Car sub to computer?

[KTMrida4life 10+ year member]

Well Ive got a spare SA 8 D4 motor/basket laying around that I can recone.. may as well find a use for it if I dont sell it or keep it as a spare.

If I built a ported box for the 8, what would I need to make it work with a PC?

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[dumple 5,000+ posts]

a plate amp, other speakers, the first thing that came to mind

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

A plate amp for the sub and another amp for the speakers, unless you'd just use existing pc speakers.

You can get affordable plate amps from Parts Express and MCM Electronics

 

[Tupolev 10+ year member]

If I remember correctly the BASH plate amps only go up to 1000.

You might need a PA amp.

 

[myjaja 10+ year member]

Plate amps or you can find your self a power supply for cheap that you can run a car amp to.

 

[Bass Addict 10+ year member]

i got a yamaha p3500s for christmas.its a pa amp.it will be hooked up to my yamaha 5.1 surround sound for subwoofer duty.in order to get an unbalaced signal(home audio gear) to pro gear signal.i have a rolls mb15b i will recieve in the mail tomorrow.this lil unit converts the typical -10db output from the consumer gear to +4db required to use pro gear to its potential. i have seen a guy on youtube using the pa amp like i have from his computer to a small dj mixer to the pa amp.he had a 15 in a custom built box and it seemed very loud

 

[duanebro 10+ year member]

Well Ive got a spare SA 8 D4 motor/basket laying around that I can recone.. may as well find a use for it if I dont sell it or keep it as a spare.
If I built a ported box for the 8, what would I need to make it work with a PC?

A amp, several have been suggested, remember that a home doesn't need the spl that a car does. If you are gaming or watching movies then tune way lower than you would in a car. Try about 25hz.

 

[GammaRadiation 10+ year member]

Plate amps or you can find your self a power supply for cheap that you can run a car amp to.

This sounds like a good idea in theory, but in reality you'll spend almost as much on a 12v power supply that can handle an amp as you would on a plate amp of similar power output. That is, you spend more in the long run. Since music is dynamic you can use a battery and a charger. I'd recommend a sealed battery and a ****** charger if you're going to go this route.

Beware, it's difficult to perfectly rectify 110/220 AC into 12-14v DC. Thus, there is a high chance of there being some noise you can not get rid of (without some mondo diodes which wouldn't be good for efficiency). This is why the highest end 12v supplies for test beds cost thousands of dollars.

In highschool I took 3 350w ATX power supplies, modified them to just output 12v, and wired them in parallel. It worked. Ran a 400w RMS amp pretty well. Cost me $50 for the amp and $0 for the supplies (were burnt out at 5 or 3.3v or from trash computers). However, there was a 60Hz buzz always, independent of gain or volume. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/blackeye.gif.66a1670f5aaf7f406e783a63e3387dc5.gif

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

^ Is running PSU's in parallel in anyway harmful? Do you need diodes for each PSU?

 

[GammaRadiation 10+ year member]

They didn't catch on fire and didn't harm the amp. Just some 60Hz noise. No diodes that weren't already in the PSU design. A diode pack that could handle that current would have been far too much for my highschool pockets and probably would have added too much resistance for the amp to turn on. I suppose if you wanted to spend $30-40 and had a bunch of PSU's laying around you could make a decent 12v supply with an external rectifier and probably drop the hum to a sub audible level.

 

[GammaRadiation 10+ year member]

Oh and IIRC two of the PSU's were identical and one was a very similar (slightly older) model.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

yea, trying to run car audio amps in a house is just pointless. a lot of hassle for no gain when compared to plate amps or pro audio amps. if plate amps aren't large enough - go with a pro audio amp.

 

[aeroportspwn 10+ year member]

Yeah, Just get something like a Dayton Rackmount amp or a Crown XTI. I think that would be better vs using pc power supplies on a car audio amp. Your choice though.

 

[KTMrida4life 10+ year member]

lol

Were you joking about just running a big car battery in my room? I laughed at first, but thats actually an option.. just depends how fast it will drain. I can get my hands on 135ah batteries pretty cheap..

 

[duanebro 10+ year member]

lol
Were you joking about just running a big car battery in my room? I laughed at first, but thats actually an option.. just depends how fast it will drain. I can get my hands on 135ah batteries pretty cheap..

I have heard of it being done. I'd get a real amp for about the same price though.