Any body here know if computer speakers can be used on a car radio? I have been looking for speakers to fit into the Caddy for a specific reason / purpose and have chanced on a set of new stand alone computer speakers that will fit perfectly, not expecting sound quality to be too great but in this instance that's not required, just wondering about the watts ohms or whatever is the criteria for car radio use?
AA003 ·
Most computer speakers require 240v. The other type are usually low wattage.
Usually car stereo speakers are 4ohms.
shokwave2 ·
I had cheap surround sound PC speakers and put one on the underside of my bugs dash so i could hear the music over my motor. They do work.
donn ·
Thanks AA003 and shockwave2, checked the back of the speakers first thing, no info relating to the ohms etc on the sticker, tried to get them apart to check inside but it seems they are glued together, after removing the screws from the back panel no amount of levering cursing or pulling could make it budge, maybe if I just plug them in it will tell the storey but I have reservations about doing that as I'm not sure if I'll cause damage to the radio. I do know that the cooling fan in a PC is 12v so I have assumed that the speakers are the same but the speakers I have need to be powered I think as there is two leads coming off one with a different plug, hmm, looks like I may have to wait till Monday and visit my friendly radio installer.
68AutoBug ·
AA003 wrote:Most computer speakers require 240v. The other type are usually low wattage.
Usually car stereo speakers are 4ohms.
I haven't seen any small computer speakers requiring 240 volts???
mine have 12 volts DC sockets on them
later ones have USB plugs on the end.. [ 5v dc ]
probably made for lap tops though...
I do Have a larger pair of amplified speakers which use 240v but I bought them to use with a TV...
normal car speakers need no power just hooked to the radio cd player etc.. are usually 4 ohms.. now.. early ones were 8 ohms.. impedance
LEE
Aussie Dubbin ·
Power speakers are usually for extra sound. You could hook up some old hifi/ sound system speakers if you wanted. You'll find you radio will determine how much sound comes out of your speakers. Even top dollar aftermarket radios usually are 50x4 or something like that... It's been a while.
barls ·
68AutoBug wrote:
AA003 wrote:Most computer speakers require 240v. The other type are usually low wattage.
Usually car stereo speakers are 4ohms.
I haven't seen any small computer speakers requiring 240 volts???
mine have 12 volts DC sockets on them
later ones have USB plugs on the end.. [ 5v dc ]
probably made for lap tops though...
I do Have a larger pair of amplified speakers which use 240v but I bought them to use with a TV...
normal car speakers need no power just hooked to the radio cd player etc.. are usually 4 ohms.. now.. early ones were 8 ohms.. impedance
The speakers listed above as a stand alone speakers without the subwoofer are 12 volt, the unit with the sub woofer is 240 volt, most are provided with a wall wart, i have a set of creative but these are 27 volt, you only have to check the plug pack to establish the voltage required to run them, if your head unit has a line out or pre amp out you can use this to drive the internal amps direct. no need to worry about the impedence.
h ·
oh donn look what you have created.. 😂
68AutoBug ·
Hi Barls
I hadn't actually seen PC speakers with subwoofers before..
I lead a quiet life.. lol 😂
will check out those logitech ones..
cheers
LEE
quote]Originally posted by barls
68AutoBug wrote:
AA003 wrote:Most computer speakers require 240v. The other type are usually low wattage.
Usually car stereo speakers are 4ohms.
I haven't seen any small computer speakers requiring 240 volts???
mine have 12 volts DC sockets on them
later ones have USB plugs on the end.. [ 5v dc ]
probably made for lap tops though...
I do Have a larger pair of amplified speakers which use 240v but I bought them to use with a TV...
normal car speakers need no power just hooked to the radio cd player etc.. are usually 4 ohms.. now.. early ones were 8 ohms.. impedance
I have the THX ones on a home tv pc. they are good enough to annoy the neighbours. all you need to do is put the computer in your car too...... I will get my coat
narumi ·
Actually a lot of them do uses 12V most of the cheap ones have transformer inside the box.
most of them are actually 5-10 watts for sattelite speaker and if applicable 7-20w for subwoofer.
most of these do run 4 ohms speaker...
the car amplifier that I pulled apart (which is now a home rack mount subwoofer amplifier)
uses internal inverter converting 12v to 24 0 24AC @ 22 khz++ (the transformer is very small due to the high frequency
that is also why some of them you can hear high pitch noise)
AA003 ·
Why do you want to use PC speakers anyway?
Beerboy ·
jb hi fi do have the 6x9 speaker pods for 70 bucks I think. is that bigger than you are thinking. get a decent sound from those I would suspect
donn ·
AA003 wrote:Why do you want to use PC speakers anyway?
Don't necessarily want to use PC speakers, just that the case these ones are in suits my intended application, ie, they will have the visual effect that I am after, the ones I have found have a curved side on the case that will fit against a part of the bodywork. I think they won't work though as they have a power lead to them.
donn ·
Beerboy wrote:jb hi fi do have the 6x9 speaker pods for 70 bucks I think. is that bigger than you are thinking. get a decent sound from those I would suspect
Physical size isn't all that critical though the ones I was thinking of using are a good size at 250mm high x 80mm wide (approx)
68AutoBug ·
donn wrote:
AA003 wrote:Why do you want to use PC speakers anyway?
Don't necessarily want to use PC speakers, just that the case these ones are in suits my intended application, ie, they will have the visual effect that I am after, the ones I have found have a curved side on the case that will fit against a part of the bodywork. I think they won't work though as they have a power lead to them.
Hi Don
I thought I had a pair of car speakers in encloses that I never ever used but searched thru many cupboards and sheds etc without success..
but I did try a Car speaker on My computer and although the sound was turned up to maximum, I could just hear the sound from the 4 ohm speakers, so it looks like computer speakers have to have an amplifier to get any good sound from them..
just look for any 4 ohm speakers..
the ones You are talking about, I haven't seen recently, not that I've been looking.. but probably 15+ years ago they were fairly common
as speakers were coming down in size but not in quality..
cheers
LEE in Cold Scone...
vlad01 ·
^ hence the 240v. yep PC speaker have amplifiers build in, the sound card in a PC only provides the signal.
shokwave2 ·
Just wire them up to the car stereo and turn it on. Thats how i found out if they worked or not. Ohms and volts are for nerds. 😉