Who here ever dismantled hi fi speakers for use in Car Audio?

Loobz

I was thinking about it.
My bro bought a flash Pioneer hi fi a few years back. The Hi fi itself has blown and warranty has expired. So i was thinking of taking speakers apart and mounting them on my backshelf. The speakers themselves are about 2 years old and pack a punch. I have to check the wattage of them as im not sure. Im aware that I''ll need an amp to drive them but I think it may be a good idea.

A friend of mine did it years ago with really old hifi speakers and there was very impressive sound from them.

Has anybody ever tried this before? Any advice?

Loobz

I really thought that one or two of us on here would have dabbled with thins kind of thing before. All i know is that it can be done.

Edit: Also, where can I get material to cover the back shelf so it matches my blue/black semi-bucket seats? I have seen the proper stuff in Autofactors. They charge alot for a bit of blue material tbh. Can anyone recommend a good substitute?

Thanks.

dahamsta

An old mate of mine used to horse a pair of absolutely enormous professional Marantz speakers into his Renault 5 van at the weekends, and yes it used to work, but setting it up is tricky because hi-fi speakers are set up differently, both electrically (resistance) and acoustically (duh).

adam

Loobz

Marantz speakers :eek: in a Renault 5 :eek:
Thats just plain crazy. However, I intend on taking the speakers apart and using a jigsaw, I will mount them on the shelf so its a bit more permanent.

As it is, there are 2 crappy generic default Opel speakers to the side of the back shelf. My theory is to disconnect these, connect the hifi speaker to the cable (using male/female adapters) and viola. If there are other factors to consider, please feel free to share the wealth.

louie

As you will find out the hard way they will not work properly, as they are designed to work in very tight enclosed enviroment, plus the impendance is totally different.

Loobz

As you will find out the hard way they will not work properly, as they are designed to work in very tight enclosed enviroment, plus the impendance is totally different.

I understand that speaker cabinets are built for the type of speaker it houses. Not sure about the impedance side of things. What exactly will happen initially/over time if I do wire these up?

louie

they will probably burn out in time, and the membrane will crack as is not designed for shocks.

dahamsta

Loobz wrote:

What exactly will happen initially/over time if I do wire these up?

As is, they'll burn out. Not dramatically, they'll just fade out and die in a horrible sounding way over time. You can modify them by replacing the resistors that cross over the connections, and twiddling with with the signal before it gets to them, but it's a lot of work. Cheaper to buy proper speakers imho.

adam

Loobz

Thanks for the info, will keep this in mind.

Interceptor

Good grief Moncrief. Its perfectly acceptable to use house speakers with a car stereo if you check a couple of things. 1)Impedance - car systems are matched between 4 and 8 ohms and if the house speakers are 16ohm or more they will sound sh1te. 2)Power - your car stereo is unlikely to put out more than 50watts per side but if it puts out more than the speaker they will be blown at high volume. 3)Protection - make sure there is some type of mesh or grille to stop ppl putting umbrellas/high heels through the speaker. 4)Cable - use decent speaker cable all the way from the stereo and not the bell-wire whcih is standard in most cars. 5) its an Opel, you can only make it better. 6) you don't need an amp.

'c

Loobz

At last, some positive feedback.
The speakers are Pioneer 3 way 150watt @ 6ohms. For the moment, Im going to use the bog standars cable as I plan on replacing my head unit soon enough. I will then rip out the sh1te cables and replace them.

I took apart 1 speaker last night. Looking good so far. Im gonna get a loan of a jigsaw soon enough, then the real fun starts.

HungryJoey

Well before you start going on a rampage cutting hole's here n' there. I recomend you try putting the whole speaker cabinet in the boot of your car. Hooking them up that way. You get enormous bass from doing that, But make sure you got some nice tweeter's in the front to match the bass cos the bass will be pounding, Give's a really sweet sound if you do.

Loobz

Tis a bit late now cos 1 of the speakers cabinets is in bits
I dont mind really, Im gonna connect speakers to existing cables to see what i get from them. Obviously with them fitted to the shelf and the boot closed, the bass will be emphasised. Id say its a good runner.

Interceptor

Loobz wrote:

Pioneer 3 way 150watt @ 6ohms.

These will be perfect for your car - they will sound better than the stock ones and can be turned up plenty loud. Try and fix them securely to the parcel shelf and if there are tweeters/mids in the cabinet try and fit them too. Usually the tweeters are connected with a large capacitor in series - leave that in in circuit. Don't forget that you might need some sound-deadening foam (I use extractor fan filter mesh €6 for a big pack from Woodies) if there is a lot of interference from the surrounding panels/boot.

Loobz

Thanks, again, for info Interceptor. This is really helping me cos this is the first time ive ever done this. Seems like you have done this before? Or are you just judging by the type of speakers im using. Did it work out well for you if u did?

Yep, I dismantled the tweeter and mid also, left them connected. One thing that is worrying me is the tweeter. Its nothing like i have seen before. The tweeter is basically a 2mm thick piece of plastic (slightly convex) about3 cm in diameter. And weighs about 3 grammes.

