Car speakers and their effect on TVs??

[Pasqualz]

Hi all, I've seen quite a few people use car speakers for their cabinets. Since the speaker placement is almost always above the monitor, I was wondering if anyone had issues where the speaker magnets were effecting the monitor. I don't know the name of the effect, but you know what I mean, when the monitor's colors get all out of whack. I know that most home speakers these days are magnetically shielded, but I doubt that car speakers are. So given all that, here are my questions:
1 - Are there guidelines for the distance that speaker magnets should be from a monitor?
2 - Is there a device you can place over the magnet to shield it?
3 - If the answer is to periodically degauss the monitor, how much does a good degausser cost?
4 - How often can you use the degausser?
5 - Can you use a degausser too much and ruin a monitor?

[RandyT]

1 - Are there guidelines for the distance that speaker magnets should be from a monitor?

As far away as possible.  But what you can get away with depends on the size of the magnet.

2 - Is there a device you can place over the magnet to shield it?

Yes, another magnet of the same size.  The energy cancels itself out.

3 - If the answer is to periodically degauss the monitor, how much does a good degausser cost?

This would get old quick.  But, plan on 40-60 dollars for a real one.

4 - How often can you use the degausser?

As often as necessary.  Most, if not all modern monitors do this every time the power switch is turned on.

5 - Can you use a degausser too much and ruin a monitor?

Doubtful.  See #4.


I got a chuckle when I saw how small the magnet was on the original speaker from my Defender cab.  It was about as big around as a nickel and about 1/2" tall.  I'm betting it was like that for a reason .


RandyT

[Apollo]

Shielded speakers are a dime a dozen but you don't have to put them near the monitor anyway. Mine are in the sides of my cabinet ( the lower half ).

[RandyT]

Shielded speakers are a dime a dozen but you don't have to put them near the monitor anyway.

I agree.  If you need to put them next to your monitor, shielded is the only way to go.

But if you are looking for high power capabilities, shielded speakers will be much more expensive than stock automotive ones.

Interesting experience:

After first getting my cab together and in place, I noticed some wierd colors in one corner of the screen.  Thinking the cheap set of PC speakers I put in the machine was the culprit, I pulled them back out.  No change.

On the floor, 5-feet away from the monitor, was one of my vintage Pioneer S-910 speakers.  I moved it 6 more inches away from the machine, and the weird colors were gone.

Moral: Never underestimate the effect that a set of speakers might have on your screen.  Be sure to test the intended speakers in their intended locations before cutting the holes.  

RandyT

*edit*
Grammar

[Pasqualz]

So I guess the real answer here is for me to test the car speakers I am planning to use and see if they work. If they don't, then I should get sheilded speakers! It's one of those trial & error procedures. . .

[paigeoliver]

I killed the green in my old Turbo monitor using a car speaker. The 12" sub was completely eaten away from the edges of the speaker (every turbo I have EVER seen is that way), so I replaced it with a 12" car sub.

Well, the monitor INSTANTLY lost the green in a nice diagonal gradient towards the sub (with NO green closest to the speaker, and full green furthest from it). Over time it lost the green altogether. Luckily Turbo was mostly red and blue in the color scheme of things.

[Pasqualz]

Paige, Wow! A very scary story, but I'm assuming the magnet on your 12" sub is about 4 times larger than the ones on teh 5 1/4" car speakers I'm planning on installing. Still, I'm becoming more and more concerned about how to handle this situation! There must be dozens of people on this bosrd who have used car speakers, and nobody is replying?!? Where are all the experts!?!

[Industen]

I use car speakers that are running off of a 120 x 2 amp sitting directly above a D9200 with zero interference. I'd say they are a good 6 inches away. If you set the cabinet speakers isobaric (reversed mounting...can't see why anyone would want this look for a cabinet) then the monitor would interfere. I would not recommend setting a subwoofer inside your cabinet that will be a disaster. The high powered magnet from a sub can seriously screw up the monitor and your computer hard drive for that matter.

Here are a couple pages I made that will help in this area.



http://joelsgadgets.com/SPEAKERHACK.HTML

CHEAP SPEAKER HACK



http://joelsgadgets.com/SpeakerLighting.html

LIGHT THOSE SPEAKERS