Michael Powers
Super Member
Before I was able to find a driver from Madisound that matched the specifications of my Infinity RS 425 woofer, I was looking at car woofers. If I had found a car woofer that matched, why not use it?
Why do people........
- Thread starter PioneerGuy75
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Digital Man
I agree. I have a friend who started messing with speakers in the early 90's in high school, before the internet was at all mainstream and such "refoaming knowledge" thus made more widely available (and we have to remember that about 90% of the population, which includes many very intelligent people, would have no idea what that term would even mean...they simply have different interests than DIY with old audio gear which is no moral failure on their part).
He would buy and put cheapo generic woofers from mail order catalogs into quite a few old speaker boxes at first (some of which had no woofers or even any electronics at all in them), but then he self-taught himself (using some book he bought) to re-foam. Even then he would sometimes replace the woofer with new ones that would match the specs of the box using equations and such which then lead him to making his own speakers from scratch (which he continues to this day and some sound really good especially for the price). He was/is hardly an idiot, just a kid messing around who even caught on by himself without the benefit of others helping him through the process via internet forums or any other direct source.
Seems that users on this forum love gear more than people sometimes!
Sometimes they can be improved using auto audio components.
Take the case of these used for my four surround speakers. Originally Cerwin Vega 10" three ways, they now house JBL W10GTis and JBL 2425J compression drivers and hand made custom crossovers.
The JBL 10's cost more than the entire CV speakers did and are one way to get lots of bass in a small package. But they also extend out to beyond 1,200 Hz and crossover extemely well to the horns at 800 Hz.
Take the case of these used for my four surround speakers. Originally Cerwin Vega 10" three ways, they now house JBL W10GTis and JBL 2425J compression drivers and hand made custom crossovers.
The JBL 10's cost more than the entire CV speakers did and are one way to get lots of bass in a small package. But they also extend out to beyond 1,200 Hz and crossover extemely well to the horns at 800 Hz.
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melofelo
Addicted Member
i did the opposite...salvaged some excellent 1 inch soft dome tweeters and very good crossovers from some early 80's mission speakers that had been thrown away due to rotted woofer foam...
I used them in my car with some cheap 8 inch car woofers i got for free...wired them up along with the tweeters to the salvaged crossovers...and used the rear panel and sealed boot as an enclosure...
it sounds quite 'hi-fidelity' in there now actually ...
I used them in my car with some cheap 8 inch car woofers i got for free...wired them up along with the tweeters to the salvaged crossovers...and used the rear panel and sealed boot as an enclosure...
it sounds quite 'hi-fidelity' in there now actually ...
Big Tuna
Too Much Power!
Yeah, it's a dam dirty shame, really. But look at the bright side, all those OEM woogers that fell victim to the landfills have increased the value of the ones that still retain originals. I think that a smart solution would be to affix a label on baffle by woofer stating;
"WARNING! DO NOT replace original woofer and throw away if surround is missing or broken! Woofer tampering is a violation of the Laws of Physics and subject to prosecution"
"WARNING! DO NOT replace original woofer and throw away if surround is missing or broken! Woofer tampering is a violation of the Laws of Physics and subject to prosecution"
cfinchrist
God bless America.
Not a bad idea except for people's rebellious nature. If they are told not to do something, that's what they want to do most of all.
Saigo
Don't Fear the Reefer
A friend of mine on a Pontiac muscle car list has a pair of JBL L65 Jubals that he bought new...with Radio Shack woofers that he installed when the foam finally let go in the original woofers. That was painful to hear about. He got pissy when I asked if he had the original woofers (I was going to offer to refoam them for the cost of materials, just to get my hands on a pair of Jubals for a few days), because he threw them away, and apparently a number of people have already called down Hellfire on him for doing this.
Nothing wrong with car subwoofers per-se. I have a home made subwoofer on my home theater system with a 12" Infinity Reference car sub (two for $80 at Circuit City a good few years ago) and a 250w plate amplifier from Parts Express. I would put this up against subwoofers costing a lot more, it goes deep and hits hard.
You might also find that car subs work better in smaller boxes than an equivalent non-car woofer. I had this discussion/argument over on the Parts Express forum, where I suggested that some of the "buy out" woofers needed such large boxes, it would be better to pay $20 extra and get some Dayton woofers. Or in this case, a car audio subwoofer.
The problem arises when the car subwoofer is just thrown into the box without any consideration of the impedance change (car stuff is nearly always 4 ohm), or using the T-S parameters of several woofers and finding the most suitable one for you box size.
What is wrong is when these sellers want the full market price for the speakers fitted with car subwoofers. They should really just charge the asking price for a bare box, unless of course the tweeters are worth a lot of money (JBL LEs for example).
