I'm too lazy to build my own sub (cabinet, driver, amp) and too cheap to have one built. Crotchfeel sells powered prefab subs from companies like Kicker, Polk and Infinity, but they all look like garbage for the money ... so ...

What's a good inexpensive powered sub?

And for that matter ... and here's the real, er, thrust of my post ... Why not just throw into the trunk a small home sub with a power inverter?

Veldoyne F-series and H-series subs freaking rock. An $1,100 MSRP FSR-10 has a small cabinet and will go down to 20 Hz loud and clear, with a great built-in amp, and they're around $300 used on eBay. An HGS-10 is even better, and smaller, albeit spendier. I could get one with a beater cabinet, glue some carpet to it and add a power inverter ... or could I?

I've never used a power inverter before ... do they work well? Any hum or other problems?

All constructive comments welcome ... Thanks!

 

There are many reasons that home subs are not ideal for a car.

The frequency response for a home sub is very different from car woofers. Home subs are designed for far field listening. With the size of the average room, a home sub and optimum cabinet are responsible for the entire audio spectrum. In a car the small environment of the car interior creates a 'transfer function' where lower frequencies are amplified by wave coupling because the car interior is too small.
A 20Hz note is over 56 feet long.
Specs for car subs are measured free air to show the best low frequency response

The car environmnet is horrible with huge swings in temperature and humidity. They are designed to handle this and be durable. Home subs have no need for this and usually have the performance degrade quickly when mounted in a car.

I voltage inverter would need to be huge and expensive to provide the continuous current needed to properly power a sub. The wattage ratings on there DC to AC supplies is a peak rating and continuous is usually half. This also causes static draw on your cars electrical system. There will be a continous draw regardless of the music signal or if the stereo is even turned on. A car amp will be dynamic and only draw the power needed to suplly the audio signal.
Also, your alternator creates AC that is converted to DC. This can be noisy and car amps filter this. Converting that DC back to AC will add even more noise that aa home amp is not designed to remove since it isn't a concern in the home.

There are some great subs used for studio monitors. You can find these available for outdoor use, they are designed for nearfield listening and need very little power since they are extremely efficient. They are 8 ohm speakers so you need to buy more amp.

A speaker designed for a car is the best inexpensive option. You get what you pay for and you should get the best amp you can afford, on the low to mid end a name brand is a waste and you're paying extra for the same quality. Then match a sub that uses the capability of the amp correctly and put it in the correct airspace. You can buy cheap prefab boxes for $50 just buy a tube of liquid nails and to seal it properly and add a brace or 2 if you're handy.

 

great post. good info. learned something new

 

Thanks, Bill. I really appreciate your taking the time to write that most information post. Now I just need to find a good web site for sub components. Any ideas, anyone? Google, here I come!

 

^^yeah, ebay...