimp on anything in their designs.
Wanna have some fun? Fire up your amp/sub combo, drop in Finding Nemo on DVD, go to the "Meet Darla" scene and let 'er rip. You'll see what I mean.
 

Audio Maniac
Unregistered guest
Nathan:

Wow. Uh, yeah. I must have been **ssed off when I wrote THAT little rant. Hee hee. Oh well. Just trying to save people from burning down their houses. YES you CAN use some home amps - there are some amps out there (especially older ones) which DO have the "cahonas" (aka balls) to run subs. Like your old Yammi there.

To be honest, I WAS looking at a smaller QSC amp, but I got the BIG MAMMA JAMMA cause, well - the FAN was more quiet for just a hun and-a-half more. 2000W RMS is NOT required (and is plain stoopid power really) but its nice to know the amp will never -I mean NEVER- clip.

Here is a good "home sub" test scene for ya. Predator (first one). Jungle. Black dude is freaking out after seeing the predator. He starts unloading the GE Mini Gun. More dudes. ALL the guns. Very loud. First grenade. BAHOOM! Second grenade BAHOOOOM! This is how I burnt up my first car sub. Two 250W plate amps running into each coil of a (poor) Alpine 15" DVC for 500W RMS total. There was smoke IN THE ROOM (as well as in the jungle) after THAT scene. Burnt the coil right off of the former. Clipped those HARD at 500 Watts. Very bad. Be VERY careful - when those grenades go, your sub COULD go too. Play the scene over a few times, increasing the volume SLOWLY while you watch just how far your woof will heave. It's actually scary-cool.

More wicked bass scenes? The intro scene from Toy Story II (when the "words" rumble onto the screen like a spaceship). Also, when the little girl LAUGHS for the first time in Monsters Inc and she powers up half the city. Or when they blow up the little girls "toxic sock" in the portable explosion chamber. THAT is a wicked THUMP!

This is what its all about. Vibrating pictures off the walls. Cracking Drywall. Getting Evicted.

RIGHT ON!!!

Cheers,

The Maniac.
 

ighi
Unregistered guest
this might be the stupidest question ever but do you need an amplifier to use a sub in your car?
 

Bronze Member
Username: Natediggidy

Baltimore, Maryland U.S.A.

Post Number: 69
Registered: May-04
It only qualifies as a stupid question if we give you the answer and you keep asking it =)

Yes, you will need an amp to get satisfactory results from a sub.

If you have more questions, try over at the Car Audio side of the forum ;^) .
 

Unregistered guest
Hey Audio, thanks for the details, they really help, although i do still have some questions. I'm 17 and virtually moneyless (just invested in klipsch reference tower fronts... *grunts like tim taylor) About a year ago i bought two EIGHT (8) ohm kicker 10's and hooked them directly up to an old kenwood amp. For this whole year, i've turned them up loud thousands of times, almost every day, sometimes for really long periods of time, and they've always sounded perfecly fine (depending on their placement in the room). Are they about to die? they still sound good.. I know starting this is about trial and "blowing up and burning up stuff" error, but i dont have trial money. thanks for any reply's. feel free to email.
 

anonymous5000
Unregistered guest
I have a Pioneer TS-W2000SPL that I want to hook to a home receiver in my room until I buy another car will I do any long term damage to the sub by doing this? I tried looking at other post but didn't see the answer.
 

New member
Username: Musicman70

Post Number: 1
Registered: Jan-05
This one's a little tough, all of you are correct saying that you can hook up the amps with computer power supplies (that is a good way). although i have found an easier way, by using 2 recievers this problem can be easily solved... if you have a reciever with a "Sub pre amp out" your good to go, put a "Y" wire splitter into that then hook up some RCA cables to this after doing this hook the remaining left and right RCA's to any IN connection on another reciever anything will work "CD", "DVD", "TAPE" anything after doing this hook up your car sub to the reciever you have with the RCA cables pluged into a random IN after this turn on your DVD, CD or any player, turn on the first reciever, then turn on the second reciever to the random IN and crank up the bass, this is the best way and cheapest that i have found to work (any cheap reciever will work to hook up the subs)
 

dziubu
Unregistered guest
Another good scene for testing your home sub (made by u or not...) from a classic movie.. JAWS.
Its the scene where they start singing in the boat. The singing attracts the shark (I'm sure it wouldn't in real life.. but it makes for a good scene) and it 'bumps' the bottom of the boat.

I have a $550 CND Cerwin Vega 8" HT sub and a Harman/kardon AVR 7000. First time I watched JAWS on this system.. I thought the shark was trying to break through my hardwood floor! :-D
 

dziubu
Unregistered guest
Oh yeah.. and the famous scene from the Matrix where they go on a shooting spree in slow motion...
 

Unregistered guest
i am thinking about buying a 250 watt plate amplifier from partsexpress.com to power a 15 inch audiobahn car subwoofer. i have a very small room(8x8) with no carpet. would this audiobahn subwoofer be good for home audio use. im going to be using it with a home theater reciever but for music only. would a car subwoofer blow up a home subwoofer amplifier? plz help me with this question.

the audiobahns power handling is 650 rms, 1300 peak with a single 4ohm voice coil in a sealed box.
 

New member
Username: Musicman70

Post Number: 2
Registered: Jan-05
this one is for tim0289cdfd, the sub your buying is fine for that room, you can run almost about any sub you can find, but i HIGHLY recoment buying a seperate reciever/amplifier just for the subs because in this case you wont blow your good reciever even thought i highly doubt it will blow it

P.S. buy the cheapest reciever for your subs, qualitly dosent matter its very low frequency anyways
 

Buddykiller
Unregistered guest
found this page looking for home audio plate amps.. the main problem with hooking up car audio equipment in your house is the whole a/c d/c thing, and if your hooking it up directly to your reviever instead of an extrenal amp, your going to end up blowing your sub or screwing up your reciver. the standard car sub is 4ohms while the standard home audio sub is 8ohms. you also have to remember that your taking a sub that was designed to operate in a small enclosed space, where as a sub used in the home is meant for large rooms. however you can use a car sub in your home with the proper wiring methods and proper placement. you'll find that they'll be places you can sit in the room and hear NOTHING from the sub and in other places you hear it perfectly clearly. i've come to the conclusion that this has to do with the way that the sub and it's enclosure form the sound waves and how many surfaces they have to reverberate off of. when i had a bandpass box in my car i had to face the speakers toward the back seat to hear them good. when i switched woofers and had to use a ported box, i found that facing the woofer toward the trunk lid i was able hear it ALOT better than when it faced the back seat. this is the same in my room, i had to face the woofers the way i was facing and bounce it off the wall before i could hear anything at all, and then if i sit close to them their signal seems to decrease.
 

Anonymous
 
hello just thought i would put my input in before leaving this site i have owned everything from jensen to phoenix gold and currently run a directed 400 into a sony explode 12 both have been in my house i have a radio shack ac/dc converter these are fairly cheap but make sure not to overkill your amplifier with too many amps from the converter mine is 30 amp and my amplifier has 2 25 amp fuses it has never shut down or gotten hot secondly i have had it to 1/4 ohm in the car but this should only be done with certain amps as this is old school wiring and most newer amps arent capeable of this check to see what ohm stable your amp is and wire accordingly it should say something like 2ohm stable somewhere in your paperwork do not go any lower than this!!! if you want to go 1/4 ohm stable buy comp grade equipment such as phoenix gold or precision power most audio stores will carry at least 1 or 2 "cheater amps" and finnaly i would listen to SPL as he knows the most about what he is doing
 

New member
Username: Unpiled_acorn

Rockland, Ontario Canada

Post Number: 3
Registered: Mar-05
alrite got a sub for my amplifier, and ppl keep goin on about 8 ohms, or 4 ohms, but i dont understand any of that, so not o waste any1's time could some1 email me bout ohms, would appreciate it
Dirty_bugs@hotmail.com
 

Unregistered guest
I really need help!! I have a 1500 watt PA system amplifier, and want to run my inifinty 10" subs in a bandpass box. When i just hook the subs up to the amp, it is really quiet, and can barely hear the thump. What am I doing wrong? Or what do i need to do differently? Someone please email me at hurley_2002@hotmail.com
MUCH THANX!!
 

