Home audio speakers vs Car audio Spkrs

[koss2010 10+ year member]

Title says it all, im kinda interested in knowing the difference between car audio speakers as opposed to home audio. Ive noticed home audio speakers being generally cheaper, ?? is there really a difference i should be concerned about, or can i just buy some home audio speakers from partsexpress and use em in my car w/o a problem ?

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[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Title says it all, im kinda interested in knowing the difference between car audio speakers as opposed to home audio. Ive noticed home audio speakers being generally cheaper, ??

Generally car audio speakers are designed to work best infinite baffle.

Home audio speakers are generally designed to work well in enclosures, though most of them still perform well in an IB automotive enviornment.

The other difference is ability to withstand the "elements". Speakers in a car are subjected to a MUCH wider temperature/humidity/moisture range than speakers in a home are. As such, some home audio speakers don't handle the car enviornment well. But, as with enclosure situation, the vast majority of home audio speakers do handle the car enviornment very well.

In all reality, a lot of the speakers sold in the car audio market are slightly modified (or no modification) "home audio" drivers from various OEM manufacturers (shift in parameters to better suit IB enviornments, maybe different cone coatings/etc to better handle the enviornmental changes, etc). Most major car audio manufacturers have atleast some of their drivers OEM'd out, and as such end up having a "home audio" sibling and/or twin.

is there really a difference i should be concerned about,

Not really, minus some specific exceptions I can think of.

For example, some people have had problems with Scanspeak Revelators standing up well to the enviornment. So it's something to consider if you really want a $200+ driver failing on you due to it's potential inability to withstand the enviornment.

But overall, most drivers are fine. Ofcourse you need to consider how well the individual driver you are looking at will handle your installation....i.e. will it perform well IB if you're dropping it into a door location? Does it's frequency range allow it to mate well with the tweeter? Etc etc.

or can i just buy some home audio speakers from partsexpress and use em in my car w/o a problem ?

There are a TON of people using drivers from places like PE and madisound in their vehicles and having great results. Albeit most of them are running active. If you plan on using a generic (or otherwise passive) crossover with them, you will have to be sure that the slope/frequency/etc will work well with the specific drivers you are interested in. In general, if you are going passive, aside from custom designing a passive xover, you are better off sticking with prebuilt comp sets. If you are going active.....absolutely those drivers would work for you. Heck, some of them are the drivers used in car audio component sets.

 

[Thieroff 10+ year member]

Heck, some of them are the drivers used in car audio component sets.

Any examples of these? Just for reference.

I am aware that the Revelators are in the alpine F1's, and I believe the Type X's are modded XTs.

But what else is out there?

CT

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Any examples of these? Just for reference.

I am aware that the Revelators are in the alpine F1's, and I believe the Type X's are modded XTs.

But what else is out there?

CT

Most of CDT's offerings are Vifa.

Some of Alpine's other tweeters were Scanspeak aswell.

There's more, but I'm having a brain fart.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Oh yeah, and the older Diamond Hex were built by Eton.

The PG Elite mids were Morel.

Genesis' subs and speakers are for the majority OEM'd by "home audio" brands such as Scanspeak and Peerless. And their new mid they are coming out with is OEM'd by Theil (though supposedly it's specs are going to be very different from the Theil's).

 

[Thieroff 10+ year member]

Most of CDT's offerings are Vifa.
Some of Alpine's other tweeters were Scanspeak aswell.

There's more, but I'm having a brain fart.

Indeed

I wonder what Vifas the HD's are equal to

Scanspeak, Vifa and Peerless are all Tymphany, correct?

CT

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Scanspeak, Vifa and Peerless are all Tymphany, correct?

Yup

 

[koss2010 10+ year member]

Thanks for the response think im gonna go with car audio components, but for rear fill i was thinking about getting something that would cover the low mid bass sort of speak. I love hearing the thumps coming from the back, but i dont wonna spend to much money on subs, might as well get some home audio made subs from PE

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

There is also a difference in the fact that a lot of HT speakers have a nominal impedance of 6 and 8 ohms, where as most car audio speakers are 4 and 2 ohms.

 

[Curel 10+ year member]

I love your answer squeack.

 

[Hebrew Hammer 10+ year member]

I typically prefer home audio drivers vs car audio...with the exception of a few....and impediance is really not a big factor any more...you'll notice allot more home drivers being offered in 4ohm....due to the home amps being able to be driven inot lower impedance etc

 

[pikers 10+ year member]

Revel, highly regarded home speaker - drivers built by Infiniti //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif