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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

Showing 3 responses by timlub

timlub
2,039 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
timlub
2,039 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. 

timlub
2,039 posts
 
Hi Steve,
    The 2 on ebay are a bit high.... Yes, Madisound had this knocked off for them. I believe Foster made it.  Neither of these is the Madisound part.  I don't recognize the part with the fins on the magnet,  but the other looks to be the original Tonegen/NHT.  
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