

What determines if a subwoofer system will work in a car? Continue...

I know people put really powerful systems in their cars but would a 200 Watt 8 ohm sub work in an average car? And what about the amplifier? Does it matter what kind of amp I get?

Report as

Sure it'll work. You just need a decent amp that will push it. I recommend two subs thought.

Helpful (1) Fun Thanks for voting Comments (19)
Report as
What's a "decent" amp from your perspective? How are they measured?
Report as
It all depends on how much money you want to spend..
Do you want to go substantial or moderate.
Don't go with Sony or kenwood or any generics
I always matched my watts- ... Amps to subs
It also depends on what car/truck they will go into.
I would also recommend matching brands.
It helps to go to a car audio store and talking to a knowledgable salesman.
Plus I would recommend going with 2 subs.
Simply put, 2 250watt subs and a 500 watt amp.
Check out Rockford fosgate... But a JL audio setup is the shit..
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Report as
Fosgates are expensive though... I'm trying to get the most for least amount of cash. I was thinking about putting a house sub called Technics SB-CR77 in my Civic. I'm just not sure if the power the car gives is enough for it to work well... I don't have an amp though either so yeah... I'm kinda low on cash I gotta admit. Lol
Report as
I think you'll be much happier with car audio stuff, not home equipment. If you plan on installing it yourself it will be a pain too. The correct wires are expensive by them selfs. The power wire for a amp (a good one anyway) is like 60$-120$. You might find on for 45 but I wouldn't use that. The amp runs of your car battery. I had a friend who used a cheap power wire and it drained his battery bad. And every time the bass hit his headlights dimmed.. Haha.
Save up at least 500$ buy a sub and amp and have it professionally installed so if something happens you can take it back and have them fix it. When I was younger I rigged a sub in my truck and all of a sudden out of now where smoke started to pump out of my sub box air hol3 when the bass would hit.
Report as
Pro install on a car cd deck is around 100$ amps are around 50$
Report as
Car elec current is dc. You sub most likely is ac. Meaning you would have to gut your sub box and only use the speaker and not the built in amp. House subs power them selfs with a built in amp. High end home theater subs sometimes have a separate amp and the amp would be located in a hidden spot in the room. They do that on in wall subs for houses.
Report as
Just had a quick thought... You could disconnect one ( maybe both) of your rear speaker/s and hook up that wire/s to your house sub... But I really wouldn't recommend that as it might ruin your car CD player somehow. I did that with the one I told you about that started smoking... Be carefull.
I say save up some dough and go legit.. It'll last forever that way..
Feel free to ask more questions. I love audio, I collect, sample and produce music as a hobby
Report as
Hmm... Thanks for the advice. Really appreciate it! Yeah I love music related stuff. I also made a sub out of two car speakers (stock speakers from like a Suzuki or something) and made a box from an old drawer. Lol
I'm resourceful....
Anyway, they have no amp and do you think it could work since they're car speakers? Just wondering I don't think they're strong enough though...
But yeah I think I'll just save up some cash and do it right. Thanks again!
Report as
Btw do you my any chance know why your system or someone's system started smoking..?
Report as
I have know idea. But it freaked me out. I was driving and smelled a weird smokie smell and looked behind me where my sub was and nice sized smoke rings where shooting up. Acctually now that I think about it, on the sub connections I think I miss wired something. It had these two or maybe three wires going from the positive and negative hook up back to each other( kinda hard to explain) and I had disconnected for some reason.. But I must have put them back wrong. It was a cool sub too, don't remember the brand though. I actually have a lot of car audio stuff I need to get rid of. Cus I want new stuff in my tundra. In July ill be done paying off my truck and the month following that I will have extra money and will get something nice . I'm dying for a system myself.
Report as
Btw I'm sure those two speakers will work but I question your car receiver as it might not have enough power to push the two speakers to there max.
Usually car decks are 15-50 watts. But who knows
Report as
Lol yeah wring it wrong gets ya.
I blew a fuse in my moms Odyssey cuz I connected the sub wrong in there. Yeah... costed me a fortune later. Lol
So how does the sub connect to the stereo system up front? Like I know I have to send wires up to the stereo but I'm not sure how the connections go from there...
I don't really need details just give me a sum-up/summary on how it connects. Maybe I'll think of a way to get it to work without spending too much money.
Report as
If you have a stock stereo you'll need a special adapter that will accept RCA's from the amp. If its an aftermarket stereo you'll all ready have a place to put the RCA's that should be labeled sub input. I'm not completely positive about the aftermarket stereo but I am positive about the stock one, unless its all ready got the sub in's as well.
Report as
RCA... What's that stand for?
Report as
Wait a sec! Are those the wires you use on the TV and Xbox? They're usually red, white, and yellow and come in threes...
Report as
The yellow one is for video on the Xbox. Your car wont use that. RCA's are red and white like you said, red is for the left speakers and white is for right speakers or vise versa.
Report as
Wow! I learn something new everyday. Thanks hoss!
Report as
I kinda misspoke, the sub will only have one rca. And it will most likely be black. And I think the proper term is "channel" as in like a river or something like that.
Report as
Hmm... Ok! Gotcha
Report as
Add a comment...
Do you have an answer?
Answer this question...
Did you mean?
Login or Join the Community to answer
Popular Searches