car audio in home

[fullwoofer2121 10+ year member]

I seen a lot of people putting car audio in their home. I want to do this while the stuff is waiting for install in a few months. what kind of power supply unit would power audioque hdc3 12. this doesnt hurt the performance down the line does it?

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[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

the power supply will cost more than a plate subwoofer amp, and the plate amp will outperform. You can get plate subwoofer amps from Parts Express. come with speaker level inputs, low level inputs, auto turn-on, crossover, phase adjustment, etc.

you only want to run a sub? you already have a home audio receiver?

car speakers and subs in a home environment can work if you build the enclosures correct.

car amps in a home environment fail to be worth the effort.

using a car sub in a home will not be any worse on it than a car, and typically a home environment is easier. i see 30+ years of use out of home speakers on a regular basis.

in my garage i have a Pioneer SX203 from the early 90's running a pair of 12's and a pair of car audio coax. been doing that for over 10 years on that receiver.

 

[fullwoofer2121 10+ year member]

I am only temporarily wanting to use these until I install them. I dont have a home audio receiver. I was just wondering what you would get to supply the power to the amp to push the subwoofer. like a power source kind of like your car does for the whole car audio set-up.

 

[>>SQL<< 10+ year member]

it was pointed out to you that the power supply would cost more than the amp.

You need a 100 amp power supply at least, that will cost $500+

 

[TitoThePirate 10+ year member]

Car battery, and battery charger. bam, you have your power supply

 

[skylineTT 10+ year member]

Car battery, and battery charger. bam, you have your power supply

not recommended in home and you will drain the batt faster than the charger can keep it up.

What you will want to do, and what I have been doing for years now, is pick up an ATX computer power supply. Find one that will produce roughly 1000w and you can wire it up to whatever amp you have for the subwoofer. you can use an RCA-to-auxilary jack adapter wire (4 bucks at walmart) to play music from a computer or mp3 player or phone. You don't have to buy a plate amp or 500 dollar power supply to do this. computer units are abundant and cheap.

 

[skylineTT 10+ year member]

I want to add that these power supplies are 12v units and some amps don't like playing at 11.5-12v so it is kind of a crap shoot. I run an ED Nine.1 off of mine and it works flawlessly but the Soundstream EGA1700d that I used to have didn't work as well. Also, if your amp is rated for 2kW, the power supply will not let it put out that much power. If you have a 1000w power supply, you could only get 1000w from your amp max, but generally you will get a little less due to inefficiencies.

 

[TitoThePirate 10+ year member]

he'd only get around 800watts max rms off a 1000watt PSU

depending on their 12v rail Current Rating. and you can parallel them to gain total current, but it will not be like. psu1: 20/psu2:20 = 40 it'll be like 38 or 35total amperage.

 

[TitoThePirate 10+ year member]

and a battery/battery charger will keep the voltage around 12. and if he doesnt want to put in harm's way, he can build a wooden enclosure for the battery.

 

[MisterDeadeye 10+ year member]

I think you're both forgetting the fact that this thread is over two months old, and the OP hasn't been here since January 10th.

 

[CodyHendo 10+ year member]

For the ATX computer power supply way, could you do two of them and run two different amps? one for mids and one for the sub? and wire them together to an auxiliary input?

 

[PapaGeno21 10+ year member]

I don't see why not.

As far as the power supply is concerned you want to watch this video.

!
Now as far as buying them, it is not as simple as 300 watts = 30 amps. Many of the PSU's are LACKING on amperage. Look around on Newegg and look in the details. You need the 12V rail to have the amperage you need.

Here is the one I just bought. 50 bucks, does 56 Amps. I only needed 40 amps so I have some overhead, only running a 400W mono amp.

Newegg.com - COOLMAX ZX Series ZX-700 700W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Find out how much your amps pull for amperage, and then you will know what you need. MOST computer power supplys lack the 12V current we need, but some do have it. I had to look at around 60 of them to finally find a few worth getting. The one I bought is by far the best deal for the amperage I am getting.

 

[CodyHendo 10+ year member]

And how would i link them together so i can just plug in my computer and ipod and play them through the mids and sub? an RCA from output to input of the other amp?

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

It is really far easier to just get a plate amp. Will likely net a cheaper end result and is closer to the proper way of making this all work as well.