Do you miss your car subwoofer effect when you are at home? Nowadays, many people love their car sound system more than their home sound system. And most of the car subwoofers are capable of providing equal and better sound quality than home theater subwoofers. That’s why many people want to use their car subwoofers for home audio systems.
So now, are you thinking of powering your car subwoofer to your home theatre? In that case, it’s absolutely possible to use the car subwoofer in your home audio system.
In this article, we’ll answer your question on how to power a car subwoofer at home easily. Keep reading to learn how to do it yourself.
Problems In Using A Car Subwoofer At Home
There are a few drawbacks of using a car subwoofer at home, and here are a few common problems that you might face:
- Power: The first and the foremost problem of using your car subwoofer at your home is the power. Car subwoofers are designed only to work around 12 volts, but at home, the voltage might be upto 120 volts which might make the Subwoofer explode. So, to avoid such an explosion, you need a DC power source to make your car subwoofer work at home.
- Installation: It’s might be a little hectic to connect and install your car subwoofer at home because of the power issues and the amplifier changes. But it is not impossible. With a little planning and research, you can install it by yourself easily.
Steps To Power A Car Subwoofer At Home
Here is the solution to your problem. Powering a car subwoofer at home is not a difficult task, but you need to put some effort to make it work. There are a few steps that are needed to power a car subwoofer at home.
The steps are as follows:
step 1: Getting A Power Inverter
Getting a power inverter is one of the crucial steps in powering a car subwoofer at home. The first and foremost thing you need is to make a proper conversion between the current. Hence in order to run your 12-volt Subwoofer on 120 volts or higher current, you need a power converter.
The power inverter helps to convert the high current (about 120 volts) to any desired volt that the Subwoofer needs to work. The power inverter has two plugs attached to it. One for the Subwoofer or any device you would want to connect and the other for power output.
So make sure to choose a good power inverter to support and make the process seamless.
| Image | Product Title | Features | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter 3000Watt DC 12 Volt to 120Volt | 9.7 | Check Price On Amazon |
 | Renogy 1000W Pure Sine Wave Inverter | 9.5 | Check Price On Amazon |
 | Novopal 2000 Watt Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter | 9.1 | Check Price On Amazon |
step 2: Connecting The Car Subwoofer To A Car Amplifier
After taking care of the power conversion, the next step is to connect the car subwoofer with the car amplifier. You need a 12 gauge speaker wire or 16 gauge speaker wire ( the gauge size is entirely dependent on the specification of your Subwoofer) to connect the Subwoofer and the amplifier.
Now, connect the wire with the device through the socket or brackets provided at the back of the Subwoofer.
The main thing you need to check while wiring the amplifier to the Subwoofer is the color of the wire. The Subwoofer and the amplifier have two wires – red wire and dark-colored wire. So all you need to do is, strip the wires and twist the red wire with the red wire and the darker colored wire with the darker colored wire.
Precautions: Make sure to turn off the power supply while performing these steps as it may cause an electric shock.
Step 3: Connecting The Car Amplifier To The Home Amplifier
Now that we have connected the Subwoofer and the amplifier, here comes the next step – connect the car amplifier to the home amplifier.
All you need here is to connect the output terminal of the main or home amplifier with the input terminal of the car subwoofer amplifier.
Here, you have to connect the red wire of the car subwoofer amplifier with the red wire of the main home amplifier and the white wire of the car subwoofer amplifier to the white wire of the main home amplifier, and you are done.
step 4: Connecting Other Speakers
Now that we have connected the car amplifier to the home amplifier, we have to proceed by connecting other speakers to use car subwoofers at the home theatre effectively.
The additional speakers must be connected to the main amplifier of the home sound system and not to the amplifier of the car subwoofer.
For a good home theatre effect using a car subwoofer, you will need at least 5 speakers – Two speakers to the left, two speakers to the right, and one speaker at the center for better and more effective sound output. To connect the extra speakers with the main amplifier, you need an RCA cable.
step 5: Connecting The Power Inverter
The last and final step is to connect the power inverter to the car subwoofer to make it a part of your home theatre sound system.
Make sure you connect one plug of the power inverter to the car subwoofer and the other plug of the power inverter to the household power output unit. And you are good to play and vibe with your favorite music.
Precautions: Making the car subwoofer a part of your home sound system needs a lot of care and attention. Any simple mistake or one wrong connection can blow all equipment. So, if you are planning to use a car subwoofer for your home sound system, don’t neglect to watch all the connections. Ensure to connect all the wires at the right places and double-check all the connections.
Disadvantage Of Powering Car Subwoofer At Home
While the idea of connecting a car subwoofer to a home theatre is a really good prospect, many people would swoop on it speedily without thinking twice. It also comes with a couple of drawbacks that you must be aware of.
- Time: As much as installing a car subwoofer at home seems easy, the process is quite tedious and time-consuming. There are a few key points and nuances that need to be taken care of, and you cannot afford to wire it under time constraints since it might be dangerous.
- Expensive: Another most important disadvantage is the price of connecting a car subwoofer to a home theatre. It is a very expensive process, and you need to invest in a lot of products like wire, RCA cables, and much more. The cost of connecting a car subwoofer at home is almost as expensive as the cost of buying a home theatre subwoofer separately.
However, once you make all the needed steps and convert your car subwoofer to a home theatre, the sound output you get is quite an experience, and you won’t regret spending the time and money on it. Once you manage to connect the car subwoofer at home, it will all be totally worth it.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is it 100% safe to power a car subwoofer from your home?
According to us, it is extremely important for you to connect all the wires very carefully and correctly to ensure there is no voltage leakage. Therefore, if you are an absolute beginner with electric equipment, I highly suggest you get it from a person who has experience in this or leave it to professionals to make the process safe and easy for you.
Other than that, if you do the wiring and connect the equipment properly, there is no danger in using a car subwoofer at home.
2. Does using a car subwoofer at home cost a lot?
As we already discussed, using a car subwoofer at home costs almost the same as the amount of buying a separate subwoofer for your home.
However, the experience you get through connecting a car subwoofer at home is something that is totally worth all the money you’ve spent and the effort you’ve put in to connect it.
Conclusion
It is totally your call to set up a car subwoofer at home. It takes quite a lot of time, and you end up spending some money on it as well. But with the right research, planning, and effort, you can definitely put it together by yourself. You could take this up as a weekend project and build it.
If there is one little piece of advice that you want from our end, it is to make sure to connect and wire all the equipment with care and make sure the connection is sturdy. Since it deals with electricity, you need to be a little careful as any wrong connections might lead to an explosion of the device. Other than that, there is absolutely nothing for you to worry about.
If you are on the verge of powering a car subwoofer at home, we highly recommend you to go ahead and do so. In the end, loud and interruption-free music with a great bass frequency is all we need.
