Convert Car Audio to Home Theater (1 Viewer)

[Robert.CB]

Hello All,

I have a clarion control deck, clarion cd changer, sony xplod 444 watt 4 channel amp, 10" 4 ohm MTX Pro 500 watt max sub in an ported enclosure w/ a 4" port, and 2 5" 4 ohm MTX Pro speakers. I have some other home speakers that I may use to complete the system.

I would like to convert these to use in my home for use in home theater. I am planning on building a new enclosure for the sub and building enclosures for the other 2 speakers to fit in with my home decor.

I have already bought a 10 amp power supply to power the cd changer, amp and control deck (works good).

I have also already bought 3/4" birchwood to do the enclosures. I had read one sight that suggested this but since then the more I have read has suggested 3/4" MFB.

My questions are:


Would I need to purchase a receiver to feed the audio to the car amp or should I just feed it directly from the source?

When building the sub enclosure, could I use the MFB to build the sub, then use the birchwood for an overlay to give a better look? If so, what widths should i use of both or would 3/4" be fine?

If I build the new ecnlosure to match the cubic feet (w/ different dimensions) of the original one and the port too, should I receive the same performance from the sub that the original box gave?

Is birchwood alone fine to use for the other two speakers?

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Personally, I'd do the following:

1) Sell the car audio gear.

2) Set up a budget and priortize what you need to get first as "must haves."

3) Buy the receiver, DVD player and two good front speakers.

4) As funds permit, add a subwoofer, center channel speaker and two surround speakers.

Going through the process like you are proposing sounds like a lot of work - and one doesn't truly know how it will sound in the end. Car audio gear was meant to work best in autos.

 

[VinhT]

Mr. Ernst is correct. Furthermore, without the Thiele-Small parameters of your speakers, you will be unable to make an educated guess as to the proper enclosure size for your speakers.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

I have also already bought 3/4" birchwood to do the enclosures. I had read one sight that suggested this but since then the more I have read has suggested 3/4" MFB.

Regarding your reference to MFB, I think you are referring to MDF - which is medium density fiberboard. MDF is great for making speaker and subwoofer enclosures. A 4' x 8' sheet of 3/4" MDF usually sells for about $19.00 at Home Depot. Just be sure to have a friend along to assist - because it is much heavier than regular plywood. Also, MDF can be covered with aa thin layer of veneer, painted or even "finished" with some of the spray paints that can add a little texture to the cabinets.

But, again, if you are going to do that much work, ensure that you are using drivers meant for home use. Building your own cabinets usually can result in some nice looking enclosures which will perform quite well and not be too hard on your wallet.

 

[Robert.CB]

Thank you all for your responses. I think I have decided to use the equipment as it is (or sell it) and not try to build new enclosures. I will probably focus on buying new stuff made for the home. Sorry for the misspelling of MDF, I was going on my memory which sometimes doesn't work that well.

Thanks again.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Just curious – why is it that you never see people wanting to use their old home theater equipment in their cars?

 

[Brian Bunge]

Wayne,

I do remember a Chevy Blazer with a Denon receiver mounted in the dash at a car audio show about 7-8 years ago!

 

[RichardHOS]

eh... yeah, unfortunately I can remember quite a few cars around town when I was young that had home audio tower speakers just laid in the back (seat, hatchback, trunk... whatever) and hooked up to, well... something - usually one of those cheapy "EQ-boosters". You know... the typicaly pioneer three way with 15" woofer, 3" mid and horn tweeter.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

I know, but everytime I see one of these questions pop up I feel like going over to the Car Audio Forum and dropping something like this:

Hey everybody, I have some old home theater gear lying around and I would like to put it to good use in my Civic.

Can anyone give me any pointers on mounting my 8” two-way B&W speakers in my doors? I’d really like to keep the boxes intact so I don’t loose any sound quality.

Also, what about the receiver? I’d like to mount it in the dash. It’s an old Denon 5600 and it’s kinda big. It has lots of digital processing and video circuits that I don’t need, so I know I could save a lot of space if I could get that stuff out of there. So, any ideas on how I can reduce the size of this thing? I’m pretty handy with a saber saw and I’m not afraid to use it, so recommend away!

I know I’ll need a power inverter, but does anyone know where I can get a sequential one? I’ll need it for the Classe amp I’m dropping in the trunk for my SVS sub.

Speaking of, I’m using my old PS2, but man is that sucker huge! I’m thinking about taking the saber saw to it, too. Do you think it will work as well if I cut it down to half the size it is now?

Any tips greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Rogozhin]

Cabin gain is factored into CA sub paras and hence-color the output when placed in a hometheatre setup, BUT I'm running a Kicker solobaric 10" in a 1.5cubicfoot sealed enclore powered by a NAD 912 (bridged)-and it sounds quite nice

rogo

 

[Dave Milne]

Wayne, you kill me...