Archive through August 11, 2004
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Kyle Wells | I was wondering if there was any way we could hook up a car amplifier and subs into my stereo. We have hooked everything up we just aren't getting any power to the subs and the amps won't turn on. The kid that I bought them from had them hooked up to a computer but he used a 12 volt car battery. Is there any other way of doing this? | |
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Anonymous | A computer power supply has a 12 volt output as well. although i have never done it i figure its possible to mount a car amp inside a computer chasis. |
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Jack Mehoff | no you can't...you need a 13.4 volt power supply with at least 30 amps. go to radio shack and get a power converter that has gobs of wattage and ampere rating. Don't skimp on the power supply either get the best power you can buy to avoid noise. | |
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| Well. I did it at home, have just completed it. Only a small one but it works. Two 6 and a half inch subs + 2 tweeters. Get a DC 12V converter from Dick Smith or sumthing, and split the wire at the end to go on the amp. There should be two wires. One in a plastic sleeve and the other going around it. The one going around is the ground wire. Connect these up to the amp, with a bridge running from the +12v lug to the one next to it. Attach the grounding to the ground lug. Amp will be on. Hopefully. Bugger 12V car battery. If your amp is a 250 Watt then you will need a converter that converts to 12V DC with 25 Amps. If it is a 500 Watt then you will need 12V 50 Amp converter. Simple. Any help e-mail me. | |
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anon | I've just tried to rig up a car amp to a computer power supply and it didnt work. Basically, the amp wouldn't power up. I assumed that the amp may not have like having the remote and power lugs bridged but now im figuring that it probably just wants 13.4 volts. I'm off to by a converter. | |
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Anonymous | 510 ATX-PFC: Operating Range: 90-264 VAC 0.99 power factor auto-select Frequency: 47-63Hz Current: 10A @ 115V Efficiency: 70% EMI: FCC-B, CE Output: +5V @ 40A +12V @ 34A, 38A pk -5V @ 0.3A -12V @ 2A +3.3V @ 30A +5VSB @ 3A power<510W peak power<650W Regulation: 1% (+5, +12) 5% (-5, -12) 1% (+3.3) Ripple: 1% (p-p) Hold Time: 20ms PG Delay: 300ms OV Protection: +3.3, +5, +12 OC Protection: +3.3, ±5, ±12 OCP Agency Approval: UL, ULC, TUV, CE Temperature: 0°-50° C Humidity: 10%-90% RH Fan Type: 44 CFM ball Noise: 44dB(A) Compatibility: ATX (Rev. 2.03) MB Connectors: 20-pin, 6-pin, P4 Drive Connectors: 8 (2 mini) MTBF: 100,000 hrs. thats a 510w atx power supply rating. 38A peak at 12vdc is not really going to be efficient for that amp. buy a ac-dc power inverter and dont be cheap you'll thank yourself in the future. As for the 13.4vdc rating most amps have stickers that display what voltage is needed and how many amps will be needed. |
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| Try a car battery or lead sealed battery and a small charger!!!! Also get a 1f capacitor to improve the bass. | |
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| Yes you can go out and buy a 12V addapter or you can find one in your house just read the back of the addapter and see if it is 12V. Then strip the wires and hook it up to the amplifier and plug in the addapter. | |
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| OK here's my question...I got a 420watt class D mono amp powering my two kenwood 700watt subs...now can i power my amp with this - http://www.voltageconverters.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?preadd=action&key=DF-1732T (DF-1732T - AC to DC regulated Power supply) and i have a reciever with a pre-amp output...So how exactly would i hook it up if it's possible? what wires do i need? my amplifier manuel says to use 6-8 gauage wires so i know to use them somewhere but how? please can somebody give me a detailed explaination on what wires need to go where for my system to work in my house... if it will work...thanks i really appreciate it...you can also email me phatness2003@hotmail.com |
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| what about if i bought an indoor amplifier??? is it still possible to hook it up with let's say this for example http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=195132&is=REG could i still hook it up? how? thanks i really appreciate it...you can also email me phatness2003@hotmail.com |
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Jerry | To Allen: With the power supply question-ABSOLUTELY NOT! The power supply shown in your link gives a max amp rating of 5 amps. Power is derived from voltage x current. 5 amps x 12v will only give you 60 watts total. You will need at least a 35 amp power supply and probably more since the amplifier is not 100% efficient. As far as a wall adapter, can you say "Fire hazard"? I have seen nothing at Radio Shack or any other consumer retail store that will give you enough power to drive a high power car amplifier like that. You will need to go to a commercial grade power supply, and the cost would be that of a new home/commercial amp anyway. There is no benefit to using a car amp anyway. Your second suggestion sounds better. Using an amp that all ready plugs into 120vac just makes more sense. If you have a Guitar Center in your area, go look at their selection of amplifiers. You can get hundreds of watts per channel for only a few hundred dollars. Look on this website http://www.guitarvision.com/mf/mf_frameset.htm and browse through some of the areas. Crown, Yamaha, Mackee, and Nady are just some of the companies who sell entry level amps with alot of power reasonably cheap. I personally run a pair of 10" car subs in my home theater that are in a gray carpeted box, conveniently hidden behind the cabinet of an antique radio, powered by a Biamp amplifier 200wpc@8ohm and 325wpc@4ohm). I worked for Biamp for a couple of years as a technician and was able to build a few of these out of spare parts. It works very well, and if it dies, I will buy an amp by one of the companies mentioned above. You may also have a problem with speaker efficiency. I tried buying a pair of 12" Rockford Fosgate 1000 watt subs to put in my home theater and found that even with 325 watts for each sub, the amp was clipping (shown by red LEDs on the front of the amp) at regular listening levels. Looking at the speaker sensitivity levels (given in SPL@1w/1m) they were very low, only 89dB. Far lower than my 10"s. So I took them back. I don't know about your Kenwoods, but that could be an issue. Eminence makes professional woofers that are far more efficient than most car subs. they require larger boxes, but in a home that isn't such an issue as in a car. Since a rise in 10 dB requires 10x more power, a speaker with a 99dB SPL will only need 1/10 the power as a speaker with a 89dB SPL at the same level. So you can see that speaker sensitivity is a big issue. If your receiver has preamp outputs then just use those and the amp will have RCA inputs. If it has a single RCA sub out, then just use an RCA Y-adapter for the amp. That's what I do. If you do decide on a Guitar Center amp, make sure you understand the inputs and outputs. Some have 1/4" headphone or 3 prong TRS inputs, and some have quick link outputs that is proprietary to the professional music industry. Not all are like this, and most are offered with the choice of various ins and outs. Just make sure you get the one with the RCA ins and binding post outs. MCM Electronics and Parts Express are 2 online stores you can search to also get some ideas. Parts Express can give you a full line of Eminence driver specs as well as alot of other prefessional/home/car audio drivers. http://www.partsexpress.com/ | |
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| I just brought a 240 watt 4 channel amp. I want to hook it up to my Awia home stereo and a pair of extra speakers. I don't know what to do next. What do i need? Please help me someone!!! | |
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Jerry | Ebb, if this is a car amp, you are going to have to buy a 12v power supply. It should be at least 20A rated. If this is really what you want to do instead of buying a home/professional amp to do the same job, then to connect the outputs of the Aiwa it depends on what type of speaker connections you have on it. If you have stripped wire outputs out of the Aiwa and speaker level inputs into the car amp, then just hook those together. If you have RCA speaker outputs on the Aiwa, then just buy an RCA patch cord and go from speaker out to RCA in on the amp. You will need to adjust the amp input sensitivity down so you don't overload the input. If you have a plug on the speakers, cut them off, strip the wires, and hook them up to the amp outputs. Read my input just above yours. You may find that a home/pro amp will be cheaper than the car amp/power supply combo. Musician's Friend online is selling a 300 watt per channel stereo amp for $179 right now. Something like that may be a better route. | |
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| ive got a amp and a sub. i want to connect them to my personal cd player. I just dont know how to do it. Can anyone help plz. Ive connected the sub to the amp and thats about it. PPlz help. | |
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| i need help in wiring my 600w 4 channel bushmann amp i brought it off of a freind i am aware that u need possitive terminal to the + and the negative goes on GND for ground but there is another in the middle of these two called REM on the bottom it says it is some sort of auto arial, i asked my mate and he said u connect the auto arial wire from there the only thing is i do not have one of these so how do i get round this. can u simply earth that point to make the amp come on or wut??????????????? . also cos it a 600w amp do i need a capacitor to help boost bass | |
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| I tried to hook up my amp to a 12v adapter. I split the wires but how do I know what wire is + or -. What does GND and REM mean on the amp and what do i need to put there? The colorful wires that hook to each speaker also has a ground wire where do I need to hook that. I thought I had every thing hooked up right but I wasn't getting power to the amp and I smelled something burning. My brother was trying to help me and he didn't really have a clue what he was doing. I do know that it was getting some kind of power because he forgot to unplug the adapter and touched the BATT screw and got shocked a little. PLEASE HELP US BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT!!! THANKS IN ADVANCE. | |
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| to Eb as for ure burning smell i can think of 2 things 1.the power supply u have is not rated for ure amp, that smell may have been the little transitor and stuff inside just burning out in which case it may be fucked. 2.u may have had the amp conected the wrong way round in wich case that smell may also be bad news for the transformer , but the amp should be ok but i wud of thort it protected. as for on the transformer wich is + and - i will have to look that up. and that rem wire is from wut ive been told has to be bridged to the possitive terminal that tells amp to turn on. also on ure transformer there should be ratings like input 230v-250v ouput 12v there should be a PA rating this is a power amps rating this says how much power it can give. u may also have ratings such as amps A and maybe some other stuff. also it will say wether the output is AC or DC u need it to be DC. dont get confused input is AC ure looking to c if output is DC ( alternating current or direct current)but u prob already new this. but most transformers are DC out put. plz get back to me and tell me wut the rating on ure transformer are and some idea of the amp. if so i think i can tell u how to connect it all. also is there 2 black wires from the supply and has one got a white stripe. |
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Jerry | Eb, unless the amp was all ready faulty, I don't think it would be the cause of the smoke. What kind of power supply are you using? A low quality, low current adapter will not power the amp. If it is the kind with the box that hangs on the outlet, you could burn your house down, much less smell smoke. GND is negative. REM is remote. It means more specifically remote turn on; that is, turning it on from a remote location. I.e. the car stereo which has a 12v output that turns on when it is on. It is used to keep the amp from draining the car battery when the car is off. In your case tie the 12v+ to the REM and the amp will turn on. Again, you better had have a power supply that can push alot of current, possibly 20-35A. The unit should look like an amplifier itself, or something you would see on a technician's work bench. They are expensive, but it's the only thing that will power a high power car amp. | |
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biOkiD | i have a car amp plugged in my computer. i used a 12v power supply with only 5 ampere. when i crank the volume up i lost the sound. is the problem related to the amperage? please help! thanx! | |
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brett | I've been toying with the idea of doing this to make up a portable size dj'ing system with a car stereo instead of all the other sh!t you normally have to lug around. On that note, I've got a sony cd player/amp which does 4x40W - not huge, but okay for what I need.  wish it were bigger. [go to http://www.jaycar.com.au and search for mp3110 in the keyword box] Would this amp be ideal? I'm worried about the inrush current listed as 35A cold start. Of course I only need 10A to run the sony cd player, but would the inrush current blow the fuse on the sony before I get to power it up? This would be an issue if i were to mount everything in a rack and have it all permanently connected. I don't really want to have two switches... one to power up the power supply and the other to connect the power over o the sony. |
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| I havent bothered to read all the posts, but it's easy enouth to power a car amp with computer power supply's. I used 3 200watt AT power supplies, $5 each. and you dont need a massive current output, just look at the fuse on the amp!, even though my amp was "500 watt" the fuse was 20A, so give it a bit extra and she's sweet. Just link the +12V and the Remote to have it always on. (if u find a cheaper way let me know) | |
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Luke again | by the way, u connect all the yellow wires together, (+12v) and connect them to the +12v terminal on the amp. An equal (or more) quantity of black wires (0v) needs to be connected together and connected to the "Ground" terminal on the amp. Then add a wire going from +12v to REM with a switch and u can turn the amp on/off, and the powersupplies have a button. (to power up ATX power supplies, look it up. If you dont understand then buy AT supplies - cheaper anyway) To top it all off, screw it all to the bottom of a computer table and bring the terminals on the amplifier up to the top of the table to a terminal strip for easy access. |
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Anonymous | I'm trying to hook both, a factory stereo and an after market stereo to my 99' ford torus.I have temp. installed my sony and have it working. But I would also like to be able to use the radio and tape deck from the factory deck. Unfortunetly in order for the after market to work, I had to disconnect the factory. Any help would be great. |
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Unregistered guest | I am tring to hook up a computer in my truck and was wondering if it was wondering if it was possible to by pass the computer power convertor and just hook up the motherboard straight up to my battery |
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Unregistered guest | To hook up a computer to a car stereo and have it work properly, You'd have to have a false reciever supplying the "remote-power switch". Which on most reciever units, is the blue wire. And for 6513254564, No you can't hook a motherboard straight to a battery, cause of DC-AC conversions is needed. If you try to hook it up straight, You'll fry and possibly melt your circuts. |
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Don Juan Unregistered guest | what does "REM" mean on the side of a amp. and what should i hook it up to ??? | |
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Unregistered guest | I can not believe you guys..... Depending on the amp.... You will need a power supply.... And the remote is how you turn on the amp... Ground in negative and s the plus goes to + and rem turns on the amp with 12 volts.. |
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Unregistered guest | Hi folks. I'm hooking up a Sony XR-4157 audio cassette player (perhaps 10-12 years old) & am uncertain what some of the wires on the back of the stereo are for. I've been able to i.d. a speaker wire & the memory for sure. I have a red wire that feeds into a little black box that seems to have a board in it & a black wire joins it on the way out. I'm not sure if this is the battery & ground. Can someone out there help me?? | |
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New member Username: Whiterasta84Post Number: 1 Registered: 01-2004 | i had my old system hooked up in my living room using a battery charger for my power. worked very well. | |
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Unregistered guest | I Have a Earthquake tnt300 watt and i was wondering if there is a way to make it louder by bridging but im not shure how to do that i need to know what can make it louder. I also have another situation where my fuses keep blowing on my amps i think it might be the remote wire cause i left it open didnt cover with tape not shure but i got 2 different kinds of amps a kenwood and some other brand ones a 300 other not shure and i dont know if thats good or what. I just need to know the best way to hook up an amps and subs and get it the loudest best sounding you know what i mean my email is chronicisdashit420@yahoo.com | |
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Unregistered guest | Here's my issue: I have had my car stereo stolen twice in the past 2 months now, and am tired of replacing windows and stereos. I realize that this trend will only continue if i don't do something to protect my car, like an alarm (I had the faceplate off and inside my hosue the 2nd time). However, wth a $1700 car, and a dwindling budget, I don't think this is my best option. For the past few weeks I have been thinking of purchasing an iPod, and an idea hit me today: using the iPod as my car stereo. Seeing as I am not worried about the cosmetics of my car, I started to think about leaving the hole on my dash, and using an iPod as my music source (and adding an amp to my car to power it). Being completely removable, I wouldn't have to worry about it getting jacked, and I could still take it w/ me wherever I want. I was wondering if anyone had any idea if, or how I could make this work. Anything would be much appreciated, seeing as I am a beginner at this. My email is pedxing55@yahoo.com if anyone has any tips. Thanks. | |
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Anonymous | what in my car can i hook my amp up to besides my battery a 12vlt source | |
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bass_lover Unregistered guest | power supply:for all you americans click here http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5 F009%5F001%5F005%5F000&product%5Fid=22%2D510 it is designed to run high performance amplifiers and is dert cheap for what it can do, 25amp is heaps really only electricians need that many amp. 10amp is enough to power one head unit and a couple of speakers, 25amp is enough to power 1 amplifer and subs, 30-35amp is enough to power 1 head unit and 1 amplifier with subs. Computer power supplys are good for only powering a head unit not amplifiers and subs. I'm using a 25amp dick smith power supply to power a 1200w amp and 2 600w subs it pumps! And stop asking what REM is it stands for Remote, you just get one 2 inch peice of wire and go from the rem to the +12v, go from the gnd (ground) to the negitve terminal on your power source and finally go from the +12v to the positive terminal on the power source. Need more help? br61661@bladerunner88f.com Thanks. |
