Do all non-powered subwoofers have to be connected to an amp?

Question

These are the subs I was thinking about getting:

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Pyramid-WX65X-6-inch-250-watt-Subwoofer/3289173/product.html

I wanted to buy a couple subs for my car, but I don't want to get an amp right now.

Can't I just connect the subs to the sound wires like I would normal speakers?

Positive to positive Negative to negative

I already know that the sound won't be absolutely great since I'm not mounting the subs, but I just want better bass than my current setup.

Answer 1

Don't do it. Subwoofers aren't made to be powered off of a deck's tiny amplifier. You risk blowing them or "clipping" the voice coils because there isn't enough power going to them. 18-25w RMS isn't enough to sufficiently power a subwoofer, which is what you'll likely get from your deck's amplifier. Just save up for an amp, or get better speakers for your doors/rear deck. Don't wire subwoofers to where regular speakers should be. It'll sound like crap and you'll end up most likely ruining them.

Answer 2

"since I'm not mounting the subs"



What, are you just going to set them in your back seat with the HU running them?



Please don't do that.

There's ghetto, then there's completely hopeless.

Doing that would make you completely hopeless.



The enclosure the sub is in is almost equally as important as running it with a good amp, but both are important, and you're doing neither.



Wait - save more money.

On the dirt cheap side - a sub/amp/enclosure combo that works and is worth your time is going to cost $150-$200.

Plus - why two? Just get one decent sub, a decent amp and a decent enclosure. Going with two just means more space taken up, twice the cost on the subs, and more cost because it will take more powerful amp to run them.



Erik - you can't ruin a sub with HU power. It would never EVER happen. And you don't clip voice coils. You clip the outputs of the amplifier.

The reason clipping can lead to damaged speakers is because clipping IS power. A fully clipped amp can produce theoretically 2x it's maximum unclipped power. So if you have a 10 or 20w amp running a 100w speaker it's still only going to get 20-40w even if the amp is clipped to the point that the original signal is completely lost to distortion.

Answer 3

It is pointless to buy subs and not power them with an amp. Not only does an amp provide way more power than a head unit internal amp. It also have crossovers and filters to remove higher frequencies and only allow the low notes to be played. Just hooking them up to the head unit, will basically make them big full range speakers, and they will barely move and produce a barely noticeable distorted sound.



But if your going to do it, make sure the impedance of the subs mathes your head unit, or there is a chance you will damage it.

Answer 4

you need to mount the subs in a box and power them with an amp, hooking them up to a head unit will produce less then spectacular results and could fry the head units amp.



and if you don't mount them, will they just be laying around? if so the first sharp corner or swerving to miss something will have them rolling around and destroy them. Not to mention you wont get any sound you would want to listen to out of them.

Answer 5

Subwoofers suck without an amp. You can't even hear them, plus its a hassle to connect them for little or no sound at all. You may even end up causing damage to your factory headunit's built in amplifer. Subwoofers absolutely 100% need an amp!!!

Answer 6

it will sound worse than what you have now. That kind of sub is designed for high power as in an amp.

Answer 7

it all depends on your car...like if you have a bose system you might get a decent sound..not the best but a decent one. (assuming you mount them in your rear deck and no sub box. but those subs are only 100 rms. so you can get cheap amp.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_070XPA2500/Dual-XPA2500.html?tp=115



that one should suffice

Answer 8

you can do it but it'll be somewhat crappy there is already small amps just built into your deck so it'll work but don't expect much