Do you think there is a way to re-do a car stereo along with the speakers to where it sounds good in your house? Or is there not enough power in a car unit?
Wayne Parham Messages: 19078 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
A good car stereo is pretty much the same in quality as a good integrated receiver.
The part that is different is the speakers. A car stereo speaker is generally designed either to be used in a trunk - in which case it needs a really large box - or it is designed to be used in a door - in which case it needs a really small box.
On top of that, the environment of a car makes the sound field be dominated by reflections, so phase relationships are all over the place. As a result, a car speaker doesn't really need attention to things like the position of the forward lobe, because that is almost meaningless in a car stereo installation.
Long story short - I would probably not use car speakers in a house.
gofar99 Messages: 2038 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, Many car units are quite powerful. It is worth a try. An AC to DC "brick" putting out 12 vdc at say 5 or more amps ought to be suitable. They are cheap. Then just get some speakers to use on it. I have seen a number of rather decent speakers on the Parts Express web site. Some of their own Dayton brand would likely be fine. I don't know how they can make some of the 2 way book shelf ones for as inexpensively as they do. Naturally you can diy your own (probably cost more) or buy higher quality ones.
I had an old friend from high school who did this in his garage. His car got totaled and he really loved his stereo, so he kept it and repurposed it for his garage. Sounded really good from what I can remember.
This sounds pretty cool, actually. I could see my kids doing this in our garage. It would be a neat project for them to try. I have no idea how it would sound.
Wayne Parham Messages: 19078 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
That's definitely true for the speakers. Most are designed to be placed in one of two places - the trunk or the door. Each has a very different alignment to achieve that.
Those that are designed to be placed in the rear deck have an alignment that makes them suitable for infinite baffle. They need the large trunk space behind them to sound good. They'll have full, rich bass when mounted in a large box, having a large rear chamber. But they'll sound terrible when placed anywhere else. Most 6" x 9" car speakers are made this way.
Speakers designed to be placed in a door panel have an alignment that makes them suitable for placement in a small enclosure. They cannot produce as much deep bass, but they sound best when mounted in a place with a smaller rear chamber.
While I was staying in Atlanta, I was very good when it came to turning car radios to that. I always got old steroes from my cars or the ones parked in the junkyard.
All I gotta do first was handle the power demands because car stereos run on 12 volts DC. So, I used an old computer power supply from a thrift store in Decatur for it, which always worked.
I got speakers on Craigslist in Atlanta with boxes made from boards that I purchased from the Home Depot on Buford Highway. Doing all of that didn't cost much, and even when the sound wasn't that loud, I would say it was better than what I had with those little Bluetooth speakers.
That was one of the projects that I truly enjoyed doing while I was in Atlanta.
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