New member
Username: Trmclaren

Post Number: 1
Registered: Mar-05
hey i have 2 polk audio 12 gnx124 subs and i have them wired to my home stereo receiver.I am wondering if this will mess up my subs or my receiver.I have the receiver set on surround mode.The subs sound pretty good but they are lots of high frequencys runing to them
 

Gold Member
Username: Subfanatic

Walton, Ky

Post Number: 1833
Registered: Dec-04
my aim name is nushaganazad, since you emailed me
 

Unregistered guest
Hi I have a home system that had to 12" pioneers and two 15" realistics. Well I got ahold of two 10" cerwin vega stealths to replace my old realitics. And man these vegas pound.well anyways I don't have any home use for my overly large realitics and I want to put them in my van. But someone at my tech school told me that the impedance difference would damage my pioneer car sterio, or the subs. But on paper the impedance change does not look like it would make a difference. Can anyone tell me if they experienced any problems or their thoughts.

thanks
Eric Austin
 

Unregistered guest
I was thinking about buying a Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speaker system for my computer because i like to watch dvds, listen to music, and play games on my PC. But after reading all this, i remembered that i have a 1000W car subwoofer sitting around not being used. Since it was just collecting dust in my closet, i was thinking about using that for my PC speaker system instead of spending $350 for the Logitech, which only goes up to a mesely 500W. Can someone give me step by step instructions on how i would go about doing this. Also, i would like to know if its possible to simply buy 3 individual satellite speakers and hook it up to my computer with my already existing 2 speakers to simulate the same 3d surround sound effect a $500 5.1 system offers. If so, how? I was also wondering why car subwoofers are so much more powerful at 1000W at such a lower price of $150-$250 each, while home or pc speaker systems are the opposite- they cost more but are weaker.
 

bigtim286
Unregistered guest
Hey I have a JVC stereo in my room and 2 subs and a 1000 amp and its for a car anyone know how I can install these subs to my stereo
 

Gold Member
Username: Subfanatic

Walton, Ky

Post Number: 1983
Registered: Dec-04
what stereo? car?
 

Unregistered guest
hay people i hafe to say it so easy braa go to a secnd hand shop. now you can by old to very old amps the 4 chanel ones (it runs 4 spekers)and so cheep now look at the back of the amp it wil tell you a ome reading it looks like a horse shou up side down? sum or allot of the old amps dont give a crap if they run 4ome 6ome 8ome 16ome if it sez eny thing like this just hook up the spekers and blast it

second car spekers make a noise in a small area so point the speakers (in a box) right in the corner of ya room and sweet. you might fined that they dont make a noise siting there in the midle of the room but. my 2x 10inc kiker subs man the roofs moving man with the helecopter from grand theft auto they didnt make a sound untill then

bacicly 4 outputs 2 subs youse 2 out pust 2 towers tok up the outher 2 outputs

fore very litle money your walls can move
 

Gold Member
Username: Subfanatic

Walton, Ky

Post Number: 2334
Registered: Dec-04
yea im not baffled
 

Unregistered guest
READ THIS yer im helpin you gyes man caus i no 10 years of stereo shiiiite

now i just went to jaycar it a australian web sight? .com.au its wot im looking fore enwys.
jay car is a electronics shop fore car audio and every thing to do with pa and home stereo and wot ever

now fore $299 aus or american $200 you can by a subwoofer amplifer module to run a 4ohm? or 8ohm car sub of your 5.1 ch amp with a single sub out put rca? 4ohm is 350rms 8ohm is 250rms you gyes in america probably have acses to more power due to demand seing that i have a sub rated at 1500rms? but 250rms will make the walls move trust me>

check with your local electronics shop they will have a huge catalog book to look through and look fore subwoofer amplifer moduals and by it im going down the road tomoro to by one

one thing if ya trying to youse a car sub sit it firing right into the corner of ya room hard against the wall in a box

in my case fore may be $550 american dollers i just got beter than a top of the line $1700 home sub

iv got a alpine type r 15inc 1500rms runing of 250rms il be back in a week to tell ya wos the go
but all ready iv got 4x the power than last thred in the forem
its the only way to go (braa) hehe aboriginies

eny quires email me at clevelandd@bigpond.com
ill respond within 12h easy hope it helped pple



 

jgjfgjfggf
Unregistered guest
how can i hook a car stereo to an older indoor reciever/amplifier (power and speaker)? And how can i hook the car stereo up so i can run it through the 110 volt outlet?
 

helper pinger man
Unregistered guest
electrical shops sell converters from 110volt to 12 volt just make sure you by one with enouf balls so wen the sub hits it dont run out of power and turn of may be ask your local car stereo shop all there display runs of 110 volt you can tell if they youse good converters by watching to see if the displays on the cd players dim wen the bass hits

on the outher hand i tryed a sub amp modulater rated at 60wrms at 8ohm it did not have enoughf balls to run my 1500wrms sub allthough the windows did ratle iv orded a 260wrms 8 ohm amp

i ran a bass cd through the 60wat set up and when a fluter note hit the amp ran out o balls and a electrical gringing nois emited from the sub the new 260wrms amp will rock i can tell a
 

Anonymous
 
if u have a new reciever with a sub pre-out, u can get an old stereo amp like those ones with the big radio dials on them and hook it up to the sub out,, now the old amp only get the crossed over signal so only the bass comes through and u can run them really loud and deep with no distortion
 

Unregistered guest
Hey ok I have a question And im really great with electronics but can't figure this one out. I have 2 Audio Bahn Subs and two power akoustic amps 820 w each peak. (subs are 4 ohms togeather) any way when I hook everything up (bridged amps, 4 power gauge wire and ground wire). when I hook everything up the fuse always blows on one of the amps, it will work for a while then heat up and blow y does it do that?
 

Unregistered guest
hey.. today i was doing some testing with my kenwood receiver and my sony receiver, i took the subwoofer preout from my kenwood receiver and put it into one of the right inputs in my sony receiver, then i hooked up an old amp speaker that i had to the right output of the sony reciever and turned em both on, and it worked. of course it was sh!t speaker so it just thumped and vibrated to sh!t, so since that worked i was thinkin about buying a cheap used woofer and hooking it up like that, i think its the same idea as hooking a car amp up to the woofer except now i can use the remote from my sony reciever to turn the woofer up and down.. this idea should work for you guys if u have an old receiver lying around your house, and if your to cheap to go pay good money for a powered home theatre sub like me lol
 

ba n s h e e m an
Unregistered guest
for the love of...stop double posting. Think about you're queations and see if anyone has posted a similar one which has been answered.
Yes, you can use car audio equipment in the home and vice versa. But remember, as has been said, these aren't the purposes they were designed for. Doesn't mean it wont work ;)

House = 240V / 120V
Car = 12V
resistance varies, but car speakers tend to have lower resitance values (subs usually around 4 ohms etc). If your amp blows a cone or fries some voice coils, it's because you didn't check the ratings. Stuff isn't totally universal, you have to check it out yourselves. At the most basic level you can connect any speaker to any amp, but try to crank it up or add effects or equilisations, and you probably wont be laughing.

Ciao buttmunches.
 

ba n s h e e m an
Unregistered guest
so dont forget your converter (or car battery)!
 

