Car subs in Homes

[jamo]

I know this is an old question. I called Polk Audio tech support, which doesn't even sell home drivers, and the techie told me not to bother with a car sub in a home. THat they depend upon cabin gain. 'It's like paddeling a canoe with a banjo' was the phrase he used.

But a lot of the sub talk and recommendation that goes on here is for car subs in a home environment. THe highly touted Dayton Quatro is a car sub. A lot of the others are too. Another techie told me that as long as the Fs was below 30, or better 25, it's all right to use a car sub in a home.

Here's an intersting response graph of an Image Dynamics car sub in and out of a car. <A HREF="http://www.carsound.com/reviews/subs/idq12chts.html">http://www.carsound.com/reviews/subs/idq12chts.html</A>. I don't see any graphs for home subs as good as the in car graph. When does a car sub work fine in home?

[samadams]

Re: Car subs in Homes


The problem is one of semantics. What is a subwoofer? Is it a complete speaker (YES!) or is it the driver inside(NO!!!). The trouble is that the industry, particularly the autosound industry, can't make up its mind what the term 'subwoofer' means. Can you use an autosound driver in the home? Yes, if it's loaded into in an enclosure that's designed for use in the home. Can you use an autosound subwoofer in the home? Not if it's been designed to work only in the small confines of a car.

Yes, you can use a Quattro in the home, but it's not a sub, it is a driver.
> When does a car
> sub work fine in home?
When your home is a car.

[davidyohn]

Re: Car subs in Homes


Uh, those curves are not that good. Looks like a high fs around 45Hz and fb around 60Hz. You see how the "in-car" graphs rise up to compensate for the lack of output below 40Hz shown in the "out of car" curve? That's called cabin gain and even though in a room there is room gain that will help, the effect will not be nearly so dramatic. My guess is this woofer has a pretty high Q. It would be peaky and lack the low-end rumble required for an HT sub, although it looks like it'd make a decent SPL-oriented car audio sub.

A good curve for a home theater would be close to flat down below 30Hz with an fb closer to 20Hz.

[duanebrown]

Re: Car subs in Homes


> I know this is an old question. I called
> Polk Audio tech support, which doesn't even
> sell home drivers, and the techie told me
> not to bother with a car sub in a home. THat
> they depend upon cabin gain. 'It's like
> paddeling a canoe with a banjo' was the
> phrase he used.

> But a lot of the sub talk and recommendation
> that goes on here is for car subs in a home
> environment. THe highly touted Dayton Quatro
> is a car sub. A lot of the others are too.
> Another techie told me that as long as the
> Fs was below 30, or better 25, it's all
> right to use a car sub in a home.

> Here's an intersting response graph of an
> Image Dynamics car sub in and out of a car.
> <A HREF="http://www.carsound.com/reviews/subs/idq12chts.html">http://www.carsound.com/reviews/subs/idq12chts.html</A>
> . I don't see any graphs for home subs as
> good as the in car graph. When does a car
> sub work fine in home?
I have an audiobaun alum12q in a 5cf box tuned to ~19hz. It works good for HT. However if I replaced it with a Q15 I would have more output above ~40hz which would help out alot with music. (below 40hz the graphs are very close.) I have found that if a car sub will work ok in a house that the box size is very big.

Duane B

[Some Guy]

Here's the deal...


> I know this is an old question. I called
> Polk Audio tech support, which doesn't even
> sell home drivers, and the techie told me
> not to bother with a car sub in a home. THat
> they depend upon cabin gain. 'It's like
> paddeling a canoe with a banjo' was the
> phrase he used.

OK...if you're talking about the complete subwoofer system (the speaker already in the box) that's designed for a car, the Polk tech has a point. Car "subs" (the systems, not the drivers) don't need ultra-low resonances because cabin gain provides a pretty extraordinary amount of boost. When using a car "subwoofer system" in a home, you will get much, much less in the way of room gain than you did in the way of cabin gain and the result will be a comparative lack of low bass power.

> But a lot of the sub talk and recommendation
> that goes on here is for car subs in a home
> environment. THe highly touted Dayton Quatro
> is a car sub.

No, it's a driver that's *suitable* for use in a car subwoofer system. A subwoofer system using the Quatro could be much smaller than an optimally sized system for the home that used the same driver to get response that was flat into the low bass. In fact, if you take a subwoofer system that is designed for a home environment and put it in a car, the end result is the awful and exaggerated "one note bass" that so many of us have our ears assaulted with on a near daily basis.

> Here's an intersting response graph of an
> Image Dynamics car sub in and out of a car.
> <A HREF="http://www.carsound.com/reviews/subs/idq12chts.html">http://www.carsound.com/reviews/subs/idq12chts.html</A>
> . I don't see any graphs for home subs as
> good as the in car graph.

Well, you can surely get flat bass in home through a variety of methods but you don't get the 20+ db of free boost at low frequences that you get in a car.

> When does a car
> sub work fine in home?

When it's part of a system (driver plus box and maybe a port) that's designed for use in the home.

[Some Guy]

I should have read your reply first.


> The problem is one of semantics. What is a
> subwoofer? Is it a complete speaker (YES!)
> or is it the driver inside(NO!!!). The
> trouble is that the industry, particularly
> the autosound industry, can't make up its
> mind what the term 'subwoofer' means. Can
> you use an autosound driver in the home?
> Yes, if it's loaded into in an enclosure
> that's designed for use in the home. Can you
> use an autosound subwoofer in the home? Not
> if it's been designed to work only in the
> small confines of a car.

> Yes, you can use a Quattro in the home, but
> it's not a sub, it is a driver.
> When your home is a car.

You said what I said but more clearly and in fewer words. If I'd read your reply firt I wouldn't have bothered posting.

[wg_ski]

Re: Here's the deal...


> No, it's a driver that's *suitable* for use
> in a car subwoofer system. A subwoofer
> system using the Quatro could be much
> smaller than an optimally sized system for
> the home that used the same driver to get
> response that was flat into the low bass. In
> fact, if you take a subwoofer system that is
> designed for a home environment and put it
> in a car, the end result is the awful and
> exaggerated "one note bass" that
> so many of us have our ears assaulted with
> on a near daily basis.

You don't necessarily get "one note bass" using a flat system in a car. But you would get a very thick low end. What causes those thing to be "one note" is the music that is being played - many times it liteally is *one* note.

[Some Guy]

Re: Here's the deal...


> You don't necessarily get "one note
> bass" using a flat system in a car. But
> you would get a very thick low end.

I stand corrected.

> What
> causes those thing to be "one
> note" is the music
> that is being played
> - many times it liteally is *one* note.

The only thing I would dispute is calling it music. I was a music major and I listen to a *lot* of stuff even now but this one note boom car stuff? Not music.

[wg_ski]

Re: Here's the deal...


> I stand corrected.

> The only thing I would dispute is calling it
> music. I was a music major and I listen to a
> *lot* of stuff even now but this one note
> boom car stuff? Not music.

I was being nice. They said the same thing about rock & roll once. What I'm afraid of is where it's going *next*...