Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Car and Home speakers

Are car audio and home audio speakers the same? The reason I ask, I'm getting ready to build a sub box for my truck, and though I could build one for the house at the same time. Also, I see car subs are generally described as 4 ohm + 4ohm, is this a dual voice coil or something.


Thanks,

Rick

Hi Rick,

Yes, that is a dual voice-coil design. Because of the power requirements--remember, lower impedance means greater current flow, thus more "power"--and the voltage system and power supply of an automobile (12-volt), most speakers for mobile use are 4-ohm designs.

As far as subwoofers are concerned, it's much easier and less costly to get very deep bass and high output because the car interior is so tiny compared to even a small room in a home. So a sealed-box design about 1.5 cubic feet in size with a 10-inch driver is able to produce significant output below 20 Hz when adequately powered. I describe this arrangement because this is what I use in a Honda CRX. The sub has a dedicated 180-watt power amp (Pioneer), that only gets warm to the touch after an all-day trip.

There is another factor at work in the tiny sealed car interior, where the pressurized interior (don't roll down the windows!) supplies substantial gain as the frequencies get lower. More than 12 dB, if memory serves. I don't recommend listening at high levels on long trips. Combined with road, engine and wind noise, the interior sound levels are well over 100 dB SPL, and will undoubtedly contribute to premature deafness!

Regards,

Oh no! Alan has gone to the dark side! An audiophiles worst nightmare, pulling up next to a small honda with the trunk rattling and bass booming your car to peices lol

In reply to:

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I describe this arrangement because this is what I use in a Honda CRX. The sub has a dedicated 180-watt power amp (Pioneer), that only gets warm to the touch after an all-day trip.

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Wow! I see a boy inside your soul who will never grow up, Alan. Please be careful not to get a permanent acoustic injury; non of us wants to lose your golden ears!

Cheers!

LOL Alan Id love to see some pictures of you rockin out in that CRX