Anonymous
 
Right now im running a Velodyne 10" home sub ( intergral Amp ) and an MTX 12" (mzs model). The MTX is in parrallel to the Velodyne. Only problem is that the MTX is a 4ohm and the Velodyne is either 6- or 8ohms. I was wondering if i have damaged the amp in any way?

On another nice low note, Where might i get some AC powered amp to run some MTX's (3 MTX mzs's, 4 ohms each, handles 300 rms 600 Peak.) I live in Ottawa, Canada and was wondering if there are any stores that might sell the Amps.

Thx a powerload.

MTX
 

Unregistered guest
is there absolutly any possible way that i can wire my car stereo (am/fm radio)to be able to plug into my home outlets and not blow anything up? e-mail answers to me at mattwild46@hotmail.com
 

kevin owens
Unregistered guest
is it possible to install two 12's and two 15's in a car and will it sound bad if i do thank u
 

N@th@N
Unregistered guest
Matt469910W simply get a 12v DC transformer from somthing lile a car battery charger or simuler. should work, or what these guys sudgest for car amps (a pc power supply unit)

1 of them should power your car stereo in your home no problem
 

Unregistered guest
hey, ive got a 12" sub i bought and ive got a car amp also the car cd player in my room. i need help on how to power the car cd player in my house and also the car amp and also how to wire up the sub to the amp is there any way i could do that? plz email me if you know how to do it me email is sexyboy123456@hotmail.co.uk thanks
Ben
 

reece
Unregistered guest
Okay I'm new too all this. I got two 10" subs and I want to hook it up to my car without an amp. How do I do that?
 

speakerboxxx420
Unregistered guest
hey i dont know much about speakers but i have these two 12' subs and i hooked it up to my aiwa and it it seems fibe its just then when i use to much power it shuts off and like i have to wait 30 second before it turns on again.i have noticed that my left side of my sub input isnt nearly as powerful and my right side?and is this bad that im hooking car subs to such a bunk reciever, because it sounds fine to me but if this is bad then email me at hotdog6960@yahoo.com
 

Unregistered guest
Y'all are messed up. Bunch of newbies up in here. Hooking a car amp to a 120V A/C outlet? Thinking you can do it with just a cord, jeez. You need a power converter that converts 120V alternating current to 12V direct current.

Computer power packs use DC, and 12V at that. Easier to work with, or whatever. Don't have to mess with the frequency of the waves, cycles, and everything.

A computer power pack can't put out too much power, because just a regular 5 amp max converter like I have is a little bit bigger. Put a bunch of them in parallel (I think would work) and it should put out the combined amperage. Just remember what your fuse is on your amp. If it's got a 100A fuse, don't even bother.

Speakers are speakers. What matters is what they can handle, and what you give to them. That, a good box, and a good setup.

If you've got some questions, just ask me on the messengers:
Yahoo!: hah2001
MSN: ben_cline@hotmail.com
AIM: Bronco88351

My webpage: www.cardomain.com/id/ben_cline

I've installed stereos for a few years, had several. Was looking here because it came up on a search while looking for the T/S parameter for my Alpine TypeR.

I'm on at night mostly, and had several conversations with other people on these such subjects. Right now I'm going to Linn State Tech for electronics. First semester at this school.

Started learning about and installing stereos about 6 years ago. Started understanding the possibilities really well about 3 years ago.

I have a 10" MTX Thunder4000 hooked up to an Apex Sr. amplifier (Like 350wt. rms amp, if I'm correct at the amp model. Bought it used for $90 shipped.) and installed in a ported box I had built for my JBL W10GTi. Sounds real nice.
http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/241725/fullsize/MTXPortedBox.JPG

Box I had for my 15" Adire Audio Tempest, then switched to a 15" Adire Audio Brahma. Now fried. Need to recone it.
http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/261594/fullsize/LargeBox.JPG
 

New member
Username: Audiowizard69

Post Number: 7
Registered: Nov-05
If ur stereo is powerfull enough to power the sub u dont need an amp. take an rca cable and cut one end off. seperate the two wires inside. the bald wire is ur negative and the coated wire is ur positive. hook that to ur sub and plug it in. mail me at Rebelguy75@yahoo.com and tell me how it worked our bye.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Graphix1

Santa Rosa Heights, Arima Trinidad & T...

