Car audio speakers for bass?

[Tim Schnautz]

I know the cost is ridiculously high (( and this is a cheaper one!)). but I was wondering if anyone made a bass speaker enclosure using these or similar drivers?
If so, what was the outcome?
https://www.amazon.com/Sundown-Audi...6&psc=1&mcid=3cc21e3d8b4237cbbbac14131697fa05

 

[abarson]

No reason to.
Subwoofer speakers, automotive or otherwise, aren't designed to cover the frequencies created by a bass guitar. They are usually devoid of any mids (where the bass guitar lives) and certainly no highs.
Sundown doesn't even publish the spectrum that this subwoofer covers, so it can be assumed that it doesn't do more than "whump, whump, whump".

 

[Wasnex]

The sensitivity if listed as 86.4dB 1W/1m.

The power rating is 2500W RMS...perhaps optimistic.

The voice coil is described as dual 2 ohm. I believe this means 1 ohm in parallel.

One driver weighs 103lbs.

Even if the power rating is legit: Calculated SPL = [Log(2500) x 10] + 86.4 = 120.4dB. Most likely real world output will be a bit lower due to power compression.

My personal target is a rig that is rated for 124dB minimum. My last touring rig used an Eden D210XLT pushed by about 260W. Calculated SPL for this rig was 127dB.

In regards to actually trying car gear for bass: I have a small Kicker 10" sub in my regular-cab truck pushed by a 420W amp. Of course this is a way more modest setup than you are researching.

Before installing the Kicker sub, I hooked it up to my home stereo in my living room. The amount of output delivered in a larger room was pathetic. For the type of my music I listen to, it plays plenty loud in my truck.

I believe the driver in my Kicker subs is rated 400W RMS but will only handle about 300W in the cab. Sensitivity for the cab is listed as 95.5dB, which I think is extremely optimistic. Some of the driver manuals list 85.5dB 1W/1m which I think is probably more realistic. Calculated SPL would range from 110.3dB to 120.3dB.

Frequency response should be similar to the compact curve:

Why does it work in my truck? In a small space, you get something called cabin gain. Here is a page that explains: Car Audio Cabin Gain Transfer Function (caraudiohelp.com)

 

[agedhorse]

Average sensitivity is what we deal with (usually), peak response sensitivity is more often what car audio uses. The difference, as in the case of the above driver, is about 10dB and much more if extended to full range.

 

[5StringBlues]

hell to the naw naw - bishop bullwinkle - YouTube

 

[mmbongo]

Can't think of a worse speaker to use for bass guitar.

 

[bottomzone]

No. I wouldn't even consider using speakers designed for car audio applications for bass amplification.

 

[JimChjones]

It seems to me that the 'high' end car audio speakers are designed to soak up huge numbers of watts and delivery little volume from it. That's exactly what is required for this rather specialist application, the headline figure in Watts being very important to the end users. Goodness only knows what would happen if the sorts of power they use were delivered into a car cabin through efficient drivers, but I doubt it would sustain life!
Sadly, though, it does mean that specialist car audio kit is of very little use for anything other than the task it's designed for, and not of any great interest to us. Why bother to have a 1,000W rig to deliver the same volume as a 100W one?

(OK that may be an exaggeration, but perhaps not as big a one as you might think?)

 

[r_bnks]

 

[Jack]

It looks like pretty much any 1x12" bass cab would outperform it in every way except maybe physical size?

 

[Kokoskaka]

It is most likely a better idea to buy a used cab designed specifically for bass guitar.

This speaker is not designed for this purpose and will probably be awful for several reasons. For example, most amps will not be very happy with a 1 ohm load. The low sensitivity is also a big problem.

 

[eniac]

I know the cost is ridiculously high (( and this is a cheaper one!)). but I was wondering if anyone made a bass speaker enclosure using these or similar drivers?
If so, what was the outcome?

Hernias most likely.

 

[Tim Schnautz]

It is most likely a better idea to buy a used cab designed specifically for bass guitar.

This speaker is not designed for this purpose and will probably be awful for several reasons. For example, most amps will not be very happy with a 1 ohm load. The low sensitivity is also a big problem.

Oh I agree!
No im not building anything
My question is simply out of educational curiosity. After all, you’ll never know unless you ask

 

[coy garcia]

I tried it once....didn't sound good.

 

[woodsracer]

Car audio subs are typically designed to cross over between 80 and 100 Hz. That is, they are made to produce good results only below those values, and the DSP or inline crossovers change the to the midrange speakers (midbass drivers/tweeters, your car's 6x9s for example) for any frequencies above the crossover point. In other words, this is certainly a bad choice for bass guitar.

 

[neo 7]

Don't do it. It doesn't work.

 

[sokolasty]

I recently played some with a subwoofer only and it's only bass. Play a bass line and roll of anything above ~200Hz with graphic equalizer. This is more or less how SW sounds.

SW might not be worst idea to accompany bass cabinet however. Matter of style played.

103 lbs loudspeaker ? Does it come with roadies? I believe one can break walls with it.

 

[micguy]

Why does it work in my truck? In a small space, you get something called cabin gain. Here is a page that explains: Car Audio Cabin Gain Transfer Function (caraudiohelp.com)

Whenever a room is small compared to a wavelength, the loudspeaker doesn't have to propagate a wave as such - it pressurizes the room. In that regime, the loudspeaker doesn't have to move further as you go lower in frequency - it only has to move the same distance at any given frequency, which is far different than when the speaker is in a "big" room.

The way loudspeakers are designed, at low frequencies (below resonance) their movement is governed by the stiffness of their suspensions, which, as it turns out, means that they travel the same distance for any given frequency in that realm. So, in your car, at low frequencies, the woofer doesn't have to move very far to make a lot of boom, and by a nice coincidence in the Physics, it works exactly that way - flat response, as long as the windows are shut.

The thing that is tough in car stereos is the transition from that region to what's happening higher up - a van is much bigger than a sports car, so where and how you do that transition is difficult, if the goal is fidelity. Luckily, most high powered stereos in cars are not aimed at real fidelity - just making gobs of sound with a lot of boom, some mids, and some highs seems to be good enough.

The places I play, the rooms are far too big for this to happen in the audible spectrum, but in your car, yes, that absolutely happens. In a small club, it scan happen to the lowest lows. The place where it applies in my world is in my in ears - as long as you have a good seal, in ears are working into a VERY small room, and there is literally no low frequency limit - if you had hair cells that would respond to 1 Hz, a well sealed in ear could easily do it. So, the in ears you have are not a limit as to how low the bass goes, it's the seal, and if that's good, it's your ears that's the limit.

 

[Grinderman]

Can I run a Phil Jones Bighead into the Aux input on my '80s Braun clock radio and mic that to the FOH board?

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????

 

[DaveParker39]

car audio speakers are designed to amplify mixed/mastered music, not the power section of a bass amp
you could, but you shouldn't