'05 highlander stereo installation

[brian423]

So instead of wasting money on buying subs and an amp, i've decided to try and hook up my at home stereo speakers to my car since i just want it to be a little louder. Is an amp necessary for this? has anyone actually done this before? and Can i hook it up myself or do i need to go to a professional?

[SorrGwa]

you cant use home theater speakers in the car, well you can, but its gonna sound like crap. home theater speakers run at 8ohm, while car audio runs at either 2ohm or more general use 4ohm.

[TrailDust]

Let me move this post to the audio, visual, and security forum so that you might get additional replies from some gurus there. I'll maintain a link in the 01-07 Highlander forum for you.

[dr_green]

Originally Posted by brian423

So instead of wasting money on buying subs and an amp, i've decided to try and hook up my at home stereo speakers to my car since i just want it to be a little louder. Is an amp necessary for this? has anyone actually done this before? and Can i hook it up myself or do i need to go to a professional?

Yes it's possible. I used to do this to my mom's car back in grade school. i used to run it off the stock deck. It has enough music to be louder then the stock speaker, but I wouldn't suggest it.

Reasons:

1. Home speakers are not made for the car, like the other guys said it probably is at 8 ohms, not at 4 ohms. So off the bat, your not getting full potential power from your stock deck.

2. Home speakers are not designed(tuned) for small car applications where the car has a so called "Transfer Function". In which this gives the car some extra gain in those certain freqs.

3. Home speakers are not designed for extreme conditions. They weren't built to handle being tossed around and being exposed to hot temps in the car. Your surrounds from the woofers will probably break faster then it should compared to when you have it at home.


An amp will help your speakers out, but it will not sound as good as car subs. Good luck!

[gameguru1360]

looks like there's no way around getting a sub and amp or 2 amps...1 for the sub and another one for the speakers. They do make 5 channel amps but usually the power segregated for the sub isn't that much...about 200-300 rms watts. But usually those 5 channel amps are people that don't want multiple amp hookups in the back with lots of wires routed underneath the carpet