Post Number: 67
Registered: Oct-05
i Have A 400 watt 4 ohm dvc sub hooked up to a 200 watt panasonic home stereo which is 6 ohms.I have the sub wired in parallel which is a 2 ohm load on the 6 ohm stereo,will this do any damge to either.It works fine to me and ive been using it a long while now.
 

New member
Username: Just16

Bronx, N.Y United states

Post Number: 1
Registered: Nov-05
I have a 21" sub thats 2,000 watts max, and a receiver which is a kenwood vr-16, with sub out at 100 watts rms.when you turn up the volume it has like a ticking sound while turning up and dowm.plus the sub has a built in crossover with bypass switch and 150Hz low-pass switch.Is the kenwood to weak and I need a power amp.
 

New member
Username: 2000rangerspl

Ringle, Wisconsin USA

Post Number: 1
Registered: Nov-05
i can see that alot of the people in this message board know vary little about car and or home audio. and and also how it works. i found a large amount of this information to be Misleading and or Completely wrong such as James Slinkrd posted (and as soon as you use a car sub in a home theater, you can no longer use it in your car. The life of your sub will also be substantially reduced.) this is not the full post that he left but this is not true. as long as the voice coil is not damaged by heat Caused by really high over wattage and under wattage is a big woofer killer so it is best to match the woofer RMS to the amps RMS as close as you can. im not trying to down talk any people im just giving the facts if some one whould like so help or have Questions feel free to email or IM me at Moto_KX_250@yahoo.com yahoo IM - Moto_KX_250
 

Bronze Member
Username: Kravenblood

Post Number: 16
Registered: Aug-05
lol ill be building a home theater sub with 2 cerwin vega vega 10" and a plate amp from parts express this will be my second build last one was from 2 kicker 8" subs and a plate amp from parts express this set up rattles my friends apartment, these plate amps run 8 or 4 ohms so a 4 ohm car sub aint a problem. Oh by the way ive opened a powered sub before and mesured the ohms and guess what oh my it was 4 ohms lol Not saying they all are but point being. but anyway the set up im makeing is for my hometheater just like the kicker set up was the kicker set up did not have any problem with filling the room with impact and it did not have spots where you couldnt hear the bass.but anyway on another note my receiver can run 4ohms hahaha so i can take a component set and hook it up if i wanted too lol plus my center is 4 ohms cerwin vega cvt-70 running that just fine... but my next real project is getting my 2005 stroker fixed and back into my car lol and beilve me if i could afford the home amp i want that stroker would be my home theater sub 15" 2000 watts rms lol
 

Shun
Unregistered guest
Is it better to have 300 RMS power handling or 600 RMS power handling?
 

Unregistered guest
ok! wow i read all of thise thread and it didn't fix my problem, i hooked a 100 watt subwoffer made by jvc, to my sony home theater system, and the subwoffer has a standby mode or something like that, a red and green led, so i have been useing it for movies and it sounds fine, but i used it for a realy loud rap song, and boom the little led red light shuts off no more bass, so i look at it unplug and plug back in nothing happens, let me remind you all the other speakers and reciver all work fine just the bass dosent work, ie: dosent turn on~ plz help i am retarted!

plz email me the fix plz i beg of you
 

Unregistered guest
ok! wow i read all of thise thread and it didn't fix my problem, i hooked a 100 watt subwoffer made by jvc, to my sony home theater system, and the subwoffer has a standby mode or something like that, a red and green led, so i have been useing it for movies and it sounds fine, but i used it for a realy loud rap song, and boom the little led red light shuts off no more bass, so i look at it unplug and plug back in nothing happens, let me remind you all the other speakers and reciver all work fine just the bass dosent work, ie: dosent turn on~ plz help i am retarted!

