Whats the difference between a car sub and a home theater sub?? (1 Viewer)

[Jim-Luc]

Ok I putt a 1200 watt 15” 8 ohm car subwoofer speaker in my ported subwoofer box for my home theater, now what im wondering is, what is the difference between a car speaker and a home theater speaker ? all the specs seem to be the exact same and it sounds fine.

 

[JimIroc]

Typically, car subs have a higher resonant frequency, and tend to have a -3dB point at a higher frequency than most home people are used to. This is intentional, because in a car the cabin gain will allow a sealed sub with a -3dB point of 60hz to play flat right down to 30 or lower. If you put that sub into a home environment, low bass can seem weak.
But... something as big as that 15" sub is likely to have a pretty low Fs anyway, so I wouldn't expect any problems using it in a home environment.

The only other differences are that typically you pay a lot more money for a decent quality car audio sub. Marketing, logos, bright colors and esoteric materials all add up to more expensive speakers.

 

[Jim-Luc]

thank you for the answer. Can anyone tell me does SVS sell just 15" speakers?

 

[John F. Palacio]

Don't think so. I don't beleive they have any 15" woofers just 12".

 

[terence]

First SVS does not sell their drivers, only to exsiting customers. SVS only makes 12" drivers. I think there is a thread a long time ago about why SVS don't make 15" drivers.

 

[Dan Halchak]

When you get a PB2+ or PB2-Ultra, you'll find out there's no NEED for a 15".

I'm guessing that the car speaker will not have as flat of a response as a home speaker when put into the home. Same as was said above...

That and the fact that those speakers aren't geared for the < 30Hz as much as the home theater speakers are. I haven't seen too many car audio subs that push the SPLs that say, an SVS does when it gets down to < 20Hz stuff.

 

[Jim-Luc]

OK any ideas about what 15" driver to get for a ported box? i have all klipsch speakers in my home theater my mains are Klipsch KLF 30's and a Klipsch C-7 center channel .

 

[JimIroc]

If you're going to build the ported box based on that driver's t/s specs, you'll have any number of choices.

Getting a sub to work with a pre-built ported box is a crap shoot at best.

 

[VinhT]

Jim, I am a bit concerned here. It sounds as if you are trying to find a driver for your ported enclosure, of which you have not revealed any specifics. It is usually the other way around. You start with a driver first, then create the enclosure accordingly. If you are using an arbitrary car audio ported enclosure, the tuning will be extremely high and will result in extreme inaccuracy.

 

[Chris Hood]

While I concur with the above stated sonic differences... it seems prudent to mention that the mobile drivers have to be built to withstand the drastic temperature swings and varying humidity/dryness levels that come with being inside a vehicle.

These requirements have to be met, even at the expense of performance, because sonic quality won't last if the cone loses rigidity or the surround begins to desintegrate after only a period of weeks!

Also, it has been a long while since I have paid any attention to the mobile SW market, but sub 30 Hz performance was never a problem for high end 12's in sealed or ported enclosures in years past... of course that's not saying anything about their overall fidelity!

 

[Jim-Luc]

· Continuous Peak Power: 500W
Peak Power: 1200W
Sensitivity (1W/1m): 91 dB
Impedance: 2/4/8 ohms
Fs: 30 Hz
Qts: 0.526
Vas: 1.98 cu. ft.
Qes: 0.614
Qms: 7.698
Mounting Depth: 6-5/16''

· 15'' subwoofer
· High-temperature 4-layer voice coil
· Dual 4 ohm voice coils
· 2 ohm; 4 ohm and 8 ohm operation
· Heavy-duty industrial magnet structure
· Cast aluminum basket
· Bumped and vented T-yoke
· Double damper
· Push-type terminal posts





Ok those are the speaker specs, it is a 15” Volfenhag subwoofer I had lying around.
As for the box itself it is a Klipsch KP-115-SW-8G . It is 24.5” tall ,19.5” deep,
19” wide. it has four 15" ports in each corner and the area inside is about 5.11 cubic feet or 144.87 liters. Let me know what kind of driver you guys think I should get for it, or any other words of advice.

 

[JimIroc]

Oh god, not a Volfenhag. :frowning:

I wouldn't trust their t/s parameters one bit. I also wouldn't put anywhere near 500 watts into it.

Volfenhag is ultra-cheap chinese made crap. It's made by American Hifi, the same company that brings you quality products like Kenford and Rockwood.

 

[Jim-Luc]

hehe thats why i need a real speaker in this box but i dont want to spend alot

 

[Alex_P]

Jim,

Check out the Tempest driver from Adire. It's a 15" driver and it can really pound you... They do have plan/cabinet design for it too... Check it out...

Alex,

 

[JimIroc]

Anything from Adire will probably give you excellent results, provided something they offer will work in the enclosure that you've got.

I'd also look at the Dayton stuff from Parts Express. PE offers a few different lines, and one of them may be a good match for your enclosure.

 

[john michiels]

I put an Infinity 120.3SE 12" car sub in a home made 3/4" MDF SEALED 1 cubic foot enclosure (per Infinity's specs) and found it to be quite impressive when hooked up to a 250w (272w into 4ohms)amp from parts express. The f response of the speaker is pretty flat down to 18hz but that was rated in a car environment, so I bought the amp that had 6db boost in the 20-24hz range. The bass is pretty deep yet tight and great musically. Some HT enthusiasts might not think it has adequate punch for the extreme LFE of todays movies but the explosion of the spaceship that Queen Amadeus came out of scared the crap out of me. I felt the concussion in my chest!
Find a decent speaker and build the proper enclosure based on the speaker mfr specs not the other way around.