What do you guys think of hooking home speakers up in a car??????

[rbtrucking 10+ year member]

Well my subwoofer amp recently died out on me and I am thinking maybe just sell my subs because honestly they rattle everything in the car anyway and it is getting kind of annoying. I was actually thinking of going a different direction. Has anyone here ever put bookshelf speakers in there car? The reason behind this is because my car only has 5 1/4 inch openings for the midbass and that is really garbage and I can't get any good bass with that size and like I said I might be tired of a sub. I just want clean crisp sound.

I would be hooking them to a JL audio slash 300/2 full range amplifier. I was actually thinking of getting the BOSE 301's because they have a nice 8 inch woofer. What do you guys think of this idea, is it completely crazy? Has anyone tried it here? My one concern I had was that the amp is designed for only up to 4ohms and the speakers I have looked at are all 8. From what I gather, that really wouldn't be a problem aside from some power loss. Is that correct? Well, let me know what you guys think.

I appreciate any input!

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[blazian87 10+ year member]

Well my subwoofer amp recently died out on me and I am thinking maybe just sell my subs because honestly they rattle everything in the car anyway and it is getting kind of annoying. I was actually thinking of going a different direction. Has anyone here ever put bookshelf speakers in there car? The reason behind this is because my car only has 5 1/4 inch openings for the midbass and that is really garbage and I can't get any good bass with that size and like I said I might be tired of a sub. I just want clean crisp sound.
I would be hooking them to a JL audio slash 300/2 full range amplifier. I was actually thinking of getting the BOSE 301's because they have a nice 8 inch woofer. What do you guys think of this idea, is it completely crazy? Has anyone tried it here? My one concern I had was that the amp is designed for only up to 4ohms and the speakers I have looked at are all 8. From what I gather, that really wouldn't be a problem aside from some power loss. Is that correct? Well, let me know what you guys think.

I appreciate any input!

Whatever floats your boat. There's nothing wrong with that. You're gonna have to place it in a good place for good imaging. It's not really ideal in a car because it's not the same environment as if you had a spacious room spreading the sound around. Unless you were to mount them on your doors or dash or something funky like that lol. You can still get a 8" speaker and put them in a small enclosure near your kicks and then mount tweeter somewhere near your A pillars. You can even add a 5" midrange in your doors and turn it in a 3 way front stage.

For the rattles, try deadening the trunk and doors the best you can. It will improve SQ alot. If you're not willing to do that, then maybe think about getting a 10" shallow mount sub and place it under your seat so it acts as a vibrator for your seat lol.

Btw I used to have 2 12" diamond D6's before and they sound great.. You should keep em' and just put your gains alittle down so it don't rattle as much.

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

Don't be stupid.

 

[rbtrucking 10+ year member]

Whatever floats your boat. There's nothing wrong with that. You're gonna have to place it in a good place for good imaging. It's not really ideal in a car because it's not the same environment as if you had a spacious room spreading the sound around. Unless you were to mount them on your doors or dash or something funky like that lol. You can still get a 8" speaker and put them in a small enclosure near your kicks and then mount tweeter somewhere near your A pillars. You can even add a 5" midrange in your doors and turn it in a 3 way front stage.
For the rattles, try deadening the trunk and doors the best you can. It will improve SQ alot. If you're not willing to do that, then maybe think about getting a 10" shallow mount sub and place it under your seat so it acts as a vibrator for your seat lol.

Btw I used to have 2 12" diamond D6's before and they sound great.. You should keep em' and just put your gains alittle down so it don't rattle as much.

Ya I definitely do have the whole trunk deadened with dynamat and it has helped tremendously but still on the higher bass notes I get vibration. You'r probably right though. Maybe I will just replace the amp that failed and keep the volume on the subs down. It would look pretty bad having huge bookshelf speakers in my car. Also, the only place they would fit would be on the rear deck and that would sound pretty bad I am assuming having the sound coming at me from behind.

 

[blazian87 10+ year member]

Ya I definitely do have the whole trunk deadened with dynamat and it has helped tremendously but still on the higher bass notes I get vibration. You'r probably right though. Maybe I will just replace the amp that failed and keep the volume on the subs down. It would look pretty bad having huge bookshelf speakers in my car. Also, the only place they would fit would be on the rear deck and that would sound pretty bad I am assuming having the sound coming at me from behind.

