Question about car speakers

[Wertoz]

Can car speakers be configured to work on a PC? If so, how.....?
This is for a future mod..... =]

[a.Bird]

To answer your question in short, yes. However, there are many aspects of such a task that you should consider. For one, car speakers are not magnetically shielded, therefor they must either be mounted a good distance from your pc and monitor or else you must construct a metal shield to reduce their magnetism. Secondly, you'll need a two channel amplifier to amplify the line level sound output from your soundcard. Car speakers generally operate at a 4 ohm impedance, sometimes 2 ohm. Most home stereo recievers/amplifiers can only handle driving 6 or 8 ohm speakers or else they may shut off or even be destroyed if the speakers draw too much power.

So, I guess I should ask before I continue, what are the exact specifications of the car speakers you're referring to, and how exactly would you be incorporating them into your mod?

[Wertoz]

Well i don't know how to check the specifications of them they are random speakers that are laying around.I was going to use this tunnel speaker as the main sound for pc mod

[SgtM]

Please read the folling post about animated sigs.
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?p=136077#post136077

[Wertoz]

Please read the folling post about animated sigs.
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?p=136077#post136077
Thanks for letting me know I fixed it

[Luke122]

Car speakers on a PC - Short answer: Yes.

Proper Answer: There are loads of things to consider here. As mentioned already by a.Bird, car speakers arent shielded to prevent the magnets from affecting electrical components around them, and that is a BIG problem with a PC. Speakers must must MUST be shielded. CRT monitors in particular are affected, but the possibility of damage or data loss on a hard drive is very real.

I think we need to clarify when you say speakers, do you actually mean speakers, or subwoofers? Both can be adapted, yes, but will require an amplifier to drive them, and the appropriate wiring/adaptors to connect them to the PC, and the drivers themselves need to be enclosed in boxes.

Subs need loads of power, and a proper crossover, as well as an airtight box (or ported box, bandpass, etc). Proper box design means no port noise or noise from air leaks around the speakers. Also, you want to position the subs so that the rattling of stuff around you doesnt drive you nuts.

Car speakers (not subs, though some subs follow this rule..) are designed to run in an "infinite baffle" setup, which means they dont need an enclosure or box around them to work. Theoretically you could just drill a hole in a piece of acrylic or wood, and mount a speaker in it, and connect it to a source, and it will work. Realistically, it'll probably sound like crap.

So yeah, car speakers will work, but with the availability of quality speaker systems out there, and the low price of many of them, you are probably better off sticking with dedicated speakers, or a home audio system.

[calumc]

Just a quick question while we're on this topic:
Could you run a car amp from a computer PSU?

[Luke122]

I wouldnt. The current draw would be likely be too high, and when the amp draws big power, the PSU might not have enough left to run the computer components. I'd say you risk damage to the PC components.

HOWEVER... if you know the exact draw of the amp, (including peak draw), the output of the power supply, and you were using a second power supply as a dedicated source for the car amp, then you could potentially do it.

Might just be easier to use amplified speakers or get an external 12v regulated supply to run the car amp. Certainly would be safer for the PC components. :D

[rendermandan]

Just a quick question while we're on this topic:
Could you run a car amp from a computer PSU?

I've done that a while back. -I even ran a MTX amplifier and sub off of an old at power supply for a home theater setup. So yes it is possible. But I only used it for the sub. not for a computer at the same time. -a 400 watt amplifier and a 400 watt power supply must be on the same power rail. If there are multiple power rails in the psu, then it will be considerably less. You have to look at the psu specs for this.

[calumc]

Thanks guys, and BTW i wasnt going to try and run a computer off it at the same time!!
+rep to both of you

[Wertoz]

Yea im going to stick with pc speakers

[jdbnsn]

I just stripped the system out of my car and I hope to use it in the future to build a new bass-bomb for my PC. I have two Rockford Fosgate 12" RFP4212 subs (strongest 12's I have heard), a 2400watt Fosgate amp, a Rockford Fosgate OmniFi (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.evilution.co.uk/smartsound/changer/omnifi.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.evilution.co.uk/index.php%3Fpage%3Dmodpage%26id%3D307%26men%3Dice&h=337&w=600&sz=16&hl=en&start=7&um=1&tbnid=CzQCH7J-4XZZIM:&tbnh=76&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drockford%2Bfosgate%2Bdrive%26um%3D1%2 6hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN) system (so cool, 20GB hard drive that you can eject and USB connect to the PC to sync or you can sync using wifi all the way out in the parking lot), and a an AudioControl Epicenter processor. This system sounds like thunder when set up, I used to roll around town making the ground shake to Tool basslines. But my car died, so it had to be pulled. It would make a damn fine home theater/PC box if I could reliably power it, but it's a heavy hitter so I'm not sure.

[Luke122]

You'll need a pretty serious power supply to run that sort of setup. I"m not sure what the draw is on that amp, but for 2400 watts, I'd bet close to 100amps at peak. Since you wont likely be running that thing full blast in your house, a regulated 12v 50amp unit might be enough to make it thump plenty hard in the house.

I have a friend (with too much money) who built a MONSTROUS home theatre. 12 - 12" Phoenix Gold TI series subs running from a Carver 8 channel amp (bridged to 4 channels, each running 3 subs), a Monster (brand name) power conditioner, a Sunfire (I think) EQ feeding the Carver amp a proper bass signal (100hz and down I think.. maybe 80hz..?), and a Marantz receiver doing 7 channels of output to the Nuance Star Grand towers and the Star Cen center channel.

He hasnt got his projector yet, but a 1080p DLP is in the works, and the conduits and wiring are all in place to a mount on the ceiling, and a motorized screen is already installed.

The 12 subs are f*cking insane. No other way to describe it. 2 boxes with 6 each, the are roughly 15' long total, with one on the back wall, and one on the front wall of the room. All the wiring drops down through the floor, and is accessed through the open ceiling in the undeveloped basement.

I'm so jealous. :(

[jdbnsn]

wow indeed, any chance we could get some pics?

[billygoat333]

that is an insane setup. Pics would be awesome i agree!

[Luke122]

I'll talk to him tonight.. his name is Jon actually.. hehe.