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ejenson33 Unregistered guest | i have aaudiotek 100wx2ch amp and i want to hook it up to my stereo in my room and to the subs i have but it doesnt have any names for the wires coming out the back, it just has black, pink, and red wires (3) so i cant figure it out.. my brother says the red one is power and he doesnt know the rest cause it used to be in his car so i dont know | |
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New member Username: MasterPost Number: 1 Registered: 01-2004 | I am going to connect my car amp to my home stereo an i lost my book for my amp. Its a Rockford Fosgate PUNCH an i just need to know wat is REM an were do i connect it. Oh an another thing is B+ my Positive? | |
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New member Username: MasterPost Number: 2 Registered: 01-2004 | Ok i know wat REM is. Is the Gain turn knob my power increase? I have a switch that has +12db - +6db an 0, im planing on connecting my subs wat function should i put it to? | |
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Larry Westhwall Unregistered guest | Hello I want to be able to play some tones in my office. I don't want to spend a bunch of money. So I was thinking of using what I have allready at home. What I have is and old car stereo and a computer. Now my question is, is there anywoon that can tell me how I would go about using the computers power supply to power up the car stereo. What cable from the power suply would I connect to the car stereos power cords? Can I use any cable from the power supply to do this? I hope somebody can help me with this. Thanks Larry Westhwall |
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korey mercado Unregistered guest | i have a 1000watt amp powering a 15inch audiobahn special order sub and i dont want to spend alot on a power supply.i am not an idiot i know how to connect everything i just need someone to guide me in the right direction with the power supply please i am only 14 and every1 in my family but me has no clue about what i am talkin about PLEASE HELP! | |
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Silver Member Username: Project6Post Number: 210 Registered: 12-2003 | go to radio shack and tell them what you want to happen. You want a rectifier with plenty of amperage. Or you can look for a power supply using torroidal transformers and assemble one yourself. They are not cheap!!! Those car amps are really powerful but without the right type of power supply, it really cannot put out its rated wattage. cheers |
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koreymercado Unregistered guest | thanks berny i have a surround sound system but its one of those dvd/cd/radio in one you know a 1 1/2 inch thick im just mot sure weather to get a an amp (with 800 watts max power and 125watts rms)or a inverter.also how many amp would the inverter have to be? |
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Silver Member Username: Project6Post Number: 226 Registered: 12-2003 | minimum 25 amps | |
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koreymercado Unregistered guest | thanx and also its funny that between thr short time that i wrote my 2nd message and this one i found a way to hook up my sub without the 1000watt car amp i m usin my dads old amp for his stereo in the mono mode and my sub hits very good! |
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Unregistered guest | ok tell me this, could i hook up a car amp to a 3disc, tuner, dual cassette stereo system? i know bout the 12v ac to dc with high amps but explain how i would hook a amp up to it. | |
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sam100W Unregistered guest | also im on a short budget so ya, maybe $90 or more, if i get my paycheck | |
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sam100W Unregistered guest | well i found a cheaper route, so don't worry | |
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Unregistered guest | i have a car amp of 12,000 watts and two 12'' and two 6/9 and 2 tweters how can i hook all this in my house i alredy have a 10 volts transformer but it doesnt work what do i need help please | |
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Unregistered guest | yeah I've done this before. I hooked it to my home television for to play my XBox with good sound. Here's exactly what I did. My cousin had 2 12" Rockford Fosgate subs and a 800 watt Jenson Amp that he gave to me because he just upgraded to a more powerful system. I had one of those emergency Solar power supply (one of those things that has the light and jumper cables on it). I took the power and the remote wire and twisted them together and clamped them in the positive jumper clamp. I took the ground wire and clamped it to the negative jumper clamp. Plugged the Solar power supply in the wall just to keep it charged while the amp is using the power. Took a RCA cable and hooked it to the output of the television and into the amp. I had the subs wired to the amp. I got the subs working great but you couldn't hear the high pitched sound. The bass overpowered all the high sounds and I would have to turn the volume really loud to hear the high sound but the bass would start shaking windows and walls. So, then what I did was I unhooked the subs from the amp and I went to my friend's car audio shop and got 2 crossovers. I already had 2 pioneer 3 1/2 that I took out an old car in a junk yard. Then I took wires and ran them from the channel terminals on the amp and put them on the input of the crossovers. Hooked the subs to the woofer side of the amps and hooked the 3 1/2's to the tweeter sides of the crossovers. Then I gave it a go and it was very impressive. Very high sounds going through the 3 1/2's and low sounds passing through the subs. I kept it that way for a long time then I actually hook the system in my explorer and it sounded a lot better in the house then it did in the explorer until I upgraded to a more powerful amp. Remember this if you going to use my method. 1. Make sure you have subs in a box for good bass reponse. 2. Make sure you have fuses in the power wire of the amp and take out the fuse when hooking it to power supply and put it back in whenever all wires are connected to power supply. 3. Don't have subs close to mids or tweeters because you may get frequency feedback which can damage the subs. 4. Use high ampere rated fuses because using an alternate power supply other than a car battery could increase your amps RMS wattage. 5. This method may not be safe but it worked fine for me a good 3 months then I put it in my car. 6. Keep the powersupply charging because the power supply will die out eventually which mean no power to the amp. 7. Depending on the power of the amp the power supply may not be enough to power the amp. If you need any help with this you can email me. Uknowdis2000@yahoo.com *This was my little experiment that I tried at home if your amp or anything blows on you don't hold me responsible* |