Lee.
You might also find that car subs work better in smaller boxes than an equivalent non-car woofer. I had this discussion/argument over on the Parts Express forum, where I suggested that some of the "buy out" woofers needed such large boxes, it would be better to pay $20 extra and get some Dayton woofers. Or in this case, a car audio subwoofer.
The problem arises when the car subwoofer is just thrown into the box without any consideration of the impedance change (car stuff is nearly always 4 ohm), or using the T-S parameters of several woofers and finding the most suitable one for you box size.
What is wrong is when these sellers want the full market price for the speakers fitted with car subwoofers. They should really just charge the asking price for a bare box, unless of course the tweeters are worth a lot of money (JBL LEs for example).
Lee.
JesusChrysler
...drives a Dodge ; )
All I ask is even though it's a car-audio-component; it's still not a "subwoofer".
(unless of course it amazingly is heh)
Matt
(unless of course it amazingly is heh)
Matt
what about the car audio stuff being used wrong even in car audio. i see people just setting 6x9's under their back windows and just letting it sit there with no encloser wth is that lmfao. or people driving bye and all you hear is a crappy distorted thump thump with metal rattling from the car. they think they have something because they can make your windows shake. big deal now if you go bye and i can hear the midrange bass and treble without distorion, no thumping, hissing, booming, honking. now thats something.
Jon_Logan
Addicted Member
There are speaker drivers, then there are the markets that they sell into.
There isn't really a "car speaker" or a "home speaker", or a "Professional speaker". Sure they might have some aspect that makes them easier to sell into different markets, but it doesn't make one a lousey choice for another application.
Sometimes subbing a part from a different intended application WILL make an improvement in performance. It just depends how good (or bad) the OEM part was and what the relative quality is of the replacement.
The auto sound market has helped push the home and professional markets into making better designs.
Those SPL contests, that car audio fans were pushing, have done a lot to increase sensitivity and power handling capabilities of modern drivers. Now we have 800W, 1000W, 1600W woofers with double spiders and all the rest. You can thank auto stereo for a large part of the performance improvements.
There isn't really a "car speaker" or a "home speaker", or a "Professional speaker". Sure they might have some aspect that makes them easier to sell into different markets, but it doesn't make one a lousey choice for another application.
Sometimes subbing a part from a different intended application WILL make an improvement in performance. It just depends how good (or bad) the OEM part was and what the relative quality is of the replacement.
The auto sound market has helped push the home and professional markets into making better designs.
Those SPL contests, that car audio fans were pushing, have done a lot to increase sensitivity and power handling capabilities of modern drivers. Now we have 800W, 1000W, 1600W woofers with double spiders and all the rest. You can thank auto stereo for a large part of the performance improvements.
I use a "car" woofer in my home stereo- a 15" Cerwin Vega Stroker (the old version), mounted in a too-small (~2.75 cu/ft) ported "car" enclosure with a Parts Express 300 watt plate amp. Driver/port fire into the rear corner of my living room. It plays pretty low, but it's no where near what it should be doing. I know this full on- but it's what I have to work with until I fab up a proper enclosure.
Having said that- would I put a "car" woofer in a home audio speaker cabinet? It just depends on the situation. I do agree with the others though about people doing that and then asking an arm and a leg- it's just rediculous!
These folks probably just don't know any better, so you can't really fault them for that. There's also the standard disclaimer: No one is forcing you to buy it from them for the requested premium, or at all.
Having said that- would I put a "car" woofer in a home audio speaker cabinet? It just depends on the situation. I do agree with the others though about people doing that and then asking an arm and a leg- it's just rediculous!
These folks probably just don't know any better, so you can't really fault them for that. There's also the standard disclaimer: No one is forcing you to buy it from them for the requested premium, or at all.
donprice
Wound up workin' at a gas station....
Back in '85 I saw an '82 vette with the firebird decals applied to it. Judging from the colorado tags at a florida university, someone had plenty of daddy's money to burn...
About 10 years ago I gave my younger brother a JBL B380 cab loaded with a peavy black widow (NIB for 1/2 a recone cost). I think he pulled the BW and swapped it with a rat shack 15 with a 12 oz magnet...at least the BW ended up in a bass guitar rig. And I still have the 2235 for recone. I'll give it to him if he ever gets around to actually having a usde for it.
About 10 years ago I gave my younger brother a JBL B380 cab loaded with a peavy black widow (NIB for 1/2 a recone cost). I think he pulled the BW and swapped it with a rat shack 15 with a 12 oz magnet...at least the BW ended up in a bass guitar rig. And I still have the 2235 for recone. I'll give it to him if he ever gets around to actually having a usde for it.