I'm thinking of wiring up my spare 12" sub to my home theatre, I know how to get a signal to it, but I'm wondering how do I power it. I assume that I will need a power inverter, but what inverter would I need to power a sub that runs on DC power from a car? I was thinking of getting an inverter to run a sub, and maybe a separate one for neons as accent lighting or something. Just curious for the most part, my home theatre sub is fairly weak.

 

you can either find a home audio amplifier for it that plugs in the wall or get a power supply and 12v amplifier (battery helps but not "necessary")

 

Can use a power supply from a computer maybe?

 

possibly. but you would need a very small or very efficient amplifier and the battery as a buffer would be a must

 

You could rig a couple up together if you were really trying to bootleg it.

Would make much more sense to just buy a real home amplifier unit that runs on A/C power.

 

inverter = DC to AC
converter = AC to DC

some people use PSUs. seen it done a few times up at school

 

I did this up school.

Take a ~500w computer power supply or even 2 250W ones work well. Put a paper clip in the main mobo conection with the black and green wire as a jumper to give a signal that it's "plugged in" to the computer then run a black wire from a different connection to an amp 12v then run a small wire to remote wire like another jumper, then a yellow wire from same connection to the ground. Plug it in and you will get power. Run RCAs to a source then play some music.

Theres a few things on google for this if I wrote it a bit confusing

 

just remember that amps arent 100% efficent. so if ur running a 500w power supply then depending on the amplifier a 300w class a/b is probably gonna big the biggest you can do. (or a 400w class D)

 

I ran a 2400w Class D monoblock off of a 500w power supply and it still POUNDED. If you turn the power up to high the PS will go into protect mode but other than that it's almost flawless.

 

so ur telling me you got a 500w powersupply and ran an amp that makes 2400w rms at some point less then full power (since the power supply would go into protect)??? im wondering if that point is probably oh lets guess 500w or less?

im not saying you cant put a big amplifier on it and I'm not saying its going to be loud or not (because thats honestly almost irrelevant to power) but i will guarantee that you run a 500w powersupply its not going to all of a sudden make 1000w. you may get lucky and it make more then the 500w but lets be honest with ourselves here

 

^^^ what kind of 2400 watts...

 

Would something like this work? Not necessarily this one, but something like it
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...d+PS14KX+.html
I've only got a 12" sub with a 200w amp atm. That may change if I decide I like the results.

 

doubtful.... you would have to run a battery if you did that one.

 

I ran http://infiniteelectronix.com/powera...circuitry.aspx Power accoustik 1800w RMS 2400w peak mono off of a 500w power supply and it was loud enough to be heard on the other wing of my dorm which is HUGE.

Doubt me all you want, but try it and i guarantee it works.

 

Anyone want to post up some links to show what I would need? I'm still kinda confused on this. I don't play on running more than a 500w amp on whatever sub I choose.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3tlFxO1stU

Lots of em on google / youtube.

 

ok let me find something... and thats why.. its power acoustik....not true power

 

It's pretty damn true though. More than i thought. Toasted two eD 1000w rms subs. It's worth the ~$2-300 i payed for it. Great for a budget.

 

i never said it wouldnt work. but that amp doesnt make 2400w or even 1800w you said urself that you coulnt run it at full power without the power supply almost blowing up

Especially in a home theater environment power isn't necessary. Get yourself a big speaker that's efficient in a good box and you don't need much power to get loud.

 

Absolutely, my system is TOO loud for me. Two 12s is too much with that much power. I believe it is making at least 1600 though.

Back to OP it's a simple project, and you are able to do it for free if you have an old PS.

 

im not the best at home theatre but heres a 500w at 4 ohm amp

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC902C?...lebestprice-20

 

I'm thinking I might go with a 500w pc power supply after watching that video. Gonna be a hell of a lot cheaper than that ^^^.


Would this work okay?
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013FIO04?tag=pongz01-20

So basically it should be do some rewiring on the power supply wiring, and plug in the inputs and go right?

 

do you still have the amp... post a pic of where the fuses are shown on the amp and i can do a simple calculation for you to prove that its no where near 1600watts.


Sorry to thread jack.

EMP is right. Get you a nice 10 or 12 or even 15 if you have the space. Build a box for the sub downfiring and tune it realllly low.

http://www.woofersetc.com/p5148/HC30...wer-Supply.htm


DONT EVER BUY from that site but thats what you should get if you dont want to have anyissues

 

Yes, but the only thing different from that video is don't cut the green and the black off like he did if you ever want to use it again. just used a paper clip. Up to you on how you want to go about doing it, I was just offering you a suggestion that worked for myself.

Also, you can go higher to an 800w PS if you want to push it farther.

yes i have the amp, it's in my car atm. i bought the amp on ebay not any caraudio site, i just googled and picked one to show specs.

There are 4 30amp fuses on the side. Which comes to about 1440watts i know, but for what it's worth it will give a good bit of power based off a 500w PS enough for you to enjoy and not be over powered.

 

750 +- watts
your not taking consideration of efficiency of a class "D" amplifier which that amp isn't more than likely... But any who