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oneiwillie Unregistered guest | can I use car audio subs in a DJ sub box with no problems? | |
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big a Unregistered guest | if i have a low watt reciever in my home stereo system could i get bass by adding a powerful dj amp or is there another cheaper way to get enough bass to disturb the peace , if so just post or email at Scorpio110288@aol.com PLease...........Please............ Help Thanks |
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Unregistered guest | ok my setup so far is a small reciever/cd player which gets is power from a sub which also gives power to the speakers for the system...i have 2 small satellite speakers and 2 larger speakers hooked up to this sub and i wanted to buy some large floorstanding speakers...so i took my large klipsch speakers upstairs and tried to hook them up to the sub as well, but as i had expected, not enough power...how can i get a 2 channel amp to power 2 more large speakers while bypassing the sub's power supply? or is there a better way of doing this? please email me any suggestions thanks alot i need to go from this: RCVR---SUB---<=four speakers _________________________________________________ to this: RCVR---SUB---<=four speakers | |___<=2 speakers _________________________________________________ and then eventually to this: RCVR---SUB---<speakers | |___<speakers | |___ 2 1000 watt car subs in dual ported boxes plus another amp? any ideas? |
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New member Username: Icedout809Dearborn hts, Mi Us Post Number: 2 Registered: Mar-04 | hey i got a car system hooked up in my house i got a 12v plug in . now i want to hook up my car amp to it but i don't know how much of a plug in i need i know 12v but how many a ???? the one dod not work it was 1.5 a and how would i hook it up cuz it got me beat there the sonys it is a 480 amp so if u could help i will like that thx | |
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Unregistered guest | I have a Kenwood Excelon car system (AM/FM/CD receiver, 9-band EQ, 500W/4ch amp, and a 600W/2ch amp)and I want to hook it all up in my house. What would be a good Pwr. supply 2 use. Will i need more than 1? | |
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Unregistered guest | i want to hook up my car stereo inside my house headdeck speakers subs and amp wat sort of power converter should i use so i dont damage any of my stuff ps wat about the green alians. | |
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Unregistered guest | I bridged a connection from the positive terminal on the amp to the REM and now the light on the amp comes on, but it goes away after about one second. What's the deal? | |
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Unregistered guest | I want to hook up my car stereo in my garage how do I do it? | |
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bt242 Unregistered guest | Man, sure is alot of BS on here for such a simple topic. Look, if you want to hook up a car amp at home, use a 13.8v ac to dc power supply, like Astron, Pyramid, Tripp-lite. Radio shack has a 25amp but is a switching and so I've heard could have more noise. Ebay! type in the words above with "power supply"...you'll find good deals. Look at your car amp, what is its fuse rating?...that should be the surge amperage of the power supply you buy. regulated power supplies have less noise than unregulated. have fun and remember to stick forks in the ac outlets while doing this. | |
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bt242 Unregistered guest | I just hooked up an 800watt boss amplifier(25amp fuse) to a radio shack 25amp 13.8v power supply......and it works great!.......no noise, great sub amp for home use, better than some subwoofer plate amplifier. | |
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bt242 Unregistered guest | I correct myself, yes P=I*E, or power=amps*volts. So with 13.8v at 25amps max, I get 345watts into 4ohms, not bad for a $45 used power supply and $60 amp both off ebay. | |
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BOOOM Unregistered guest | ok look basicaly i did it its possible, u hook up ur stereo to ur comp now the amp u need a converter that plugs in to the wall and ur amp is hooked up to it and the stereo, converter price and size depends on amp power, then ur speakers go to the amp. | |
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New member Username: 4doogiePost Number: 1 Registered: Apr-04 | My friend got some free home entertainment speakers he wants to know if they will work in his truck for a party. This is what he asked me Got some free home entertainment speakers (big ones with 12" subs, 6" speaker, and 3" tweaters). Will these work, or should I just plan on using my stock truck speakers? If this will work, where is the best place to hook them up? I was thinking I could pull off a door panel and wire them in with those speakers, but is there somewhere simpler and more accessible? His home speakers are 8 Ohms do you guys think this will work he has a 200 watt pioneer cd/mp3 player he doesn't now what ohm its at. Advance thanks for any help |
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Unregistered guest | 1.how efficient is 150watts stereo amplifier over 120watts and 200watts. 2.the advantages of stereo amplifier over monolithic amplifier. |
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bt242 Unregistered guest | 150 watts over 120watts will not prove to show much of a difference, you may gain some headroom and clarity on transients(extreme highs) and extreme bass punches. Fact: doubling your power equals a 3db increase in acoustic output. for example, a speaker 90db/1w/1m will produce 93db/2w/1m and 96db/4w/1m and so on. A mono amplifier will probably have more stability and control over a speaker than a stereo amp with the same power output on one channel. A stereo amp has two channels on a single power supply, mono...one channel on its power supply. The mono amp will also deal with heat better, stereo amp will of course get hotter since it has both channels on the heatsink(s)......more heat means less efficiency, the mono amp will probably play louder for longer periods of time........really it all just depends on your application and speaker used. A mono amp may be able to better handle lower impedence(ohm) drives like 4 or even 2ohms. | |
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bt242 Unregistered guest | Also....150watts & 200watts over 120watts will for sure improve midrange clarity. | |
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FrickinHilarious Unregistered guest | This thread is really sad. I can't believe what people are trying to do, and how well some of you can compose posts. | |