I thought that i could cut 3 holes on the shelf, 1 for each speaker (Bass, mid, tweeter). This tweeter doesnt even need its own hole as its so flimsy. Any ideas where I could put this? Would I be better off leaving them out and connecting a decent set of tweeters. I would have no idea how to do this. The guage for the tweeter cable is tiny so not sure how I would wire dedicated tweeters to the existing bass and mid.

Im using my own words when explaining things so apologies if you guys dont understand. :rolleyes:

Loobz

Oh, and has anyone got any idea where i could pick up a backshelf for a 00 Opel Corsa incase for some crazy reason something goes wrong?

byte

A bootshelf should be easily enough obtained from a breakers yard.

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

Loobz

Nice one Mercury Tilt. Glad to see im not the only one bending the rules

Ok, would relly like some input on this. Im thinking of scrapping the tweeter thats attached to the hifi speakers as its so flimsy its unbelievable, plus I dont know where to put it. Or do ye recommend I just leave them. If I remove them, do I have the option to attach dedicated tweeters along the way somewhere? If so, where? I suppose a pic of the hifi speakers would help you guys. Will try get one later.

Thanks.

Loobz

Update:

I have the blue trim glued to back shelf, holes cut for the speakers. Will have it finished tonite (i.e. speakers fixed to shelf). Im also getting one of these head units within the nest 2 weeks. Until then, my speakers are gonna sound crappy. :rolleyes:
I will post a pic when the shelf is finished.

Loobz

Im gonna try install the head unit myself. Its going into a 00 Opel Corsa. What will I need? I think i'll need a fascia adapter of some sort. How will I remove the eisting unit? It has 2 holes either side of the unit.

VeVeX

Home HiFi speakers are designed to be used in the enclosure they came in. Car speakers are a free air design that uses the door/boot etc as an enclosure. In other words Home HiFI for your house.... Car Audio equipment for your car. It'll end up looking like something off Pimp my Ride before it got Pimped.

99.9% of stated watts on head units are PMPO (peak output) ratings rather RMS (consistent output). In reality you head unit would be capable of supplying anywhere between 15-25 watts RMS depending on quality.

Your HiFi speakers are rated at 150w. Lets say its PMPO and their RMS rating is 75w or there abouts. Your under powering the speakers by 50w minimum. Sometimes severely under powering speakers can be more damaging then impedance differences or even overpowering them.

If you want a decent setup bite the bullet and get a decent set of components for the front a 4 channel amp and a sub with a specifically designed enclosure.

stratos

I know abt rms, impedance, shock enviroment, it shoudn't work.
Have done it twice, it works no problems.
Marantz speakers in a car??????

VeVeX

Not saying it wont work....

Whats the point in buying a half decent head unit as he has mentioned and putting a set of HiFi speakers in the boot, doesn't make sense.

Im sure music will come out of the speakers its just not going to be half as good as a fairly inexpensive mid range proper car audio setup.

stratos

I agree, the sound was never great.
The cheapest car speakers would sound better.

Loobz

Finished wiring speakers yesterday morning. Nice solid sound from them. The results surpass any of my expectations. I would happily recommend people to do this if they ever found themselves in the position to do so. Cant wait for my head unit. I will post a pic later.

Loobz

Loobz wrote:

Im gonna try install the head unit myself. Its going into a 00 Opel Corsa. What will I need? I think i'll need a fascia adapter of some sort. How will I remove the eisting unit? It has 2 holes either side of the unit.

Has anyone got any info on this? Is it just a matter of removing existing unit and replacing it with the new one? Thanks to all.

the evil belly

you can get pins that fit into the holes to pop the headunit out of the dash. a good car shop should sell em for cheap enough(don't lose em they're handy to have) once you've the headunit out you'll just need to unplug all the wiring and plug in the new headunit. you might need a wiring adapter so everything fits, again a good car shop should have these is stock along with the fascia plate if you need one. don't be tempted to go cutting wires it'll just make more work if you ever decide to change the headunit again

Loobz

the evil belly wrote:

you can get pins that fit into the holes to pop the headunit out of the dash. a good car shop should sell em for cheap enough(don't lose em they're handy to have) once you've the headunit out you'll just need to unplug all the wiring and plug in the new headunit. you might need a wiring adapter so everything fits, again a good car shop should have these is stock along with the fascia plate if you need one. don't be tempted to go cutting wires it'll just make more work if you ever decide to change the headunit again

Thanks. I found the two pins you mentioned. I will get the adapter and fascia in an autofactors somewhere. Cant wait to get the cd player. Has anyone got one of them? Seems like a good unit. Plus I got if for nearly 170 euro cheaper on the web than a local con, I mean, car audio shop. Happy days.

Loobz

Just thought id stick a before and after up of my work.
So....

Before


After


Heres a pic halfway through.


Sounds brilliant. I havent mounted the tweeters properly, just has bass and mid at the moment. The current headunit is crap. The cables need tidying. My new headunit is on the way. w00t!

So what do ye guys think? Opinions?