Dumb (stupid?) speaker question...

[docsavage]

Seriously, is there really a difference between a speaker you
have in your home stereo speaker cabinet and one you buy to put
in your car?

We have an old speaker cabinet with a 'funny' size hole to
fill... We found a speaker that may fit but it is listed as a
car speaker. The wattage is a little higher than the one that
was in the cabinet (240 vs 100) but the Ohms are the same (8)
and the freq range is close...

Other than being a 'mis-matched' pair, whatcha think?


thanks for your help.

ds

--

[Arny Krueger]

"docsavage" > wrote in message


> Seriously, is there really a difference between a speaker you
> have in your home stereo speaker cabinet and one you buy to put
> in your car?

Not necesssarily.

> We have an old speaker cabinet with a 'funny' size hole to
> fill... We found a speaker that may fit but it is listed as a
> car speaker. The wattage is a little higher than the one that
> was in the cabinet (240 vs 100) but the Ohms are the same (8)
> and the freq range is close...

If you are interested in contemporary standard levels of performance, you're
going to have match a lot more driver properties than just wattage and frame
size. Even low end junk speakers are designed to higher standards than that,
these days.

> Other than being a 'mis-matched' pair, whatcha think?

Find someone who understands modern loudspeaker design, study up on it
yourself, or just give it up and buy a new pair of speakers.

[William Sommerwerck]

Car speakers have to withstand environmental extremes a home speaker might not
have to suffer.

Car speakers sometimes have lower impedances than home speakers, so they can
pull more current from the amplifier.

If you're talking about sound quality, there have been attempts at making really
good car speakers (Infinity's products come to mind), but you should not expect
a car system to match the sound quality of a home system.

To answer your specific question -- If you're trying to fix one speaker of a
pair by putting the "wrong" driver in it (regardless of the driver's source) --
don't! The odds are good that you will not get a good sonic match.

[Scott Dorsey]

docsavage > wrote:
>Seriously, is there really a difference between a speaker you
>have in your home stereo speaker cabinet and one you buy to put
>in your car?

Sort of. Car speakers are first of all designed to be hard to damage, and
secondly are designed to work with weird box volumes (since that is the result
of using the car frame as the box).

>We have an old speaker cabinet with a 'funny' size hole to
>fill... We found a speaker that may fit but it is listed as a
>car speaker. The wattage is a little higher than the one that
>was in the cabinet (240 vs 100) but the Ohms are the same (8)
>and the freq range is close...

What is the funny-sized hole? Is this a full-range driver, or are you
trying to mate it with other drivers?

The frequency response and wattage are basically meaningless marketing
numbers. What you want is to know the Vas and the Ft of the drivers,
which will be stated on the data sheet if you are buying from a reputable
driver manufacturer.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Mike Rivers]

In article > writes:

> Seriously, is there really a difference between a speaker you
> have in your home stereo speaker cabinet and one you buy to put
> in your car?

A speaker for home use usually isn't intended to be exposed to
moisture, and it's usually designed to work with a sealed cabinet
rather than an open-back (or nearly so) space.

> We have an old speaker cabinet with a 'funny' size hole to
> fill... We found a speaker that may fit but it is listed as a
> car speaker. The wattage is a little higher than the one that
> was in the cabinet (240 vs 100) but the Ohms are the same (8)
> and the freq range is close...

It'll make sound. But it will never match any other speaker so you
won't be able to use it effectively as half of a stereo pair.

Just be sure that the speaker you use is a full-range speaker and not
one designed to be used as a subwoofer.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

[TonyP]

"Scott Dorsey" > wrote in message
...
> docsavage > wrote:

>>but the Ohms are the same (8)

Surprising, as there are hardly any 8 ohm speakers designed for car use.

> >and the freq range is close...

> What you want is to know the Vas and the Ft of the drivers,

I think you probably mean Fs, but I doubt he knows what to do with them
anyway.

If the cost low enough, buy it and use it. Don't expect too much, and you
may be happy. It might even be an improvement if the original speakers are
low cost and badly designed. Many are.

If the cost is not low, then you are better off getting two new speakers.

TonyP.

[docsavage]

Thanks everyone for your replies, we appreciate it.

We should have specified a little better than we did in regards
to the details, sorry...

A pair of Mid-range 3 1/2"... 150-8000 - 8 ohm - 240 watts, is
the speakers we are wanting to buy to replace a pair of
'no-name' cheap speakers. ( 8 ohm - 100 watt rating - full range
we would guess)
Intend to stick a passive crossover into the cabinet.
(has an 8" (guessing full range) speaker in it and a little
tweeter (1 1/2")

Trying to make 'something' out of nothing... ;-) Without
spending the whole paycheck on it.


thanks again.

ds

--

> Seriously, is there really a difference between a speaker you
> have in your home stereo speaker cabinet and one you buy to
> put in your car?
>
> We have an old speaker cabinet with a 'funny' size hole to
> fill... We found a speaker that may fit but it is listed as a
> car speaker. The wattage is a little higher than the one that
> was in the cabinet (240 vs 100) but the Ohms are the same (8)
> and the freq range is close...
>
> Other than being a 'mis-matched' pair, whatcha think?
>
>
> thanks for your help.
>
> ds

[George]

In article >,
"docsavage" > wrote:

> Thanks everyone for your replies, we appreciate it.
>
> We should have specified a little better than we did in regards
> to the details, sorry...
>
> A pair of Mid-range 3 1/2"... 150-8000 - 8 ohm - 240 watts, is
> the speakers we are wanting to buy to replace a pair of
> 'no-name' cheap speakers. ( 8 ohm - 100 watt rating - full range
> we would guess)
> Intend to stick a passive crossover into the cabinet.
> (has an 8" (guessing full range) speaker in it and a little
> tweeter (1 1/2")
>
> Trying to make 'something' out of nothing... ;-) Without
> spending the whole paycheck on it.
>
>
> thanks again.
>
> ds

just get a small pair of Koss or some such small bookshelf speakers, 5
inch woofer and 3/4 inch dome driver, about 25$ a pair at costco or
walmart
stick the entire sealed assembly in your cabinet, it will sound better
than it did oem
George

[U-CDK_CHARLES\\Charles]

On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 11:45:48 GMT, docsavage > wrote:
> Thanks everyone for your replies, we appreciate it.
>
> We should have specified a little better than we did in regards
> to the details, sorry...
>

You might want to download WinISD (DAGS).

While you may not actually WANT to build your own boxes, the help files
contain MUCH info about what how such things are decided, including a
largely math free discussion of the Theile-Small parameters.

Or you can DAGS on Theile-Small and brush up your differential
equations.

[Scott Dorsey]

docsavage > wrote:
>
>A pair of Mid-range 3 1/2"... 150-8000 - 8 ohm - 240 watts, is
>the speakers we are wanting to buy to replace a pair of
>'no-name' cheap speakers. ( 8 ohm - 100 watt rating - full range
>we would guess)
>Intend to stick a passive crossover into the cabinet.
>(has an 8" (guessing full range) speaker in it and a little
>tweeter (1 1/2")

Wait. Are they full range, or is there a crossover?

You might want to look at the Quam-Nichols drivers. They make some
speakers in that size designed for a variety of different sized small
cabinets.

But you're going to need to know a lot more than just a fake "wattage"
rating that is ludicrously oversized, and a "frequency range" with no
tolerances. BUT, most of what you need to know you can figure out from
the box volume and the frequency where you're going to cross it over.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."