Bass guitar speakers as subwoofers

[dmc14 10+ year member]

Hello I was looking through parts express one day and noticed that guitar speakers are very efficient and cheap. I then noticed that the bass speakers are as well. Now my main question is, as stupid is it may be, would these speakers make good sub woofers in cars? A speaker like this Eminence Legend CB158 15" Bass Guitar Speaker 290-497 has a 98db sensitivity for $130. Now I understand its only capable of 300 watts but id think at that sensitivity itd be plenty for a dual speaker setup for a daily driver. One thing i was worried about was the frequency range, it says 47-3000(id put a lowpass on it), how would it perform at 30hz and lower?

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[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

I don't think it would work well under 40-50hz

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

Sensitivity is not the only thing to consider in a setup.

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

It will play the lower fequencies, just not with any sort of authority. If you put it in a huge box though, it will play the lows just fine. But with only 300 watts to play with, you won't do anything amazing with it.

If I were you id just buy something used thats decent.. $260 Will get ya something worthwhile in the classifieds.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

the think with pro audio drivers is the specs - many are optimized for horn loading or vented performance without much concern for sub 40Hz performance. granted, with cabin gain you may be fine - but those bass frequencies are designed as a full range woofer for musical instruments - not a true subwoofer for low bass applications.

Pick up a Dayton HO sub.

 

[dmc14 10+ year member]

Ok so something like the 15" dayton pro woofer would be good? and I also noticed the 18", but wouldnt that be overkill? I could probably put two 15s in the same amount of box space as 1 18".

 

[Moble Enclosurs 10+ year member]

Sensitivity is not the only thing to consider in a setup.

Very true. Sensitivity and efficiency are two different things also. Just because a driver has higher sensitivity, does not mean it will be more efficient.....at certain frequencies.

But tell you the truth, if you have the room.....it is possible that these can work. But personally, I would not spend the time and money on it unless they were smaller drivers, such as 10s. Using bass guitar speakers as subs in that size can be quite fun. For 15s, you may need quite a bit of room to get an output that low worth having for the size that is needed.

But, yes, it can work.

 

[dmc14 10+ year member]

Sensitivity is not the only thing to consider in a setup.

Yea i know, but since im new to the scene I dont really know all the ins and outs yet so thats one thing I look at. Ill learn it though.