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Thread: Way to convert Car amp into and amp for you home sub? |
    
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| Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 07:59 am: |
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Does anyone know a way or a place to look that would tell me how to convert my car amplifiers into amps for my subs in a home entertainment system? Thanks
Please email me! |
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| Posted on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 11:52 pm: |
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Could you please post it here also? I was looking for the same answer.
Thanks
Mordaiki |
amy tweak |
| Posted on Sunday, June 30, 2002 - 06:08 pm: |
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http://clubknowledge.com/cgi-local/auction/auction.cgi?t12 |
New member Username: Cutlas
Post Number: 15
Registered: 12-2003
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| Posted on Saturday, December 20, 2003 - 12:31 pm: |
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Hey my friend has his amp and deck, rigged up to one of those Eliminator car battery booster things. his dad did some wiring stuff and now he runs two 6x9's, BOSS R-535 Amp, MTX 10" sub, Pioneer cd player all in his room its super sweet. |
New member Username: Glasswolf
Post Number: 187
Registered: 12-2003
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| Posted on Saturday, December 20, 2003 - 01:06 pm: |
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It's really a waste of time and money to try this, to be honest.
That's the short answer: don't bother.
Long answer is this:
The reason it's not effective to do this is, in order to give the 12VCD amplifiers the power they'd need in a 120VAC environment, you'd need either a regulated power supply capable of supplying hundreds if not thousands of watts, and one that size would cost you more than just buying a new amplifier made for a home system.
Also home speakers run at 8 Ohms, which means that your "1200 watt" class-D amp would only produce 300 watts in your house. Pretty big drop in performance there.
The alternative to a regulated DC power supply, is using a trickle charger, and a bank of RG deepcycle batteries. If you use a normal car battery you'll most likely end up killing yourself, since car batteries produce an odorless, colorless, and highly toxic gas as a result of their use. This is also why you never put a lead-acid ar battery in the trunk or passenger compartment of a car, and always use Optima yellow-top batteries for this environment (RG deepcycle).
By the time you buy $160 yellowtop batteries, a good 120VAC battery charging unit, and build a circuit to regulate the power supply so it won't give the amps less than 12VDC to avoid clipping damage, you're once again over a realistic price range.
Some will try to tell you that a PC power supply will work, but keep in mind that when you see a "400 watt PC power supply" that "400 watts" is derived from 120VAC, not 12VDC, and it's split across both the 5V and 12V lines. The 12V line may actually only supply about 5 amperes of current, which isn't sufficient to keep an amplifier properly fed.
This question is asked over and over again, and the end result is always the same. Even if you do get it to work, it'll sound like crap, and probably set something on fire.
Just go buy a good home audio amplifier. There are plenty out there on eBay.
Check out Adcom or Rotel.
If you're really a cheap b*stard go to www.partsexpress.com and buy a plate-amp for home subs, and use that. It's relatively cheap, and they sell everything for DIY home made subs for home theater.
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New member Username: Glasswolf
Post Number: 188
Registered: 12-2003
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| Posted on Saturday, December 20, 2003 - 01:07 pm: |
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correction: 12VDC.
This silly forum has no edit feature for posted messages.
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New member Username: Randy420
Post Number: 1
Registered: 12-2003
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| Posted on Sunday, December 21, 2003 - 03:56 am: |
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hey this is for glasswolf...i have a 1000 watt amp.could i use a car battery it i had a vent. and how long would it last for? |
New member Username: Glasswolf
Post Number: 202
Registered: 12-2003
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| Posted on Sunday, December 21, 2003 - 10:58 am: |
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depends on the battery, and what the actual RMS draw of the amp is.
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New member Username: Randy420
Post Number: 2
Registered: 12-2003
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| Posted on Tuesday, December 23, 2003 - 09:44 pm: |
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I HAVE AN OLD ELECTRIC WHEEL CHAIR THAT MY DAD HAD AND IS IT POSSIBLE TO KEEP THE BATTERY CHARGER ON AND HOOK MY AMP ON THE BATTERY?..WOULD IT WORK? |
New member Username: Glasswolf
Post Number: 281
Registered: 12-2003
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| Posted on Wednesday, December 24, 2003 - 01:44 am: |
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if you're being serious, most likely no.
it would depend on the voltage of the battery and the charge rate as well as the discharge rate for the battery.
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New member Username: Motoman22
Post Number: 5
Registered: 12-2003
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| Posted on Wednesday, December 24, 2003 - 12:32 pm: |
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Randy, bad idea. There is a drastic difference between a battery charger and a power supply. Unless you love crackle and pop sounds out of your speakers and hate your equipment (which will have a short life) you should not try it.
The ONLY way to safely power 12v DC equipment in the house is with a regulated 12v power supply which has a constant output rating equal to or greater than the RMS power draw of your amp... and that will cost you a fortune. Cheaper and better off to just go buy a 120v AC home stereo system. |
New member Username: Glasswolf
Post Number: 299
Registered: 12-2003
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| Posted on Wednesday, December 24, 2003 - 05:33 pm: |
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the man speaks the truth
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New member Username: Randy420
Post Number: 3
Registered: 12-2003
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| Posted on Thursday, December 25, 2003 - 02:16 pm: |
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ok thanks...so when i hook up my amp it my truck batt..my cd deck has no bass output..or does the amp convert it?? |
New member Username: Motoman22
Post Number: 23
Registered: 12-2003
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| Posted on Friday, December 26, 2003 - 12:19 am: |
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Randy, some head units do have dedicated subwoofer outputs but if yours doesn't then you'll have to either use a stand-alone crossover or an amplifier with a built-in crossover.
Assuming your amp does not have a built-in crossover: You can get away cheap with what's called a 'choke coil' but you don't have much flexibility there without a lot of trial and error...and more stuff that will give you a headache. Your better bet is an active low-pass crossover like what you can find in the following link. This is a cheap one but will probably work fine for your application.
http://www.audio-warehouse.com/web/mdl/LXR1/detail.asp
It's a cheapo, don't expect much but it's certainly better than nothing. |
