Car horn as speaker for musical keyboard

[Vikrama Chandar]

I have an idea to build a circuit which picks up audio from the audio out of keyboard & plays it via the car's horn. Is it possible? If so suggest me how.

 

[dave9]

lol, depending on the car horn design, sure it's possible. Now you need to provide the specifics you should have in the first place.

Wait, you mean just a simple stock horn? No in that case you'd want a PA-style speaker in its place. So it's do-able but you need the PA speaker.

 

[Bluejets]

Most electric car horns operate by moving a metal disc which in turn opens and closes a set of pre-adjusted points, much in the same way as an electric bell.
Speakers operate by applying a variable to a speaker coil that is surrounded by a magnetic field.

Totally different principles.

 

[kellys_eye]

I once had an idea to record different vehicle sounds and replay then via a horn speaker secreted under the car somewhere. The system would have used throttle load to vary the tone/pitch of the sound.

You would have been able to select 'steam train' for example and 'chuff, chuff' away at traffic lights or the noise-some drone from a 2-stroke scooter or even an expensive Ferrari

Then I grew up
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allegedly.

 

[Kiwi]

Boys should never "grow up". Our toys should just get bigger, flasher, and more expensive!

As Bluejets explained, a car horn won't work as a speaker.

 

[FuZZ1L0G1C]

A horn speaker (ie Megaphone type) uses a driver (voice-coil and magnet) with several folded horns in front.
Although suitable for amplifying the human voice, trying to reproduce the full range of a musical keyboard through any type of horn is difficult, if not impossible.
As already mentioned, car 'horn' and 'horn' loudspeaker, although names appear similar, use different technologies.

 

[Bluejets]

Ahh...nothing like a Wes Harrison mod to your car....

 

[Hopup]

I once had an idea to record different vehicle sounds and replay then via a horn speaker secreted under the car somewhere. The system would have used throttle load to vary the tone/pitch of the sound.

You would have been able to select 'steam train' for example and 'chuff, chuff' away at traffic lights or the noise-some drone from a 2-stroke scooter or even an expensive Ferrari

Then I grew up
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
allegedly.

I think they do use speakers in some sports cars because the low emission (small) engines won't give enough sound out. Also there's lot of products like this, which are kind of cool I guess.

 

[kellys_eye]

I believe they've even fitted 'speakers' to the F1 cars as the new hybrids aren't anywhere near as loud as the original normally-aspirated versions! The spectators were getting disappointed at the lack of 'noise' so the F1 authorities made the car manufacturers fit some sort of noise amplification device!

 

[Bluejets]

Must be surround sound as those mothers are noisy in any direction.