home theater subwoofer in car?

[soon2bsick]

Alright guys, I know this has been done before I just don't know exactly how it's been done.

I'm wanting to put a system in my truck and all I have right now is my stereo, a semi decent amp and no subs. BUT I have a very sweet home theater subwoofer thats built into an enclosure (I guess you would say with built in amp?) and it has a standard 120v cord and it's a stand alone..meaning you put standard RCA cables to it for the sound to come through. (It also has speaker wire outs and a couple other plug in's that I can't remember)


Obviously I need a power inverter, but what has to be done to get the sound from my aftermarket head unit to this sub? could it blow my stereo?

could it plug n play to the subwoofer pre-outs on my head unit using RCA cable adapters?


any help/info is greatly appreciated


I don't know the wattage on anything as of right now

 

[agonz91]

If u already got an amp why don't u just get a car sub? So much easier...

 

[soon2bsick]

because my car amp doesn't push the watts I'm looking for

 

[Kriegen]

I don't know about currently, but it used to be the ohms on home theater subs was different from car stereo subs which can make a huge difference

 

[617ricky]

If you wanted to try it out, just run RCA's from the preamp output on the back of your deck (even better if you have a subwoofer preamp), and then run it to the sub, and just plug it in with an extension cord outside your house lol.. I would definitely keep the volume low tho when you turn it on.. I don't see how it could ever blow your stereo tho, cuz the only connection with the stereo is just an RCA output - it's not giving it any power.. And it doesn't really matter if the ohms don't match up I don't think, cuz you'd be using it totally external and independent to the stereo when it comes to power and ohms and all that - you're just taking a signal output from it and using it the way it's meant to be used, just in much different circumstances, haha.

 

[soon2bsick]

well I know it's been done, I just wasnt sure how you hooked it to the stereo



this dude did it, but with a lower wattage sub

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkRlqrZK38o

 

[Kriegen]

From yahoo answers

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
Sure. You need to know the RMS watts of the sub and double it for a house speaker. This is because car speakers are 4 ohm , house speakers are 8 ohm. You get half the power at 8 ohms.
Source(s):
A.A.S. degree in Electronics/Industrial Electronics with 25 years in the mobile audio/consumer electronics field

 

[soon2bsick]

Thanks for the information,

My main question is, can I hook it up to my stereo with RCA Cables. Do I need any kind of adapters to do that. And do I hook it up to my subwoofer pre-outs or my amp pre-outs.

 

[wisekise]

Thanks for the information,

My main question is, can I hook it up to my stereo with RCA Cables. Do I need any kind of adapters to do that. And do I hook it up to my subwoofer pre-outs or my amp pre-outs.

depending on the type of home sub you have. some have internal amps and x-overs, some have only one, some have none.
if it has rca connections it has a built in amp (most cases) that requires 120v ~a/c. then you will need a dc to ac converter that can handle the amp draw of the built in amp.
good luck

 

[617ricky]

From yahoo answers

This is not going to apply tho in this case... This is a totally freestanding subwoofer that's making it's OWN power with a built-in amp, so it doesn't matter if it's different ohms than the stereo... The only thing it's getting from the stereo is an audio signal thru RCA's.. It would be different if he was using a car amplifier and just a normal home sub, cuz in that case, it's taking power..

As for whether or not it's gonna work, if the sub has normal red/white RCA inputs, then yes it will work, seeing as you have preamp outputs on your stereo, which you must have.. Like I said tho, if there's a subwoofer preamp output, use that... But your only issue here is figuring out how to reliably give it power... And also - just bring it outside w/ an extension cord and try it out before you make any decisions.. YOu wanna see if it sounds good, but if it's a good 1, I don't see why it wouldn't..

I've actually used 1 of those freestanding subs before, and I've also always liked experimenting with audio.. For the past 15 yrs, I've had my stereo hooked up to my computer, by using 1 of those 1/2 RCA, 1/2 3.5mm headphone jack cables, and this is the same type of concept here.. It's like connecting a pair of headphones to different types of devices - like a computer, mp3 player, home stereo, or basically anything with a 3.5mm audio jack..

 

[techboj]

If you really want to try it out, go get a line out converter. This takes the normal speaker level output from the stock headunit and then converts it to low level that feeds into your home pre-amp and/or amp

One thing you might be forgetting to take into account is power conversion. While it is true that some sort of inverter will allow the conversion of 12V DC to 120V AC, the conversion process isn't normally "clean". It is entirely possible for the modified sine wave to introduce a lot of electrical noise - resulting in buzzing, humming and other unwanted sounds. Even if the inverter was totally clean, some home-based amplifiers and audio system components are not electrically shielded and could very well pickup noise directly from the alternator, spark plug wires and other misc wiring

Furthermore, your home theatre sub was probably designed with an optimal enclosure that may look out of place inside a vehicle. The acoustic behaviour of an enclosure in a car / truck is totally different from that of a home system. If you intend to modify or create a new enclosure, then the sonic qualities of the formerly desirable home system may be compromised and may result in a less than desirable outcome

The hassle of doing this may not be worth the effort. Even an entry level 10 inch RockFord P1 sub and a moderate amp such as a Pioneer GT3300T (to use specific examples) would sound a lot better. This amp and sub combination (about $150 or less) and a small custom enclosure should provide enough thump and would cost a lot less than the planned inverter for the home sub unit.

With greatest respect, I'm not trying to shoot down your idea, I'm just offering my opinion in the hopes of saving you a headache or two.

 

[617ricky]

If you really want to try it out, go get a line out converter. This takes the normal speaker level output from the stock headunit and then converts it to low level that feeds into your home pre-amp and/or amp

I'm curious why you'd go this route.. I mean yea, if you did this, you'd probably want a converter, cuz you'd be taking an amplified signal going into a freestanding amp/speaker.. But why even bother with any of speaker outs on a deck that are being used for door speakers, when you can just take a normal RCA signal from 1 of the preamps? That's how you'd hook up an amp normally, and it's the same concept here.. You're just taking a normal audio signal (no different than a headphone jack), and feeding it to a separate device...

But yea getting this thing power safely and reliably would definitely be the main issue.

 

[techboj]

I'm curious why you'd go this route.. I mean yea, if you did this, you'd probably want a converter, cuz you'd be taking an amplified signal going into a freestanding amp/speaker.. But why even bother with any of speaker outs on a deck that are being used for door speakers, when you can just take a normal RCA signal from 1 of the preamps? That's how you'd hook up an amp normally, and it's the same concept here.. You're just taking a normal audio signal (no different than a headphone jack), and feeding it to a separate device...

To 617ricky: Yes you are indeed correct. If he had an aftermarket deck with a set of pre-amps then he could use these to feed the rca-based signal to his stand alone amp. Some aftermarket decks have 2 preamp (one standard front and 1 switchable rear or sub-out). Better aftermarket units have 3 preamps (1 for front, 1 for rear and 1 for subout). If he goes this route and uses either pre-out then he should be ok. Just make sure that the aftermarket deck allows this (I've seen some dual-preamp decks that wont let you use the preamps if you already use the speaker level output from the included harness).

If he was using his OEM deck as the source unit then he would need the line out converter. Sorry if I wasn't too clear

But ultimately we both agree that powering the home-threater based standalone subwoofer would be the bigger issue. A standard sine wave converter may not be up to snuff in powering the sub nor would it be electrically shielded and not pickup noise from an electrically-noisy automotive environment