using regular speakers in an explorer?

[Blue91Ex]

This is probably a dumb question, but if you remove the speakers from a mid-high end indoor sterio/cd player/radio, would they work in a car? I would probably not do this but i know some of my family's vehicles have awful sound quality on their car speakers, and i love how my little old RCA table top radio sounds, i was just curious if you coudl use any old speaker as a replacement for a car speaker or not. i would asume it could work, as most speakers are just magnets with 2 wires going to them, but i wasnt sure.

 

[R1dd1cK]

Yes you can but I would not do it. Reason why? Home speakers are 8 ohm. Car speakers are 4 ohm. Running the wrong ohm chane have ill effects on the radio.

 

[colintrax]

Wouldn't home speakers be 110 volt and car speakers 13?
Besides, not worth trying to make them fit the door. Quality door speakers and head units aren't that expensive....

 

[Anime]

You can, but they won't last very long. Home speakers are typically paper, and even if they are newer, they just aren't designed for the rigors of an automotive environment.

Also as mentioned, the ohm rating (resistance) is different, car speakers typically have a 4 ohm rating, home speakers are 6 or 8 ohms. Put an 8 ohm speaker in a car and the power it sees is much less.

You can get decent 5x7/6x8 speakers for not much money. You can even use other size speakers like 5 or 6 inch or even cram in cheap 6x9's, either with adapters or just bolting them into the sheet metal.

 

[R1dd1cK]

Well if you are interested I do have 4 sony xplode 6x9 that I would sell you cheap.

 

[1996BLKBauer]

if you are wanting to upgrade the existing speakers in your Explorer, the Premium JBL factory speakers sound GREAT with an aftermarket Head unit. On the subject of home speakers in a vehicle. You can, but It simply won't last very long, they are meant to work in a temp controlled rooms, with NO water, or moisture present. A Vehicle is everything you don't want for a home speaker. All automotive speakers must be tested for 24 hours under water to make sure they still work, if that is any indication of how durable they are. The only downfall to Automotive speaker is the surrounds tend to fail after temp fluctuation, and age.

 

[Blue91Ex]

Ahh i see, i figured something liek that, since car speakers have to run off battery/alternator and what not but i figured why not ask haha. Yea sadly i havent even gotten to try my explorer's speakers, something got messed up when the previous owner had it so they took out the head unit. So, they have probably been sitting, unused, for quite a few years. Not sure if that would affect sound quality. Also this is probably a good time to ask about the speakers.. Like i said i havent gotten to try them, how good does the stock speakers and sub sound? i liek to have good sound for the occasion i listen to the radio (it is usually somewhat distracting for me) and i figured if i got a new head unit for teh truck, then had teh speakers suck, then i may as well get replacement speakers at teh same time...

 

[1996BLKBauer]

Ahh i see, i figured something liek that, since car speakers have to run off battery/alternator and what not but i figured why not ask haha. Yea sadly i havent even gotten to try my explorer's speakers, something got messed up when the previous owner had it so they took out the head unit. So, they have probably been sitting, unused, for quite a few years. Not sure if that would affect sound quality. Also this is probably a good time to ask about the speakers.. Like i said i havent gotten to try them, how good does the stock speakers and sub sound? i liek to have good sound for the occasion i listen to the radio (it is usually somewhat distracting for me) and i figured if i got a new head unit for the truck, then had the speakers suck, then i may as well get replacement speakers at the same time...

When I replaced just my head unit, and not my speakers. I played them for a about a week, and they sounded really good, with a lot of bass, and the front ones had really good highs as well.

 

[Blue91Ex]

okay, i will keep this in mind, i can probably get a decent head unit for not too much more than a junkyard stock one.. what dod you use for a head unit? how much did it cost, and did it fit nicely in the stock space.. i dont want a big empty space above/below my radio..

 

[1996BLKBauer]

okay, i will keep this in mind, i can probably get a decent head unit for not too much more than a junkyard stock one.. what dod you use for a head unit? how much did it cost, and did it fit nicely in the stock space.. i dont want a big empty space above/below my radio..

First a note about the door speakers, I have the JBL stereo stock, so the speakers are upgraded.... In most cases you will have a gap, either top or bottom, unless you pay the $$$ for a double din head unit. I have a single Din Alpine CDE-HD137BT Headunit, it cost me $200.

 

[ford freak]

Wouldn't home speakers be 110 volt and car speakers 13?
Besides, not worth trying to make them fit the door. Quality door speakers and head units aren't that expensive....

I have now heard it all.