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Anonymous | I thought I was a little smarter than this but, what do I have to do to get my PC power supply to turn on once its out of the computer case? Its a switched power supply (obviously) but which wires can I jump to make the damn thing come to life? I'm using it for a car CD player in a tool box and it has me stumped. Any info would be great! | |
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Anonymous | You need to jump the Green wire with one of the Black wires (assuming you are using an ATX power supply). | |
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Unregistered guest | I have an Optimus 320 watt audio/video home reciever. Is ther a way I can get more watts from it. What do I have to buy to give my system more power and kick. Please help I appreciate it. | |
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Mr. T Unregistered guest | to anonymous with the PSU that needs to be turned on. what you do is take a paper clip and bend it in a 'U' shape. shove one end in any black cable on the motherboard connector and try it with the green cable. if it doesnt power on, try the black with the orange. newer ones use the orange cable. dont worry, no voltage goes through, only resistance. they say that the PSU always needs something for it to power or else it will damage. well, the fan in the PSU box is what does that. have fun. Also; question. can i combine two 5v cables on my PSU to make one 10V channel? the 5v channel is 25amp and i need 11-14.5 v for my amplifier. |
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Unregistered guest | I have a sony head unit with 1 pre out wired to an alpine D class mono amp and to a single subwoofer. This set up was workin fine until recently. On switching the head unit on,the amp power light comes on for a second then dies out. No sound is coming out of the subwoofer. What could be happening guys, I am desparate? | |
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Unregistered guest | Mr T, nar mate. dont bother using the 5V, use the 12v. switch mode psu's are not like transformers, Go buy some 'AT' powersupplys of ebay or something, your standard 200w at powersupply puts out 8a max at 12v. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3670%26item%3D3486324851 |
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New member Username: FryguyNova Scotia Canada Post Number: 1 Registered: Jun-04 | I have six 250-300 watt (old AT type) computer switching power supplys that i use as a bench-top high current power supply. I have been using this for years to test amps of all sizes up to 1200 watts! All it i did was wire all the leads in parallel so you get a higher amperage rating at the 12 volts. the 5 volt lines and the -12volt and the -5 volt lines had this done also. (this was because its my cheep bench test power supply i use to power just about anything i need to test) NOTE: ATX are safer to use as they wont burn out on zero load condition, though some good AT power supplys won't if they are of reasonable quality and have the necessary protection circuitery. Also be warned that the cheep ones also NEED to have a substantial 5 volt load BEFORE they supply the 12 volt rail! Computer power supplys are cheep and provide clean power. You can make a powersupply to power any amp for under $150 with NEW parts! Mine cost me about $100 for a 108 amp power supply! More than enough current to push any power hungery amp, though a big capacitor "boomer cap" of about 1-2 Farad can help alot with the loading on the power supply during the peak current periods. If you want more info e-mail me, to give me an indication of your interest. Then i'll take the time to do up a schematic and other documentation for you all to have and use. good night FryGuy. |
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New member Username: VinPost Number: 4 Registered: Jun-04 | Hello I would like to hook up 7 100W RMS (1 channel) car amps in my home. If I ask the electronics shop to build me a single 12V 50Amp transformer, then will this be ok to fully power all 7 of the amps ? Will it be safe ? How would I split the 12V output of the transformer amongst the 7 amps ? Are there any other electronic items which I should be using for this purpose as well ? Thank You |
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Silver Member Username: Project6Post Number: 970 Registered: Dec-03 | V, If you do go to an electronics shop, you should tell them what your requirements are, and what you are trying to accomplish. These guys should be well equipped to handle your needs. If not then I would seriously doubt their ability as an electronics shop. |
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New member Username: FryguyBarrington Passage, Nova Scotia Canada Post Number: 2 Registered: Jun-04 | a big transformer WONT work alone it needs regulation (heavy bridge rectifier module or four heavy diodes to convert AC to DC and then a analog voltage regulator to keep the voltage constant) and they are heavy ,expenisve and in-efficiant thats the problem. A custom switching power supplys can be made but it costs alot. A computer switching power supply is in easy supply and is cheep all you neeed to do is hool the 12 volt lines together in parellel for higher current rating and its scalable, put a larger amp on later just addd another powersupply or two in parellel to power the new amps demands. |
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New member Username: VinPost Number: 7 Registered: Jun-04 | Thank you so much Jonathan and Berny. btw, how many amps does a single computer power supply provide ? Regards |
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New member Username: FryguyBarrington Passage, Nova Scotia Canada Post Number: 3 Registered: Jun-04 | Depends on the power supply. I have a 250 watt ATX can provide 16 amps and one thats 18 amps at 12 volts, and i have a 300 watt ATX power supply that can only provide 10 amps at 12 volts. As you can see it depends on how the Manufacturer Designed the Power Supply. If you buy a new power supply get a high wattage one with the highest current output (amparage or amps)that you can get for the 12 volt output then you wont need three or four power supplys only two for the same power (power required depends on the amp, easy way to determine this is look at the fuse (amprage or amps) requirement for the amp and you will need meet or exceed that amprage or amps for a power supply) I'm working on a document for how to gang multiple atx power supplys together and the circuit diagram for a small and simple bounce-less switch thats required for the power supplys to be turned on together. | |
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New member Username: VinPost Number: 8 Registered: Jun-04 | Thanks Jonathan. I've managed to locate a 400W 18Amp(@12V DC) computer power supply at a local store. Should this be sufficient for powering a 50W(RMS) x 4 channel car amplifier ? Another question you may be able to assist me with: If I am running an 8-ohm speaker off a 4-ohm 50W(RMS) output channel of an amp, then what RMS power will the speaker actually put out ? How does the impedance load imbalance affect the sound provided by the speaker (and amp) ? btw, I'd like to have a look through the current draft of your document, if that's alright ! Regards |
