Can you use a Subwoofer in place of a woofer?

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I'm asking this because I'm fixing old speakers up and I can get a pair of pioneer 400 watt subwoofers at Wal*mart for $20 they are 10" woofers that I need I'm no audio freak I just want to replace dry rotted woofers that rattle every time a bass note happens so can I use a sub woofer instead of a woofer? They are 4 ohm and the one I pulled out were 8 ohm but my receiver says I can use all the way down to 4 ohm with 8 ohm recommended
Thanks

 

[Diablo2K]

Theres one main differance between a Sub-Woofer and a Woofer. The Sub Woofer has 2 Seperate Voice Coils where a Woofer only has one. Basicly the Sub has seperate inputs for Left and Right Stereo channels. This is so you wont lose stereo seperation in your satalite speakers when you want to use a single speaker for your Bass.

Now heres the catch. Alot of modern "Subs" are just normal Woofers. The Amplifier is what protects the stereo seperation and sends out the Bass Signal to the speaker. if you buying a Bare Sub-Woofer it should have the 2 seperate voice coils.

If the Sub you are buying is a true Sub-Woofer it will have 2 hookups to drive the speaker, simply hook up your Amp to both inputs on the sub and it will act just like a traditional Woofer with no problem.

http://www.lightav.com/car/planet/v12d.jpg here is a pic of a true Sub-Woofer, notice there 2 pairs of connections. You will only have 2 wires + and -, you need to hook the one + to both + terminals and the same for the -, useing either a Y connection or jumpers.

 

[Stereodude]

I'm asking this because I'm fixing old speakers up and I can get a pair of pioneer 400 watt subwoofers at Wal*mart for $20 they are 10" woofers that I need I'm no audio freak I just want to replace dry rotted woofers that rattle every time a bass note happens so can I use a sub woofer instead of a woofer? They are 4 ohm and the one I pulled out were 8 ohm but my receiver says I can use all the way down to 4 ohm with 8 ohm recommended
Thanks

It's not quite that simple. You need a woofer that's designed to work in the size enclosure you have. Not all 10" woofers are the same.

You could get a refoam kit and fix the surrounds on your old drivers.

 

[Sixthsense]

I'm asking this because I'm fixing old speakers up and I can get a pair of pioneer 400 watt subwoofers at Wal*mart for $20 they are 10" woofers that I need I'm no audio freak I just want to replace dry rotted woofers that rattle every time a bass note happens so can I use a sub woofer instead of a woofer? They are 4 ohm and the one I pulled out were 8 ohm but my receiver says I can use all the way down to 4 ohm with 8 ohm recommended
Thanks

Short answer yes, in my college days I replaced 4cabs with Jl Audio 12's. Although, I did
make adjustmenets to the passive x-over.

 

[invalidbuffalo]

You could, but using a 4-ohm driver in an 8-ohm crossover circuit doubles the crossover frequency. You'd be getting some HF through the woofer, but it's nothing to worry about.

 

[anotherguy159]

Theres one main differance between a Sub-Woofer and a Woofer. The Sub Woofer has 2 Seperate Voice Coils where a Woofer only has one. Basicly the Sub has seperate inputs for Left and Right Stereo channels. This is so you wont lose stereo seperation in your satalite speakers when you want to use a single speaker for your Bass.

Now heres the catch. Alot of modern "Subs" are just normal Woofers. The Amplifier is what protects the stereo seperation and sends out the Bass Signal to the speaker. if you buying a Bare Sub-Woofer it should have the 2 seperate voice coils.

If the Sub you are buying is a true Sub-Woofer it will have 2 hookups to drive the speaker, simply hook up your Amp to both inputs on the sub and it will act just like a traditional Woofer with no problem.

http://www.lightav.com/car/planet/v12d.jpg here is a pic of a true Sub-Woofer, notice there 2 pairs of connections. You will only have 2 wires + and -, you need to hook the one + to both + terminals and the same for the -, useing either a Y connection or jumpers.

That's just wrong!!!!!! Dual voice coil has nothing to do with stereo imaging. It has to do with impedence.

 

[invalidbuffalo]

DVC subwoofers are usually found in passive applications, where the subwoofer must be powered by an external (outside the speaker enclosure) stereo amplifier. It really has nothing to do with impedance either, except for the flexibility in how you wire it.

In general a subwoofer is a low frequency extension and has nothing to do with the number of voice coils. And true, a subwoofer (the driver itself) is technically a woofer. What makes a woofer a subwoofer is how it is implemented. For example, consider a 12" woofer in a three-way system. In this case you would call it a woofer, but when the same driver is installed in its own box with its own amplifier, you could consider it a subwoofer because it is a LFE.

Drivers that are classified as subwoofers usually are designed for frequencies below the range of normal woofers. Larger suspensions and higher power handling are also characteristic of subwoofers.

 

[qfour20]

It doesn't necessarily have to be expensive to replace a woofer with equipment designed for home audio use:
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&CATID=49&ObjectGroup_ID=483

That said, there is nothing stopping you from using a subwoofer driver designed to be put in a car with home audio instead. Just keep in mind that the driver was designed to very different parameters than you may be using it, and not to sound snotty, but I'm a little suspect of audio equipment purchased from Wal Mart.

Good luck
-q

 

[Diablo2K]

That's just wrong!!!!!! Dual voice coil has nothing to do with stereo imaging. It has to do with impedence.

No, that is just wrong!
All you need to do to lower Imedence in a speaker is use less winds of a larger wire, you dont need the complications if have 2 seperat voice coils!


Dual voice coils is what makes a sub a sub, otherwise it would just be a normal woofer. True that you dont get Stereo sound out of the Sub, but it maintains the 2 seperate signals so that they dont get mixed. if you hook up both channels to a single speaker all the speakers in the whole system gets mixed up with it.

You got to remember when and why Subs came about. back in the 80s people didn't have money for multiple amp systems in there cars, there was not multichannel amps at the time either. By adding 2 voice coils to a single speaker you can have a single Stereo Amp in your car, a single large Woofer and still maintain the seperate stereo channels. This si why Subs have 2 seperate speaker hookups, one for left, one for right, they never mix.

We dont really need Subs like this nowdays as everything is done all in a single inexpensive AMP and it utputs the 3 differant channels and keeps the 2 stereo channels from mixing.
The Subs in 5.1 stereo systems are not really Subs in the traditional sense, but they perform the same job.

 

[MrkXCeL]

No, that is just wrong!
All you need to do to lower Imedence in a speaker is use less winds of a larger wire, you dont need the complications if have 2 seperat voice coils!


Dual voice coils is what makes a sub a sub, otherwise it would just be a normal woofer. True that you dont get Stereo sound out of the Sub, but it maintains the 2 seperate signals so that they dont get mixed. if you hook up both channels to a single speaker all the speakers in the whole system gets mixed up with it.

You got to remember when and why Subs came about. back in the 80s people didn't have money for multiple amp systems in there cars, there was not multichannel amps at the time either. By adding 2 voice coils to a single speaker you can have a single Stereo Amp in your car, a single large Woofer and still maintain the seperate stereo channels. This si why Subs have 2 seperate speaker hookups, one for left, one for right, they never mix.

We dont really need Subs like this nowdays as everything is done all in a single inexpensive AMP and it outputs the 3 differant channels and keeps the 2 stereo channels from mixing.
The Subs in 5.1 stereo systems are not really Subs in the traditional sense, but they perform the same job.

Ok bottom line here, while most of your stuff is true, I highly doubt D.V.C. speakers are around these days because you can wire two INDEPENDENT channels to them! Actually it looks like some brands (JL), mention not to wire their subs that way. By the way the classic entry level W1s' are single coil.

Secondly, the op to this thread asked whether he could drop a sub-woofer speaker into a home speaker box. SURE why not, there's very little to go wrong, actually only thing, it may not be the proper speaker for your enclosure. Thats about it, might not sound as good as the originals when they were good, who knows, might be much better!

Anyway, buy a sub, try it ... YOU can always return it, just put masking tape on the screw holes so you don't scratch the frame. Make sure the speaker makes a perfect air tight seal with the box.

 

[Flea77]

No, that is just wrong!
All you need to do to lower Imedence in a speaker is use less winds of a larger wire, you dont need the complications if have 2 seperat voice coils!


Dual voice coils is what makes a sub a sub, otherwise it would just be a normal woofer. True that you dont get Stereo sound out of the Sub, but it maintains the 2 seperate signals so that they dont get mixed. if you hook up both channels to a single speaker all the speakers in the whole system gets mixed up with it.

You got to remember when and why Subs came about. back in the 80s people didn't have money for multiple amp systems in there cars, there was not multichannel amps at the time either. By adding 2 voice coils to a single speaker you can have a single Stereo Amp in your car, a single large Woofer and still maintain the seperate stereo channels. This si why Subs have 2 seperate speaker hookups, one for left, one for right, they never mix.

We dont really need Subs like this nowdays as everything is done all in a single inexpensive AMP and it utputs the 3 differant channels and keeps the 2 stereo channels from mixing.
The Subs in 5.1 stereo systems are not really Subs in the traditional sense, but they perform the same job.

Where do you get this stuff? Subs are called subs because of the frequencies they produce, it has absolutely nothing to do with voice coils. There were really no available dual coil subs until the late 80s when they were introduced to increase power (2 4 ohm coils could be wired as 2 ohms and driven by a high-end amp such as an Orion HCCA to increase sound levels). Subs almost always were and still are mono in cars because they are mostly designed to be used in PAIRS, just like tweeters, mids, and woofers. You can however use a blended sub channel (combines sub freqs from both l and r channels) to drive a mono sub from a standard multi channel amp.

