# Using home speakers in a car



## cd36c (Jul 20, 2010)

So I see lots of people recommending home speakers to be used in a car environment. When looking at using home speakers, is there anything in particular one should pay attention to to make sure it is suitable for car uses? The few concerns I have are:

1. The generally poor environment the car is, as far as dust, dirt, vibrations, and sudden impacts are. I imagine this isn't to big of a concern on a speaker though, moreso on electronic components.

2. Extreme temperatures. While a house environment can be considered fairly consistent, my car could see almost -40C in the winter, and almost +40C in the summer, which is a huge variation compared to what a house speaker is used to seeing. Will this cause any issues with say brittle suspension under cold temperatures?

3. Moisture. As much as we try to avoid getting water on anything, I'm looking at mounting an 8" midbass in my doors, and I find alot of recommended midbasses are actually geared towards home installs. If it is raining there is a good chance the driver could see some water when I open my doors, is this any concern?

4. UV, not much of an issue, usually speakers are covered or shaded, plus I have tint on my windows. Figured I'd throw it out there, but I'm not overly concerned with it.

So given my conditions am I best to steer clear of home audio speakers, or should I still have no issue using them?


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## Angrywhopper (Jan 20, 2010)

What are the reasons people prefer home speakers in their cars over car speakers?


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## Mike_Dee (Mar 26, 2011)

The only thing that doesn't make home speakers attractive to the auto environment, is they're usually rated at 8 ohms. This doesn't allow them to take advantage of most car amplifier's design parameters.


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## cd36c (Jul 20, 2010)

Ah yes, I forgot about that as well. The 8ohm rating usually hurts as well. Some are 4ohms, but finding a 2ohm home speaker is almost impossible.

There are probably various reasons why someone would prefer a certain home audio speaker over a car audio speaker, be it price, performance, availability. One brand that is often used is Dayton, which I belive is home audio only, from what my searching has turned up.


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## gnesterenko (Mar 17, 2011)

I could be waaay off on this, so correct me if I'm wrong, but!

There is one big difference you didn't mention. Enclosure application. Home speakers are, in general, designed for sealed or occasionally ported enclosures. Mobile speakers are generally designed for infinite baffle applications. This information is in the various factors that are quoted for any quality woofer, although I gave never learned to read those properly...

Posting from work, so need this disclaimer:
"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."


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## ZAKOH (Nov 26, 2010)

cd36c said:


> So I see lots of people recommending home speakers to be used in a car environment. When looking at using home speakers, is there anything in particular one should pay attention to to make sure it is suitable for car uses? The few concerns I have are:


I think the biggest problem here is the availability of crossovers. This is why people who have active capable equipment do shop around on home speaker web sites like Parts Express. For the rest of us, we're just limited to shop for component speakers that were designed with a crossover suited for the bundled speakers.


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## cd36c (Jul 20, 2010)

I think I worded the question wrong. Assuming that the parameters for the speaker work for your application, and you have all the necessary equipment to back it up, are there construction issues with using home issues in a car environment. I'm not concerned about whether the actual speaker is suitable for the application, all I want to know is if there is a difference in construction between a home speaker and a car speaker that would cause the home speaker to fail prematurely in a car environment because of things like water, cold or hot temperatures, etc. Is this something to be concerned about, or is that not really a concern?


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

If you buy a paper-coned woofer you might want to VERY LIGHTLY Scotchguard it. Same for the surrounds, if they are foam. If they are some type of rubber you shouldn't have a problem anyway. Temperature handling shouldn't be different between home and car audio. 

If you want, make a shield to put over the backs of your speaker so that water cannot drip DIRECTLY down into the basket. 

OEMs have been using paper cones and foam surrounds for ages. I would wager that your taste in speakers will change before your speakers rot out.


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## winegamd (Mar 3, 2010)

Do a search for the a thread called "the truth about 8ohm speakers". There is absolutely nothing wrong with using home audio speakers. In fact most car speakers are nothing but 4ohm versions of the home audio stuff. To get you started check out Parts Express and Madisound. They have plenty of options and user reviews for most popular drivers. Other than that check out the user tests section on here.


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## gnesterenko (Mar 17, 2011)

94VG30DE said:


> If you want, make a shield to put over the backs of your speaker so that water cannot drip DIRECTLY down into the basket.


I would say that this part is a must regardless of what kind of speakers you use. Water + electronics makes me cringe, even if the electronics were made for 'marine' applications.

Posting from work, so need this disclaimer:
"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

winegamd said:


> Do a search for the a thread called "the truth about 8ohm speakers". There is absolutely nothing wrong with using home audio speakers. In fact most car speakers are nothing but 4ohm versions of the home audio stuff. To get you started check out Parts Express and Madisound. They have plenty of options and user reviews for most popular drivers. Other than that check out the user tests section on here.


what he said^ http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...al-8-ohm-drivers.html?highlight=8ohm+speakers 

Also came up in a search: 
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...me-audio-car.html?highlight=home+speakers+car 
Man that title sounds familiar.


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## wannabesq (Apr 13, 2011)

It's already been said, but the differences are usually moisture resistance, heat resistance, size of enclosure required, and impedance. Most of the time you can adapt drivers to work however you want to. Many custom car audio system use enclosures for mids and highs, so that already will help a driver designed for home audio both for enclosure size and durability (moisture from doors, etc) 

I've been using an Adire Tempest in my trunk for years, and it was originally meant for home audio.


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## mSaLL150 (Aug 14, 2008)

Angrywhopper said:


> What are the reasons people prefer home speakers in their cars over car speakers?


Performance for the price. You don't have the silly car-audio price mark up.


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## ssc_wilson (Jun 12, 2011)

I am using eminence for all of my midrange 4 8" 8ohm eminence, 2 10" eminence. 8ohms speakers give u the capability of running more speakers. 2 8ohms parallel = 4ohms compare to 2 4ohms speaker = 2ohms


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## Viggen (May 2, 2011)

I always thought less speakers were better...... yea one losses cone area with fewer speakers but less chance of having the speakers work against each other or doing other stuff.


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## ssc_wilson (Jun 12, 2011)

Not when u ve each pair of speakers playing at different frequencies, high mid, mid bass


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## boogeyman (Jul 1, 2008)

mSaLL150 said:


> Performance for the price. You don't have the silly car-audio price mark up.


Exactly my reason for choosing home audio speakers.


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## s4turn (Jun 17, 2009)

yes home speakers are great in terms of value for money, the scotch guard idea sounds quite good though, anyone have more info on that?


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## XtremeRevolution (Dec 3, 2010)

wannabesq said:


> It's already been said, but the differences are usually moisture resistance, heat resistance, size of enclosure required, and impedance. Most of the time you can adapt drivers to work however you want to. Many custom car audio system use enclosures for mids and highs, so that already will help a driver designed for home audio both for enclosure size and durability (moisture from doors, etc)
> 
> I've been using an Adire Tempest in my trunk for years, and it was originally meant for home audio.


What he said.

Don't forget, power handling, and suspension. It was noted early in this thread and its pretty very big deal. I know of a great deal of home drivers that would bottom out way too easily if not installed in an enclosure.


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