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New member Username: VinPost Number: 9 Registered: Jun-04 | btw, is it true that an ATX power supply requires a motherboard connected in order to start up and shut down ? If so, then is there any way around this ? It seems that AT power supplies are rarely sold anywhere anymore ! Thank You |
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bobby bobworth Unregistered guest | i need an amp to power some 4 150 rms typical house speakers. At the moment im only using two speakers from a run of the mill amp and was wounderin if i could run a car amp from the stereo amp so i can use the volume control on the stereo amp, hence cutting down on massive cost of buying a trillian watt rms stereo amp with remort control. | |
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New member Username: FryguyBarrington Passage, Nova Scotia Canada Post Number: 4 Registered: Jun-04 | To know what your power requirements are go by the fuse rating on the amp in your case a 400watt amp should have a 30 amp fuse so you'll need two 400 watt ATX power supplys. And yes but no about needing a mothorboard to turn on a ATX power supply. It requires a TTL (transistor-transistor logic) level bounce-less switch to turn it on and off, though a simple jumper can work but may cause damage to the power supply with time. |
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New member Username: FryguyBarrington Passage, Nova Scotia Canada Post Number: 5 Registered: Jun-04 | Here is the ATX specs, if anyone is interested in the in reading the ATX specs that is. :-D The document i hope to have finished in the next day or two. |
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New member Username: VinPost Number: 10 Registered: Jun-04 | Jonathan I'm very interested in your document, but my company's network unfortunately does not allow me ftp access for downloading it. Could you please email it to me at vnaidoo@cellc.net ? Two interesting questions that you guys may be able to help me out with: 1) If I am running an 8-ohm speaker off a 4-ohm 50W(RMS) output channel of an amp, then what RMS power will the speaker actually put out ? How does the impedance load imbalance affect the sound provided by the speaker ? Is this perfectly safe for the speaker and amp ? Would the sound from the speaker be better or worse (or neither) if the speaker were driven by an equivalent 8-ohm 50W(RMS) amp output ? The reason I'm asking is that I'm planning to use a car amp indoors, and hook up 8-ohm bookshelf speakers to it .. for my home theatre system. 2) Using a 2-channel 4-ohm amp, what happens if I connect the positives and negatives of the 2 output channels to form a single output channel for a speaker (and provide exactly the same sound signal to the amp for input for each channel) ? What effect does this have on current & power & impedence .. etc .. for the speaker and the amp ? Thank You |
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Anonymous | V, 1) Im not sure of the design of your amp, but in general, if you run an 8ohm speaker you will get slightly less then half the power output of that channel. The voltage drop across the speaker will be the same but the current will be slightly under half (depending on the freqency of the signal). Their could also be circitry that could be damaged if you try it, but I doubt it. **Warning! do not use a speaker with a lower impedence then the amp is designed for, as this can easily damage the amp 2) This is not a good idea! If you plan to do it make sure you check the potential between the terminals you plan to join!! or you may short the whole thing out. Nar mate, just dont do it!!!!! (the only advantage would be that you could drive a lower impedance load, say your amp is designed for 4ohm, then combining 2 channels would enable you to run 2ohm, depending on the design of you amp!) Excuse Spelling, Luke |
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sewall Unregistered guest | I have a car radio I want to hook up in my garage. I have a 12v dc 3amp power supply. I've tried hook my radio up to it but I get no power. I have 3 wires coming from the radio excluding the speaker wires. black - GND, yellow and red. I must be doing something wrong. any feedback would be great. I don't have any kind of amp plugged into this. And the fuse is good. | |
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New member Username: FryguyBarrington Passage, Nova Scotia Canada Post Number: 6 Registered: Jun-04 | (NOTE: i'll get the document posted soon. i just got my computer going again after the mother board let go :-( ) sewall the usual wires for a deck is as follows (NOTE: Colours may very on some decks) black = Ground or Common (chassis ground) red = +12 volt or positive on the battery yellow = +12 volt IGN or the keyed acessory on the ignition switch Blue = +12 volt to the powered antennia |
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Bronze Member Username: VinPost Number: 14 Registered: Jun-04 | Jonathan ! Something just occurred to me .. If I connect my computer power supplies and car amps to my home audio receiver or dvd player, then how am I going to control the volume on the amps !! .. because I don't think the volume control on the home receiver or dvd player affects the signal on its pre-outs .. right ? Btw, how's your document coming along ? Thanks & Regards |
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DrAVoN Unregistered guest | the red wire is IGNITION lead to turn on the stereo when car is started. black is ground yellow is BATTERY LEAD and blue is remote turn on-lead witch is for amps and the others that look alike are speaker wires | |
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Chef Baker Unregistered guest | Hey everybody, Im trying to set up my 2 12" JBL car subs powered by my 550Watt car amp (its fuse is 30A) in my house and i just bought this ATX computer power supply: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=91351 9&Sku=A107-2003 , to power it all. It puts out 34A at 12V. I was just wondering if 1) thats a good enough power supply for this and 2) how would i hook up the power output of the ATX CPS to my amp. should i just take all the yellow wires in the ATX output and attach em to the +12V input on my amp? And what about the black wires, do i need to do anything to draw the current back to the ATX or what? Thanks for any help! |
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New member Username: FryguyBarrington Passage, Nova Scotia Canada Post Number: 7 Registered: Jun-04 | Your power supply will work just fine. See my attached document on how to make a ATX power supply a scalable power supply.
