2. speakers
  3. 134754-9255

Use a car woofer for home audio cabinet.. any downside?

QUESTION—I need a replacement 12” woofer for a large volume enclosure. A REL Britannia B1

I know the T/S parameters of the old driver which is helpful. I have been shopping and see a huge range of prices from $40-$1000. Seems like a suitable replacement is $400+ if I were to go with a home audio driver.

What I was wondering is what about CAR stereo woofers? I see a ton of 12” car stereo woofers that are extremely well built (sometimes better than home audio), have good parameters, and are at a lower price. The only downside is that they are DUAL VOICE COILS, DVC. I know a DVC would have to be wired in series thus taking 2 ohm to 4ohm for example. Is there any downside to a car audio woofer? Any downside to merely connecting the 2 voice coils?

 

Thanks for your thoughts!


stevethe4th
timlub
1,649 posts
 
@stevethe4th 

The short answer to your question is "yes"  it is certainly possible to use a car woofer in a home system. The problem that you run into is that the automotive environment requires a much different woofer than a living room and are designed as such. Because of that, you seldom find any divers that will truly work well in a home setting.  I do know of a woofer that will work well in this box, beware, it is likely that you will need to seal your vent/port. Try it both ways.  It is a Tonegen 1259/NHT 1259/Madisound 1259. Tonegen manufactured this woofer and NHT used it, then a couple of people knocked it off, the most notable was sold by Madisound. 
I noticed someone selling one on ebay as a NHT 1259 replacement. 
Good luck, these will work well.  Tim
mattmiller's avatar
mattmiller
1,180 posts
 
The REL is not just about BASS, any sub/speaker can produce lows. The REL is special in that you hear the REL (it has a voice coil) and feel it. You will loose this magic playing around with the sub. I purchased my new driver replacement from REL in CA about a year ago.

P.S. Steve you have a special sub in the Britiania B1, they dont make them any more and the new ones I would not even buy. These subs (B1/B2) were made in REL’s prime years. Imo.


Matt M
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
Seems this org has a direct replacement, reasonably priced.

http://www.bkelec.com/HiFi/Drive_Units/Audio_Drive/B1_Rep.htm

Best,

E
timlub
1,649 posts
 
I went ahead and ran curves on the 2 woofers suggested.... 
The AD12-300 woofer Erik posted is an attractive choice indeed.  As a drop in without any changes,  It'll be fairly smooth and be 3db down @ 31hz.  
The NHT1259 Woofer posted as a drop in (no box changes) will have a 1db rise below 80hz and be 3db down @ 19 hz.  
The advantage of Eriks suggestion is that it is New.  The 1259 woofer has been around for a long time, they are well sought after, tough to find and the chance of finding anything new will be even harder. 

stevethe4th OP
36 posts
 
MATT-- I tried REL  /Sumiko about 18 months, and got nowhere. They claimed no parts and no support. Maybe different for your B2.? But I will try again. You are correct these are unique subs! Hard to replace. Their new stuff is nowhere even close to the performance.

TIMLUB-- That looks almost like the REL driver. The pics on ebay kind of suck, but I will contact the seller. Tonegen made them for NHT, did Madisound make their own and just give it the same number?

ERIK--I actually posted this thread because I too found that BK electronics in the U.K. Problem is they have never written me back.  Emailed many times, called and left messages. Looks like they don't want to do business in the USA. At checkout says UK shipping only. Bummer!


More to discover