Yep you are right. What type of music do you listen to most of the time? IMO tuning box at 35 hz is too high if you're looking for "clean crisp sound", that's why you get the annoying peaks on the higher bass notes. I noticed that too with my D6's. It was really annoying. What size enclosure are they in? A lower tuned box like 28-32hz would help you tremendously on SQ. Or you can try closing the port and turn it into a sealed box if your box is small enough. It will flatten out the frequency response and sound more smoother and bring you more lows as well.

I have a feeling you were clipping your amp hard for it to fail on you like that. When you get your new amp, try setting your gains with a DMM or get a DD-1. Or just put your gains low and just listen for distortion.

 

[Ironsave]

I did this back the day, had an alpine "pull out" stereo (yeah I'm old).

I hooked up 2 realistic bookshelf, had 8 inch and ferrous fluid cooled soft tweeters.

This was in a 79 trans am, had no back seat room, but it sounded pretty good

Don't do it though..... It looks cheesy, and honestly, soundstage should come from the front.....

 

[rbtrucking 10+ year member]

Yep you are right. What type of music do you listen to most of the time? IMO tuning box at 35 hz is too high if you're looking for "clean crisp sound", that's why you get the annoying peaks on the higher bass notes. I noticed that too with my D6's. It was really annoying. What size enclosure are they in? A lower tuned box like 28-32hz would help you tremendously on SQ. Or you can try closing the port and turn it into a sealed box if your box is small enough. It will flatten out the frequency response and sound more smoother and bring you more lows as well.
I have a feeling you were clipping your amp hard for it to fail on you like that. When you get your new amp, try setting your gains with a DMM or get a DD-1. Or just put your gains low and just listen for distortion.

I actually dont know if I blew the amp now it seems to be working fine. I noticed the ground was a little loose but I hadn't checked that because it was under the carpet under the huge sub box and all that. I usually listen to rock, or r&b. The sub is 3.5 cu ft shared enclosure. but I would like to know more about how you had your D6 box set. I told the guy that built mine I'd like a lower tune because I was afraid that would happen but he swore 35hz was like a sweet spot between great lows and being able to play really loud.

What specs did you have your box built to? The spec requirements Diamond Audio recommends for these subs is 40hz tuned box which I thought was way too high.

There's no way I could adjust the tuning of the box I have already huh? I would probably have to get a whole new box built I am assuming, right?

 

[blazian87 10+ year member]

I actually dont know if I blew the amp now it seems to be working fine. I noticed the ground was a little loose but I hadn't checked that because it was under the carpet under the huge sub box and all that. I usually listen to rock, or r&b. The sub is 3.5 cu ft shared enclosure. but I would like to know more about how you had your D6 box set. I told the guy that built mine I'd like a lower tune because I was afraid that would happen but he swore 35hz was like a sweet spot between great lows and being able to play really loud.
What specs did you have your box built to? The spec requirements Diamond Audio recommends for these subs is 40hz tuned box which I thought was way too high.

There's no way I could adjust the tuning of the box I have already huh? I would probably have to get a whole new box built I am assuming, right?

Yes, you are correct. A whole new box would have to be built in order to change tuning unless you have aero ports. That is why I said maybe you could just turn it into a sealed box by closing the port. It might actually work in your case. I had mine in a small sealed box actually. It sounded bloated on the higher spectrum but overall it actually sounded good. I was planning to go with a big sealed box or a ported box 3.0-3.5 cu ft net @30hz but I ended up just giving it to my close friend. The small sealed box still sounds great with rock music and that's what my friend listens to the most anyway. For r&b and hiphop, it doesn't play very flat and is all over the place.

I usually don't listen to Manufacture specs except for box size. Tuning is your choice but most of them recommend on the higher side because for the regular consumer, they are looking for more SPL. Even JL recommends their boxes at 33hz but i still think it's too high. My favorite tuning is 30 hz. I have tried multiple tunings on different subs and I feel 30 hz is the most natural sounding for a large range of music. Even 32 hz is pretty acceptable but can be peaky for certain songs and I still end up craving those low lows. Should be fine for rock and r&b though. It's personal preference really. I know the diamonds don't have a problem with lows but if you tune it to 35 or higher, you certainly will be missing a lot of it. You should not tune to 40 hz unless you don't care about lows at all and want it to be LOUD. It's usually for competing.

Yea maybe your ground was loose. Try tightening it up and start with putting your gains down on your amp. Try getting some wood and cover the port while playing music.. See how it sounds. If you like it, you can probably just screw it in or tape the sh*t out of it. Should be very flat. You can also try putting wood blocks inside the box to make it smaller since 3.5 cu ft is too big for sealed but is acceptable still.

