Thread: Why not PC speakers?

I will agree with you that you cannot get quality 5.1 surround sound with only $300 worth of car audio gear. But you are comparing apples with oranges.

Let's say there wasn't a power issue and you could plug your system directly into the car and place the speakers around the interior and the subwoofer in the trunk/hatch. First, you would notice that there is a huge gap in sound between 80-200Hz where the satelite speakers simply cannot produce sound. Now pull out onto the road. Once up to speed your subwoofer will be come one with the road noise and will barely cut through. The small driver might shake your house but in a car all of it's sound will be drowned out by the road and absorbed by the interior panels, carpet, and headliner. In your home the bass can bounce off the walls, ceiling (and possibly the floor) creating full boomy sound. Not so in a car. If installed in a trunk, the sound will barely make it through the rear seat. Furthermore, the sub is designed to handle a wider range (usually up to 250-300Hz) and if it is installed in the rear of your car it simply won't project and all male voices and bass instruments will get pulled to the rear of the car and sound as if they were behind you.

Ok now about the power issue. AC and DC power supplies are two completely different breeds. You said it yourself that there simply isn't a way to power it. You might be able to find a way but there is no way the music will be as dynamic as using a 12v native amplifier.

And how about power ratings? You said your system is 500w. Is that 500w RMS? More likely max power. How much distortion do you have to send the speakers to actually get 500w? I doubt the satelite channels on the amplifier are much better than the 10-15w you get from a factory head unit.

And then you have the speakers. I already mentioned they probably can't play much below 150-250Hz. A car audio 5.25" speaker can play down to 100Hz easily. Upgrade to a 6.5" or 6x8" speaker and you won't have any problems playing down to 70Hz. The result is full range sound from your satelite channels.

With the satelites playing the bulk of your music/sound the subwoofer only has to handle 20-80Hz. Car audio woofers are optimized for this range with large voice coils, strong baskets, and long excursion motor systems. They can and will play 20Hz. Try popping out a 20Hz sine wave on your current system. If you're lucky it will burb at you and then go silent.

Originally Posted by checksum

You show me any car speakers, and I will show you a competing PC speaker that matches its sound quality with even more power.
PC speakers have come a long way, from stereo sound to 7.1 THX surround sound. Nowadays PC speakers can go up to 700W of power with sound quality that can compete against any major sound theater system,, and they are compact enough to fit in a car, even with the enclosure, just have to find the right way to mount it, since they all come with brakets.

To tell you the truth, I wanted to go with my 500W 5.1 PC speakers ( these speakers only cost me 300.00). but I did a lot of research and come out empty on how to power it in the car. I would need a 500W pure sine inverter wich costs around $500.00 to power it. But beside that, I don't think you would notice the difference between these PC speakers and the Car speakers.

For starters, you could go to your local car audio shop and ask for some Diamond Audio/Boston Accoustic/Focal speakers... no way in hell any computer speaker will ever match up with those. Just not going to happen.

Just for starters, find speakers that would match the Boston Accoustic Z6 with a JL 12W7 subwoofer. Then, go to a car installation shop, dont show them anything, and ask them to see if they can guess what you have in their by listening. Your setup should in your mind be as good or better than those speakers, so they should guess in that high of a product category, right?

Hell, just take those 300 dollars speakers, put them in, and I bet that the stock radio would be right their in sound quality with them (assuming the stock speakers don't take the SQ prize).

Oh, and typically, when they advertize wattage, as previously mentioned, its max output, and also is probably most consumed in the subwoofer. The satelites are probably 10w speakers max, 2rms. Not to mention that wattage does not really play a significance in how a setup will perform...

So if you still think that computer speakers are better fit for the job, then by all means go for it, but we all warned you

-Matt