Back in the 80s people didnt have money for multiple amps and there were no multichannel amps? LOL! What planet are you from? I was in competitions in the late 80s where EVERYONE had multichannel amps, even Pyramid made them! Personally I preferred Orions but there were Rockford, Yamaha, Percision Power, and TONS of others.

Single inexpensive amp? Sure, if you want garbage sound and blended bass, knock yourself out.

I think you need to do a little more reading before posting such garbage!

Allan

 

[Easykill1978]

my 2 cents

a sub woofer, is a speaker that only producess low frequency sound. (genernally lower the 1k common trend is to have the cut off around 250hz~500hz) a woofer or rather a high complance woofer can go up to 5k in the sound range. i wouldnt worry about using the speakers you want. if u measure the impedence (ohms) in those orginal speakers you will likely find that they are 4 ohm speakers to begin with (the wiring technique ensures 8 ohms at the box terminals and most amps will handle 8~16ohms,8 ohms is better tho at the box).

The only thing i would be concerned about is that the replacement speakers cover the same freq range as the ones u r replacing (or close to it) and the wattage (of the replacement) must be the same or greater. a lower wattage would mean that you can blowup the speakers if u crank the volume.

also 10" subs arent really subs but rather high compliance woofers, IMHO go for it and use those speakers to replace the broken ones just keep an eye on the wattages tho. if speaker box is '100 watts RMS' and sub is 100wats RMS (dont bother with pmpo rubbish) you will be good as gold if the RMS ratting is higher you will be fine too. the only other minor difference is the freq response of the new speakers from the original will vary..again dont worry about that and oh lastly if they sound good to you that is all that matters. after all you are the one listening to the music coming out of the speakers in the first place.

 

[WCES Ryan]

Theres one main differance between a Sub-Woofer and a Woofer. The Sub Woofer has 2 Seperate Voice Coils where a Woofer only has one. Basicly the Sub has seperate inputs for Left and Right Stereo channels. This is so you wont lose stereo seperation in your satalite speakers when you want to use a single speaker for your Bass.

Now heres the catch. Alot of modern "Subs" are just normal Woofers. The Amplifier is what protects the stereo seperation and sends out the Bass Signal to the speaker. if you buying a Bare Sub-Woofer it should have the 2 seperate voice coils.

If the Sub you are buying is a true Sub-Woofer it will have 2 hookups to drive the speaker, simply hook up your Amp to both inputs on the sub and it will act just like a traditional Woofer with no problem.

http://www.lightav.com/car/planet/v12d.jpg here is a pic of a true Sub-Woofer, notice there 2 pairs of connections. You will only have 2 wires + and -, you need to hook the one + to both + terminals and the same for the -, useing either a Y connection or jumpers.

Wow. I'm not even going to begin to adress that. Some others here have answered your question sufficiently so I'm not going to go much into that. But there is not a thing this guy has posted that I would even consider agreeing with. Unreal.

Basically, you will be fine with the Pioneers from Wal-Mart. The only real issue that I see would be enclosure size, but I am going to take a stab in the dark and guess that you are not an audiophile and probably will not notice the difference.

 

[DonT]

I know this is an old post but anyone that thinks a sub-woofer is a "sub-woofer" because it has 2 voice coils is totally wrong!. I have worked on speakers and the OLA (Original Large Advant) by Henry Kloss is the example that perfectly proves this. I have removed the voice coils on the "Woofer" in these (Note it is NOT a sub-woofer) and Henry Kloss designed that "Woofer" with you guessed it 2 separate voice coils. Granted they are hooked up in parallel but every vintage OLA woofer has 2 not 1 but 2 voice coils. This could be why I never thought it needed a sub to go with them. They have Awesome base. If you ever get the chance to look at a pair of OLA's look real good at the wires soldered on the cone. You will see 2 on each side for the 2 separate coils.

 

[westrock2000]

I know this is an old post but anyone that thinks a sub-woofer is a "sub-woofer" because it has 2 voice coils is totally wrong!.

EDIT: The entire response is actually golden. I don't think a more perfect rebuttal could have been crafted. 12 years, well worth it!

 

[pendragon1]

12.5 year necro might be a record

 

[Verge]

not only a 12 year necro, but a first post.

 

[Format _C:]

12.5 year necro might be a record

I say the same to that
Anyway I don't even have that set of speakers anymore . I now have 5.1 surround sound a mismatch of various speakers and a cheap sub, but living in an apartment I can't play it loud anyway and as I said (12.5 years ago) I am not an audio freak so it works for me

 

[Master_shake_]

That's just wrong!!!!!! Dual voice coil has nothing to do with stereo imaging. It has to do with impedence.

i was really hoping someone pointed this out.

good lord.