If all else fails, then time for a new box. Going with a lower tune will sacrifice some SPL but will sound way better imo. The advantages are you can hit the lows way better and flattens out all the nasty peaks. The higher you tune, the louder you'll get but isn't always the greatest sounding. I'm very picky with sound. I rather have SQ than SPL even if it means I'm quieter.

 

[rbtrucking 10+ year member]

Yes, you are correct. A whole new box would have to be built in order to change tuning unless you have aero ports. That is why I said maybe you could just turn it into a sealed box by closing the port. It might actually work in your case. I had mine in a small sealed box actually. It sounded bloated on the higher spectrum but overall it actually sounded good. I was planning to go with a big sealed box or a ported box 3.0-3.5 cu ft net @30hz but I ended up just giving it to my close friend. The small sealed box still sounds great with rock music and that's what my friend listens to the most anyway. For r&b and hiphop, it doesn't play very flat and is all over the place.
I usually don't listen to Manufacture specs except for box size. Tuning is your choice but most of them recommend on the higher side because for the regular consumer, they are looking for more SPL. Even JL recommends their boxes at 33hz but i still think it's too high. My favorite tuning is 30 hz. I have tried multiple tunings on different subs and I feel 30 hz is the most natural sounding for a large range of music. Even 32 hz is pretty acceptable but can be peaky for certain songs and I still end up craving those low lows. Should be fine for rock and r&b though. It's personal preference really. I know the diamonds don't have a problem with lows but if you tune it to 35 or higher, you certainly will be missing a lot of it. You should not tune to 40 hz unless you don't care about lows at all and want it to be LOUD. It's usually for competing.

Yea maybe your ground was loose. Try tightening it up and start with putting your gains down on your amp. Try getting some wood and cover the port while playing music.. See how it sounds. If you like it, you can probably just screw it in or tape the sh*t out of it. Should be very flat. You can also try putting wood blocks inside the box to make it smaller since 3.5 cu ft is too big for sealed but is acceptable still.

If all else fails, then time for a new box. Going with a lower tune will sacrifice some SPL but will sound way better imo. The advantages are you can hit the lows way better and flattens out all the nasty peaks. The higher you tune, the louder you'll get but isn't always the greatest sounding. I'm very picky with sound. I rather have SQ than SPL even if it means I'm quieter.

Ya, I definitely agree id rather have SQ over spl too. I knew I should have told that guy that built the box to do like 28-30hz. Maybe I will look into another box. I'm sure this is a stupid question and am 99% sure I already know the answer but you think a sealed prefab would be a bad idea?

 

[CSCStang]

Ya, I definitely agree id rather have SQ over spl too. I knew I should have told that guy that built the box to do like 28-30hz. Maybe I will look into another box. I'm sure this is a stupid question and am 99% sure I already know the answer but you think a sealed prefab would be a bad idea?

You might be able to take the subs out and add some to the rear port to tune it lower. I've gone from 37 to 32 before.

 

[rbtrucking 10+ year member]

You might be able to take the subs out and add some to the rear port to tune it lower. I've gone from 37 to 32 before.

I am certainly no expert at this and would probably need to be walked through this. If I took pictures of the inside of the box and posted on here, you think you could walk me through exactly where I would need to add and how much?

 

[CSCStang]

Take pics and measure the specs and post. Height width depth (exterior is fine) port width and the rear length piece.

 

[brian84corvette 10+ year member]

just get a few good pairs of 6x9s with 3 tweeters in the middle... use metal snips to trim out the rear deck to fit them - or they sell little 6x9 boxes angled for rear decks

i hear pioneer makes some decent ones

 

[rbtrucking 10+ year member]

Take pics and measure the specs and post. Height width depth (exterior is fine) port width and the rear length piece.

Alright, ill get pictures up tomorrow.

just get a few good pairs of 6x9s with 3 tweeters in the middle... use metal snips to trim out the rear deck to fit them - or they sell little 6x9 boxes angled for rear decksi hear pioneer makes some decent ones

Ya, that's what a lot of people have told me to do. For some reason I completely forgot that they made those little boxes for 6x9's but that is much better than putting bookshelf speakers in the car.

 

[Oz.Germolus]

I threw 13 8" speakers in my girlfriend's Suzuki Sidekick JLX Sport. They were old innercom speakers from an abandoned school