I know this has got to be really elementary but I don't know the answer. Is
there any difference between a speaker for an auto and a speaker for a home
stereo system? I know home stereo speakers have more than one in them.
Could I take a small car speaker and hook it up to my home stereo system
with speaker wire? I realize that there would be differences but would the
speaker actually work and sound so/so. The reason I am unsure is that the
speaker for an auto system runs off of a car battery where I don't know for
sure about the power of the home stereo system.

-thanks

The primary difference you should be concerned with is impedance.
There are exceptions, but generally car speakers are 4 ohm, and home
speakers are 8 ohm..
There are some home recievers that are capable of driving a 4ohm load, but
it's not the norm, and driving too low of an impedance, in the end generally
results in a nice cloud of smoke leaving your reciever (lower resistance
causes your reciever to deliver more power than it was designed to).
Apart from that, differences in the intended enclosure design and on axis
response will tend to make the car speaker sound a little different, but not
necessarily bad. The car battery plays no role here, all amplifiers produce
AC current..


"buck" wrote in message
ervers.com...
I know this has got to be really elementary but I don't know the answer.
Is
there any difference between a speaker for an auto and a speaker for a
home
stereo system? I know home stereo speakers have more than one in them.
Could I take a small car speaker and hook it up to my home stereo system
with speaker wire? I realize that there would be differences but would
the
speaker actually work and sound so/so. The reason I am unsure is that the
speaker for an auto system runs off of a car battery where I don't know
for
sure about the power of the home stereo system.

-thanks

Dark1........... that's what I was looking for..... Thanks for taking time
to help!



"Dark1" wrote in message
...
The primary difference you should be concerned with is impedance.
There are exceptions, but generally car speakers are 4 ohm, and home
speakers are 8 ohm..
There are some home recievers that are capable of driving a 4ohm load, but
it's not the norm, and driving too low of an impedance, in the end
generally
results in a nice cloud of smoke leaving your reciever (lower resistance
causes your reciever to deliver more power than it was designed to).
Apart from that, differences in the intended enclosure design and on axis
response will tend to make the car speaker sound a little different, but
not
necessarily bad. The car battery plays no role here, all amplifiers
produce
AC current..


"buck" wrote in message
ervers.com...
I know this has got to be really elementary but I don't know the answer.
Is
there any difference between a speaker for an auto and a speaker for a
home
stereo system? I know home stereo speakers have more than one in them.
Could I take a small car speaker and hook it up to my home stereo system
with speaker wire? I realize that there would be differences but would
the
speaker actually work and sound so/so. The reason I am unsure is that
the
speaker for an auto system runs off of a car battery where I don't know
for
sure about the power of the home stereo system.

-thanks

Keep in mind, impedance difference isn't an end all "you can't do it".. if
you get specific and let us know exactly what car speakers you want to hook
up to exactly what reciever, it just may be perfectly compatible, or
solutions such as series wiring, resistors, or loss pads can overcome the
problem..


"buck" wrote in message
ervers.com...
Dark1........... that's what I was looking for..... Thanks for taking time
to help!



"Dark1" wrote in message
...
The primary difference you should be concerned with is impedance.
There are exceptions, but generally car speakers are 4 ohm, and home
speakers are 8 ohm..
There are some home recievers that are capable of driving a 4ohm load,
but
it's not the norm, and driving too low of an impedance, in the end
generally
results in a nice cloud of smoke leaving your reciever (lower resistance
causes your reciever to deliver more power than it was designed to).
Apart from that, differences in the intended enclosure design and on
axis
response will tend to make the car speaker sound a little different, but
not
necessarily bad. The car battery plays no role here, all amplifiers
produce
AC current..


"buck" wrote in message
ervers.com...
I know this has got to be really elementary but I don't know the answer.
Is
there any difference between a speaker for an auto and a speaker for a
home
stereo system? I know home stereo speakers have more than one in them.
Could I take a small car speaker and hook it up to my home stereo
system
with speaker wire? I realize that there would be differences but would
the
speaker actually work and sound so/so. The reason I am unsure is that
the
speaker for an auto system runs off of a car battery where I don't know
for
sure about the power of the home stereo system.

-thanks

"buck" wrote in message
ervers.com...
I know this has got to be really elementary but I don't know the answer. Is
there any difference between a speaker for an auto and a speaker for a home
stereo system? I know home stereo speakers have more than one in them.
Could I take a small car speaker and hook it up to my home stereo system
with speaker wire? I realize that there would be differences but would the
speaker actually work and sound so/so. The reason I am unsure is that the
speaker for an auto system runs off of a car battery where I don't know for
sure about the power of the home stereo system.

Actually, your home speakers do not run off your electrical outlets, and your
car speakers don't run off the car battery. Your home speakers run off your
home amplifier/receiver, and your car speakers run off your car
amplifier/receiver. So the signal they receive is essentially the same. You
can run your home speakers in your car, and your car speakers in your home.
They won't be exactly the same - car speakers are usually 4 ohms, which means
they need a little more current. Home speakers are usually more like 8 ohms,
which means they need a little less current. But home speakers sometimes go
down below 4 ohms too.