Home theatre speakers in car?

[volcomkrew2]

Has anyone ever used their home speakers in replace of their car ones? How did it sound? I have some speakers laying around in my house that i might contemplate using in my car if it'll work.

[vette427-sbc]

You will have to check the ohm rating of the speakers... some of the home stuff is 8ohm, where most car speakers are 4ohm

[srh3trinity]

Some of the home stuff is 16 ohm too.

[Corey R.]

Like the others said, the ohm load will be higher on home speakers. They will not be as efficient using the available power, meaning they will not get as loud. They will also lack a mid-range or tweeter that car speakers generally incorporate as well. Automotive speakers are also designed to withstand environmental factors.

Will they work? Yes, but you would be better off getting a set of automotive speakers.

[slowcpe]

If you had to use them, yes. Would I advise, no.

Most home speakers are 8 Ohm.

"Cube" type speakers are designed to work with a sub.

In-Wall/In-Ceiling are designed to to use the wall cavity as a "box" so I wouldn't expect them to sound good in a door. Plus you could run into depth issues.

Outdoor speakers would be the best bet for good sound. A lot of outdoor speakers are 4 Ohm. I've got (2) pair of high-end outdoor speakers on my boat with a big amp and they sound great. Downside is the physical size in mounting in a car.

[HPIcustoms]

It does work, there's several videos on YouTube showing it done. A friend of mine in high-school did it with some speakers he had laying around and it surprisingly sounded pretty good in his car.

Honestly better off getting a set of actual car audio speakers, especially since most are decently cheap and sound great. I've bought the "complete stereo" kits before that come with 2 door speakers, 2 deck speakers, basic deck, 8" sub and wiring etc for a bush truck I had, and it sounded pretty good in that old Bronco while mud bogging and was cheap enough (around $150 for the entire kit) that I wasn't worried about them getting damaged etc.

[scott_fx]

The 4 ohm v. 8 ohm thing isn't as big of a deal as everyone is making it out to be. Most 8 ohm drivers are measured using 2.83v/1m whereas car 4 ohm drivers are measured at 1w/1m. If they both have similar sensitivity ratings...The 8 ohm driver will sound about as loud as the 4 ohm at any given power.... But your amp will run cooler and sound better. I've been using home audio 8 ohm drivers in my cars for years. Not because it's cheaper (current mids I have for my Chevelle cost over $500 for the pair), but you do get more for your money.

If you're talking about the actual speaker cabinets themselves... There are safety factors that should be seriously considered. But also installation hurdles.. You will have a hard time making them look good and aiming them properly.

[mc84_zz4]

If you are just going to drop the speakers in the backseat and wire them to a head unit with 22w RMS, I would advise you to buy some car speakers.
In ideal conditions the home speakers can survive just fine, but they are not suited for heat, or moisture.

The biggest issue IMO is the sensitivity rating, most home speakers are not built with high sensitivity, which will affect how much sound the speakers can produce with the power you have.
Here's a chart comparing 3 woofers in relatively close ratings, if you start comparing woofers this way, you will see there are large differences among brands.
You will see the higher end have these ratings, as well as 4 and 2 ohm resistance, effectively drawing more power from your amp. Many high end amps are designed to be stable at 1 ohm.

The rule is to increase 3 db of sound, it takes roughly double the power (watts RMS)

Here is a comparison of 87 db, 90 db versus 93 db

Watts.......Sub1....Sub2.....SUb3
1w..........87 db...90 db....93 db
2w..........90 db...93 db....96 db
4w..........93 db...96 db....99 db
8w..........96 db...99 db...102 db
16w.........99 db..102 db...105 db
32w........102 db..105 db...108 db
64w........105 db..108 db...111 db
128w.......108 db..111 db...114 db
256w.......111 db..114 db...117 db
512w.......114 db..117 db...120 db
1,000w.....117 db..120 db ...123 Db
2,000w.....120 db..123 db
4,000w.....123 db

Notice that to produce 117 db of output Sub3 will need 250 watts, while Sub1 would need 4x that power, or 1,000 watts!
HTH