Got a question for the Old Guys !!

Deadof_knight

OK, can someone explain what the major difference in car audio and home audio speakers....... in lamens terms please..... Ive delt with both....but its always somewhat baffling sorta.... thought you guys might have a good explanantion....

lightman1

In a car you are off to the right. In a home, you can find the the spot that makes you smile.

I'm just a layman here.

Ricardo

I know. Car speakers are usually smaller.

How are those black beauties sounding?

lightman1

Ricardo wrote: »

I know. Car speakers are usually smaller.

How are those black beauties sounding?

Me or the the OP?

Ricardo

OP. I used to own his black 1.2 TL's

lightman1

Dig it.

muncybob

For me...car audio is like sitting in a box with speakers nearby. Very little soundstage or depth but easy to crank it up and "feel" music even without a sub.
Home audio....almost unlimited possibilities to tweak the sound.

If I could put wheels on my sound room I would rather drive that than my car! I guess I would have to get one of those oversize load signs?

quadzilla

Sorry, I'm not an old timer, but I'll take a shot:

The simplest explanation, in layman's terms, is that car audio requires stiffer baskets/frames for the speaker in order to resist the flex and vibration that occurs when the speakers are bolted to the car's body and/or a speaker box in a car, and the car is in motion. Otherwise, they work exactly the same.

Now, there are, of course, myriad design goal differences, but that discussion gets fairly esoteric, and I haven't fully researched all the details.

cnh

Not an old timer either....well maybe in age? I don't do car stereo. Just go with whatever my vehicle comes with. I'm always baffled when I read the Audio threads here because car amps (mostly class D--right?) and lower impedance loads for speakers and subs in a car are beyond me as is doubling and quadrupling subs with their own amps (1000s of watts??) in your trunk. Don't get that.

But lot's of guys do and they'll be here soon!

cnh

nguyendot

Car speakers generally do not come with the enclosure that is engineered for the specs of the driver. Car speakers are generally 4 ohm and home speakers are mostly 8 ohms. Car speakers generally do not have as good of a crossover (% based) as a home speaker...they are generally just caps. This is not to say all are this way but if you take the majority it is that way.

As for more power? Since car audio is already DC - it's not hard to generate more power using a 12 to 14.4v source with high current. Keep in mind though that the mass market "1000w" amps for cars are not near the quality of a good amplifier for home. Too many people try to compare home to car the same way you compare a chainsaw to a ginsu knife.

zingo

I also do not upgrade my car audio unless something breaks. The way I look at it is that I am striving for sonic perfection in my audio, even thought I know that my system will never sound like live music will. However, if I put together a good enough 2 channel system, I can get the music to sound pretty good. But since I will never get anywhere that close with car audio because it's designed differently, I don't feel it's worth the money.

The only aside to this would be if I was rich, money was not much of an object, and I just wanted to upgrade my car because I like stereo equipment.

Hillbilly61

nguyendot wrote: »

Car speakers generally do not come with the enclosure that is engineered for the specs of the driver. Car speakers are generally 4 ohm and home speakers are mostly 8 ohms. Car speakers generally do not have as good of a crossover (% based) as a home speaker...they are generally just caps. This is not to say all are this way but if you take the majority it is that way.

As for more power? Since car audio is already DC - it's not hard to generate more power using a 12 to 14.4v source with high current. Keep in mind though that the mass market "1000w" amps for cars are not near the quality of a good amplifier for home. Too many people try to compare home to car the same way you compare a chainsaw to a ginsu knife.

I think Nguyendot hit the nail on the head. To add, you can never be in the center of the sound stage. You have to sit either to the left or the right, which inherently messes up the sound stage. Good car audio is to be had though ... just never as good as it can be at home.

Face

I didn't know there was such a thing as good sound quality in an automobile until I sat in Thom's(?) car at Polkfest last year.

As for setting up a good soundstage, I believe there has to be some sort of delay on one side.


I'll hook something up next time I buy a car I plan on keeping for a while.

F1nut

Years ago I moved to a new area and bought a new car. I stopped in at the local high end stereo shop one day to look around. At one point I asked the guy there if he could recommemnd a good car audio place. His answer, "Why bother?"

That said, I have heard some pretty damn good car audio systems, ones that where designed for sound quality, not that boom boom crap that's so popular these days. Still, the car environment is very different than the home environment and presents numerous issues which are difficult, if not impossible, to overcome.

reeltrouble1

Deadof_knight wrote: »

OK, can someone explain what the major difference in car audio and home audio speakers....... in lamens terms please..... Ive delt with both....but its always somewhat baffling sorta.... thought you guys might have a good explanantion....

Dead,

Well, a major difference, a huge difference actually is the extremely limited space you have to install the car speaker, think about it, they go in small door panels, dashes and so on, nothing like a big box speaker for your house. Al Baron at Polk once did a demo for us on the car side, its was pretty amazing at how good Polk was able to make these little speakers sound, but they are still very shallow drivers and just cannot compete with the full throw available to a home speaker, of course you have all the negatives already mentioned, plus road noise to deal with.

RT1

Rocco1

Lots of good stuff here.

A big difference is the space. When your working with speakers that just go in a door panel, some times they have to much air and are definitly not sealed or proted correctly. You also have to take up a lot of space in your car with speaker boxes, amps, and tearing your car apart to run wires.

There are compitions for strictly SQ. Most of those cars have extensive work. As far as removing car doors and sealing themproperly and then creating a make shift enclosure inside a door panel, or under a rear dash. SQ competions are amazing if you are a audio fan. Some cars that are SQ also have center speakers front and back to help balance the sound stage. In fact there are 5.1 surround sound processors built for cars by companys like alpine and eclipse.

I think the biggest difference in Car and Home audio is durability. Car stuff is built to deal with it all, from the hotest hot to the coldest cold and ice. I have never tried, and never will try, to put a home audio speaker out in below zero weather in chicago, and see how well it works after it has sat there for 24 hours. I have been doing car audio for about 15 years. Some of the nicer products will amaze you on how much crap you can put them thru. Not to say home audio is not built well but its different.

VSchneider

Face wrote: »

I didn't know there was such a thing as good sound quality in an automobile until I sat in Thom's(?) car at Polkfest last year...

The Altima, or the green godzilla Civic next to it?


hehe, another shot from the same series -
The comment to it in Systems Showcase is priceless:

PolkFest08 wrote:

Ted yells " TUBES!...we don't need no stinkin' tubes!" Jesse (F1nut) yells back " Damn! My hair just moved!"

Face

The Civic sounded excellent.

VSchneider

agreed, another vote for the Civic

I think the speakers were mobile-LSi-something with relatively simple amplification and source, all very nicely done in molded and color matched enclosures.

Face

Yes, the SR series with the Vifa ring radiator tweeter: http://www.polkaudio.com/caraudio/sr/index.php

McLoki

here is my stab at it....

This is my take on car audio compared to home.

Car limitations:
have a much harsher environment (heat, cold, humidity, vibration are all MUCH greater variance than at home.)
limited options on where to place speakers.
relatively high ambient volume. (varies based on type of car, but typically most cars when driving around are louder than your living room would be)
fixed metal structure - often with a decent amount of resonance that you can limit, but not eliminate.

Car benefits:
Fixed place your listeners will be.
Very small cubic feet area to fill with sound. (where my home theater is located is 12,000 cubic feet - what size car would that be - could also be a limitation)



I am much better versed on home audio (home theater specifically) but those are the limitations and benefits I would see in most car setups compared to home....