plz email me the fix plz i beg of you(fmydog@gmail.com)
 

Bronze Member
Username: Nik3

Sacramento, Ca Usa

Post Number: 51
Registered: Nov-05
wats up with all these stupid a** unregisterd guest "step for f-dog asking ? dude if you wana ask a ? register F*** you make f-dogs thread turn into a hole new ? get real dumn F***'s anyway dont even bother with the hold car sub in the house you miss up the woffer just by powering a 12v sup in the house take out its life spand just get a cheep klh they got lots of bass not defined but hey its a party we had a family get together yesterday and my dad had to show off his system and it just started a fight lol but ya no need for that just get a cheep new subb from best buy
 

New member
Username: Musicmusic

Post Number: 1
Registered: Dec-05
Question.. There is no difference between a car sub SPEAKER and a home theater sub speaker is there? Reason I am asking is I have a Home Theater Sub with a blown speaker. Now could I buy any sub speaker (car or home) off of ebay or whatever to replace? Pros? Cons?
 

Silver Member
Username: Stu_pitt

NYC, NY

Post Number: 810
Registered: May-05
You can't throw any woofer into any sub box or any other enclosuer for that matter. Things such as impedence, cabinet internal volume, ported or sealed, and so on dictate what is and isn't compatible. Just as home audio speakers generally suck for car audio, car speakers generally suck at home. People almost always have problems when they use something in a way it wasn't intended to be used.
 

VNBONG
Unregistered guest
GTK!
I've found a way to hook up a computer sub to my sony 6.1 system. Sounds pretty good. First of all, it's a 2.1 Harman Kardon computer speaker system. I was able to salvage everything. Here's what you do. open up the speaker with the volume knob on it. Disconnect the cable that controls the volume and keep this. This little chip card has two inputs a positive and negative for each speaker that the knob controls. Disconnect these. Now your speakers are stand alone components. Now drill a hole in your speaker and loop the cable that controls your volume back into the sub casing and secure the knob so that it is accessible to you from the outside. Next, you probably have a 1/8" input for your computer line out. Buy an adaptor mono 1/8" to mono RCA. You probably must amplify the level entering the sub as I had to do. (I salvaged a mixer from my studio and used it as a line amp but a mic pre amp would prob do just fine). Now find a cheap mic/line preamp making sure your inputs and outputs will work with sub and receiver if not, buy adaptors. This amp will go in between the Home receiver and the Sub's Line IN. Turn all line amp and sub amp volumes to minimum and adjust from there. You're done!!! Sounds Awesome for next to nothing.
 

Neverman
Unregistered guest
VERY IMPORTANT,, THIS IS THE BEST WAY OF USING CAR SUBS IN A HOME THEATER SETTING, 1 u must have a reciever with a RCA sub out. Hook the preout with a y-adadter and a pair of rca patch cords hook the sub out into a second reciever. the second reciever now is getting the crossedover signal from ur main reciever my cutoff is 100hz. Hook ur car subs up to the 2nd recievers main L/R speaker outputs and ur good to go.

Yamaha HTR-5730
Mission 717 L/R, PSB Center/SURROUND
Subout
|
|
|
CD(or any input) in
Nakamichi TA-1A Stereo Reciever
2 MB Quart 10" car subwoofers
2 JBL 12" DVC car subwoofers
1 Rockford XLC 10" car subwoofer

the load of all these subs is around 2 ohms a side and amp stays relitivly cool
 

New member
Username: Lynn_megwa

Post Number: 1
Registered: Mar-06
OK I have two 12" subs and an amp to hook up in my car. I have no idea what I'm doing so any instructions are greatly appreciated.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Gravytrain