I finaly got the document finished for everyone to use. :-D |
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luke2349587 Unregistered guest | Chef Baker, geez mate I gotta get me some of those!!!!!!! FFS, 34A should be enouth, because if your amp tries to draw more current then the fuse will blow. And the powersupply should be ok too because it wont be at full load. To power the amp, connect all the yellow wires to the +12v, and then connect a wire (with a switch) between the +12v and the remote. This will turn the amp on & off. Connect up an amount of black wires to that the thickness of the black wires is equal to or more then the thickness of yellow wires. May be not a bad idea to connect up a capacitor across between the 12v & ground on the amp, or close to it. Just to ease the strain on the Voltage regulator inside the powersupply. Then to turn the powersupply on u can follow fry's instructions. (but beware that the wire colours of different psu's vary, it may be good to lookup the location of the wires not just the colour) |
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New member Username: FryguyBarrington Passage, Nova Scotia Canada Post Number: 8 Registered: Jun-04 | luke2349587 does have a good point. There is some non-standard ATX power supply's out there (most are proprietary power supplies meant for compact PC's or specific brands like dell is non-standard on their plugs. They have their own plug wiring pattern and form factor in some cases) Its safe to say that thanks to standards that any new power supply will meet these specifications (unless they are drop-in replacements for non-standard equipment). A large "boomer" capacitor can help a lot in the high current stress on the power supply and help compensate for IR losses with long wire lengths. Say a large 16 volt 10,000 uf capacitor per every 100 watts should help sufficiently. (Most high quality amps now have fairly sufficient filtering with a large capacitor already) A external capacitor may not be required as long as your power wires are kept to a minimum and you are using a sufficient wire gauge. | |
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New member Username: NeedalilhelpPost Number: 1 Registered: Aug-04 | i got a question i got a car amp and was planning on hooking it up in my room. i got 2 15" 2400 watt subs. i got the ac to dc converter. there is a postive terminal and a negative terminal. how the hell to i power the amp with this i dont get it. any help would be highly helpfull thanks |
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Bronze Member Username: FryguyBarrington Passage, Nova Scotia Canada Post Number: 16 Registered: Jun-04 | the positive to positive, and negative to negitive on the amp then the REM terminal goes to the positive (can go through a switch) to turn the amp on. | |
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Bronze Member Username: FryguyBarrington Passage, Nova Scotia Canada Post Number: 17 Registered: Jun-04 | what size of an amp do you have and whats the output current from that ac to dc converter ? | |
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Unregistered guest | hey im wonderin, on the back of my computer there are 5 plugs for my altec lansing speakers...now what im wonderin it i got a simple older 308 watt house amp simple left and right hook up(red and white) now what im wonderin is my comp speakers use the black and green plugs, wound i be to un plug the altec speakers and then be able to use the smaller comp plugs, cut the wire short and sotter on the bigger plugs for the house stereo? then plug them into my aux. on the back of my house amp? would that even work? plz right back thx | |
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New member Username: NeedalilhelpPost Number: 2 Registered: Aug-04 | johnathan- so what yur saying is, run a wire from the positive terminal to the rem terminal on the amp. now there is a b+ terminal to the right the the REM terminal, and a GND on the left side of the REM terminal. where do i put the negitiver wire to? |
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Bronze Member Username: FryguyBarrington Passage, Nova Scotia Canada Post Number: 20 Registered: Jun-04 | Your completly new to amps i take it, so i'll take some time to break it down for you. B+ = the battery's Positive terminal or in your case a AC to DC power converter. GND = Ground or common wire, chassis ground on a typical car is the negative terminal on the battery. REM = Remote turn-on terminal, this is usualy ran to a switch then to the positive on the battery. Or to the head units power antenna wire so when the head unit is turned on the amp is turned on also. (The AC to DC converter should be rated to supply the same Amperage rating as the fuse on the AMP EX: 30 amp "short for amprage" fuse you'll need a minimum of a 30 amp AC to DC converter) |
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Bronze Member Username: FryguyBarrington Passage, Nova Scotia Canada Post Number: 21 Registered: Jun-04 | Kingston Customs, I'm going to need more information. I can assume that your PC has a 5.1 sound card with the 5 plugs (left/right front, left/right rear, center/sub, line in, mic) NOTE: One thing is the computer speakers cant take that much power! Are you wondering if you can hook your stereo system and speakers to your computer, if thats the case yes you can with a simple patch cable(1/8" stereo headphone plug to 2 RCA style plugs [Red/White]) |
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New member Username: NeedalilhelpPost Number: 3 Registered: Aug-04 | heh i got another question, i powered up my amp. it has the green light on and everything but when i hook everything up i get no sound out of the subs. think my channel blew? if so is there a relativly cheap way to fix it? thanks |
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Anonymous | Sure. 1)pack it up in a box 2)send it back where you got it. Your too "stupid" to be working with expensive audio gear! Meaning of "Stupid" (adj. stu·pid·er, stu·pid·est) 1. Slow to learn or understand; obtuse. 2. Tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes. 3. Marked by a lack of intelligence or care; foolish or careless: a stupid mistake. 4. Dazed, stunned, or stupefied. 5. Pointless; worthless: a stupid job. |
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