Car speakers ok for PC speaker hack?

[garnerb350]

Merry Christmas everybody, hope everyone is well. Had a question.
My family bought me some cheap car speakers so that I could use them for my cab, and when it comes to figuring out watts and mess, I get confused and pretty much lost. The speakers I got were 2 "5 1/4 " three way speakers...they are 100 watts max per pair. 4 ohms 20 watts RMS per pair. Basically what I am wanting to know is that if I use the computer speakers and replace the small computer speakers with these car speakers, would the amp on the computer speakers push these car speakers?

[Blanka]

You need around 2x50 watt to drive those properly. Check the power requirements of the PC-speaker amp. If it says like it draws 100 watt max, it'll be OK, but if it only uses like 10 watts, the amp is way underpowered. Best is to check the AMP-IC that is used. If it is a TDA 8920 or a TA 2022 or so it will have enough power. Oh and no heatsink on it = no good!

[garnerb350]

The PC speakers that I have are the Creative Labs 2.1 PC speakers with the subwoofer. The tech specs are

System Power Output:
5 watts total RMS
Satellites - 0.5 watts/ch x 2 @ 4 ohm - 10% THD
Subwoofer - 4 watts @ 4 ohm - 10% THD
12 watts total system peak power

Drivers:
Satellites - 2.5" high efficiency, 4 ohm drivers
Subwoofer - 3" poly carbon high excursion driver

Frequency Response:
50HZ to 20KHZ

S/N Ratio:
Satellites – 65dB
Subwoofer – 55dB

Power:
AC/DC adapter; UL/UCL approved


From what you told me, I think I am screwed...

I saw where a couple of guys took those sony xplode speakers and had them incorporated into their cabs without separate amps. I was hoping I could just do the same. I guess I would have to return the speakers...

[AussieJuke]

The amps you have are really too small. There may be an improvement in sound quality with the new speakers so wire them in. You won't damage them with the existing amplifiers so you've got nothing to lose! 

[Blanka]

Subwoofer - 4 watts @ 4 ohm - 10% THD

4 watt AND 10% THD
ROFL!

[heffe2001]

If it were me I would pick up a cheap 20w car amp (name brand if possible) off ebay, and power it with the pc power supply.  That's basically what I am doing with my jukebox, but on a much larger scale..

[MPTech]

heffe2001, is it that simple? just power the amp off the PC's Power Supply (the 12v wires on the molex plug?) I always avoided the car amp because I thought I needed to buy a special AC-to-DC converter!

[heffe2001]

I'm currently running a 90w 4 channel Clarion amp on a seperate 750w Corsair power supply (needed a large supply since the amp draws approx 35-40a), but a smaller 20w/channel 2 channel amp should be able to be powered by the supply in your machine (check the power supply's ratings, and see what the 12v lines are rated for, a small 20wx2 amp should need around 10a or so, if your supply has better than 20a, and you're not using a bunch of drives or other 12v items, you should be good).  I went with the Corsair because it has a single 12v 60a supply in it, and I knew the AMP I was running and the flipbook would be sufficiently powered without any issues (and it was less than half the cost of a 52a Pyramid 12v supply)...

I basically took several of the yellow/black wire combinations, and wired them together (just so I was sure I had enough copper to draw that the amplifier needed), and power the amp like that, same for the flipbook.  I'm using that particular supply ONLY for the amp/flipbook though(a much smaller amp would be fine on the main PC's supply).  I would still use the fuse that comes with the amplifier though, so as to not pull too much from the PC's supply.  I would again also stress getting a name brand amp, as some of those cheap Ebay amps are grossly overinflated on their ratings, and are very sub-standard in construction..

If your existing pc power supply isn't beefy enough to power the amp and the PC, you can always use a separate PC supply, they can be modded so they switch on with the main system, or with another switch, so you could even play the machine without sound if you wanted.

I chose the amplifier I did because it had the power I needed, and a bulit-in crossover so that I could push just  bass down to the subs, and cut the lower frequencies from the smaller upper speakers.  I'm still playing with the crossover frequencies to get the sound where I want it, but right now it sounds much better than it ever did as a real jukebox (I converted an older CD juke over to a PC-based mp3 juke).

[garnerb350]

Took the speakers and hooked them up to the crummy PC hookup...THEY WORK!!!!! sounds great....now all I need is hydraulics and a fuzzy dice and my cab be rockin!!!!

[Popcorrin]

Glad to hear it worked out well for you.  I've used nearly the exact same setup and I think it's great.  You really don't need much for an arcade cab considering you are only 2 feet away from the speakers when you are using it.
50-100 watts is overkill for an arcade cab.

[garnerb350]

I was just worried, because I lnow nothing about speakers specs and I didnt want to do all the trouble and then find out they didnt work....