Canton, Michigan USA

Post Number: 35
Registered: May-06
just do a little bit of homework before you go cutting wires and flipping switches!!!

i had this same crazy idea to hook up my 15" solobaric L7 to my home theater because i was getting fed up with my puny onkyo 10" sub. the main reason was because you couldnt feel the explosions you would only hear them.

anyway...i went to radio shack and picked up a 25amp switching power suppily for $100. i then went to wal-mart and got some el cheapo 250 watt 2 channel amp for $40. got home and removed the L7 (in a 6.25 ft^3 slot ported box) from my little honda civic and set it in the same location as my onkyo 10". i found an old 12ga power wire and cut it to the proper length (from the power suppily to the amp) and cut another piece of 18ga power wire (picked that up at the local car parts store) to use as a the remote wire and went to work.

the power suppily that i got could use either bare wire or banana plugs, so i chose bare wire. i ran one length of the 12ga (with a 20amp fuse) from the positive terminal to the battery input on the amp and ran the other length from the negative terminal to the ground input on the amp. then i ran the 18ga remote wire from the battery input to the remote input (since the remote wire is only used to detect voltage you can run the remote wire directly from a 12v source but the reason they dont do that in cars is because the amp would always be on due to the fact that it is directly connected to the car battery). then i ran the rca from the receiver to the amp, but i used a y-connector to split the single channel into a left and a right for the amp. then i connected the speaker wires on the sub to the amp (bridged of course) and then powered up everything.

yes i know that the sub is rated for 750wrms and i am only using a 250wmax amp (150wrms bridged at 2ohms) but if you read the tech specs on the sub the recommended power is between 50-750wrms. since the sub had dual 4ohm voice coils, i wired it to a 2 ohm load on the amp which put me within the recommended power range.

i had to set the hp and lp filters and adjust the gain but when that was finished the L7 worked like a champ. now i will admit that it was a bit much for watching movies, but you could definitely feel explosions and swear that you were being chased by a T-rex!!!

i also repeated the process using my directed 1500d (2400wmax/1500wrms at 1ohm). i had to turn the gain way down or else it would draw too much current and shut down due to undervoltage protection. i was much happier using the little 250watt amp because it couldnt even come close to pushing the sub to its limits. i believe the rule of thumb goes something like excursion = distortion...so i purposely chose an amp that fell within the recommended power ratings yet didnt over work the sub.

and for the record...recall the scene in the fast and the furious where paul walker takes the green eclipse up to 140mph and then spins out...now when he slowly pulled away, the muffler tone playing on the 15" L7 literally shook a couple of pictures off the walls!!! i also played a couple of bass and rap cds on the new setup and was quite suprised at how good the sound quality was and you have to remember that in a virtually noise free environment, a little bass goes a long way not like in a car where the bass must over come road noise before it is even heard.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Gravytrain

Canton, Michigan USA

Post Number: 36
Registered: May-06
now the other alternative is to build a box, and use an ADA series sub amp made by adire audio and match it so your choice of subwoofer as long as the final load is 4ohms or 8ohms. you could choose the ada1200 which puts out 1200wrms at 4ohms and pair it with a mtx 9500, a jl w7, an adire brahma, or any high end high powered sub. build yourself a massive box and get ready to be amazed.

i think it is possible to build a fantastic home theater subwoofer out of mobile audio parts for far less than you could buy a prebuilt sub of equivalent specs...besides its great to say that its home made!!!
 

Bronze Member
Username: Shawndecker1

Pine hill, Nj Usa

Post Number: 24
Registered: Apr-06
I just finished my home theater sub and used (4) 10" 250w car audio subs powered by a bash 500w plate amp. With a little elbow grease and some math, it works *@#! good! It pumps out the bass hard and I saved a ton of $$ making it myself. There are many scenes in Jurassic park that rattle the dishes upstairs! The biggest advantage in using car subs is the price difference. Amp and all, this 5' tall thumpin' sub only set me back about $350. Upload
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