 

[ford freak]

if you are wanting to upgrade the existing speakers in your Explorer, the Premium JBL factory speakers sound GREAT with an aftermarket Head unit. On the subject of home speakers in a vehicle. You can, but It simply won't last very long, they are meant to work in a temp controlled rooms, with NO water, or moisture present. A Vehicle is everything you don't want for a home speaker. All automotive speakers must be tested for 24 hours under water to make sure they still work, if that is any indication of how durable they are. The only downfall to Automotive speaker is the surrounds tend to fail after temp fluctuation, and age.

Are you serious? Underwater???? I hope to god you're joking. I stand corrected. Now I have heard it all.

 

[colintrax]

I have now heard it all.

Heard what?

 

[ford freak]

110 and 13 volts is what voltage the electrical system typically runs at. Actually 12.2 to 14.4 or so in a vehichle. 110 on house current. that has absolutely nothing to do with the driver being used. The impedance matters to a certain extent. An 8 ohm driver will not automatically be half as loud as opposed to a 4 ohm. As a matter of fact 8 ohm drivers are typically more sensative and in a lot of cases will play louder on half the given power.

 

[colintrax]

Yeah but aren't the speakers made for a certain voltage? I don't know much about electronics btw

 

[ford freak]

Yeah but aren't the speakers made for a certain voltage? I don't know much about electronics btw

Not really at all. A driver measures in impedance. The impedance dictates this to the amp. The amp puts out a different power rating at the different impedance number. Like I said before. A lot of 8 ohm drivers are more efficient than 4 ohm. This is the db level in the specs of a driver. take an 8 ohm driver rated at 90 db efficiency and a 4 ohm driver rated at 85 db's. They are connected to an amp that puts out 100 watts at 4 ohms and 50 watts at 8 ohms. the 8 ohm driver will play louder on the 50 watts than the 4 ohm on 100 watts. You can selectively swap out 4 and 8 ohm drivers with a high level of success. There are actually some very high end 8 ohm drivers that are used in vehichles. I have used quite a few.


http://www.diycable.com/main/product_info.php?products_id=538



http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=296-446


http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.co...-classic-18w/8545-01-7-mid-woofer-paper-cone/



The true downfall of the subject here that nobody has addressed is the frequency range of the driver. assuming it's a passive network you can't just swap out drivers and expect them to perform well of last very long playing the same range. It doesn't work that way. Let's use a tweeter for example. One tweet may have a usable range from 5k up to 20k. Another might be from 2.5k up to 20k. If you take the tweet that is only meant to play down to 5 and throw it in a passive network playing down to 2.5 where the other tweeter was playing at you're going to most likely fry a tweeter really fast.


back to voltage. Automotive amps need voltage from the vehichle to operate. unregulated amps will make more power with more voltage of in most cases much less power than where the advertised power rating was taken from. Let's say an amp made by Boss rates it's amp at 1000 watts at 14.4 volts. they use unregulated power supplies. I really shouldn't have used boss as an example because they outright lie. Anyway.....If you can keep your voltage at that 14.4 you should make the rated power output. When your electrical can't keep up and lights start dimming and the amp only sees 11.5 volts the amp is making much less power.


An amp like the ones I have use fully regulated power supplies. They make the same power from 11 - 16 volts.


So think of it as voltage is important before the amp and impedance after the amp.

 

[AP9]

And the reason automotive speakers are usually 4 ohms (sometimes less for subwoofers) is because of the voltage to the AMPLIFIER. Since Power = Voltage^2 / Impedance (resistance), you will get more power from a lower-impedance load. This is advantageous in cars because the supply voltage to the amp is about 14 volts, while your home theater receiver is supplied ~120 volts (and almost twice that in EU/AU, etc.) . . . and stepping up that voltage requires big transformers which would be less practical in automotive applications.

So in short, yes it is POSSIBLE to mix automotive and home-theater audio equipment, but rarely is it practical or sensible to do so.

 

[colintrax]

Woah, ok thanks. Never woulda thought, I guess it makes sense though. Haha I still don't understand electricity. We got one of those things that measures electrical waves in the AR room, so I've seen it work. Haha not sure why electrical waves would look like that. But it's cool. The thing looks like a hear beat monitor

 

[1996BLKBauer]

Are you serious? Underwater???? I hope to god you're joking. I stand corrected. Now I have heard it all.

They do, They don't play them underwater, but they submerge them, and then make sure they work after 24 hours. Look it up.

 

[ford freak]

They do, They don't play them underwater, but they submerge them, and then make sure they work after 24 hours. Look it up.

Please provide a link.