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Car power amplifiers - are they any good for home use?

D

Dave Ryman

Hi,
You may remember me posting here a while back about a 5-channel
amplifier I was thinking of building.

Well, that little projects on hold for now, but I did think of an
alternative. There are quite a few reconditioned or used car amps on the
market. I was wondering about taking a PC case (with high power PSU),
fitting a total of five channels of car power amp run off the 12v supply
from the PSU (maybe adding a second PSU for the extra power handling),
and putting a couple of fans in for cooling. The line-in and speaker-out
would be wired in the back of the case. I would then sit this next to my
PC, taking the lines from the PC sound card, and providing amplification
for the five channels into my speakers. I already have an active bass
unit, so that channel isn't a problem.

The front of this unit would probably be fitted with a master volume
control and a switch. The switch would allow the amp to operate on five
seperate channels, or to split the incoming stereo signal between the
front and rear amplifiers (for music).

Any comments on this? Am I right in assuming that the car amps are ok
in an application like this? I like this solution because it is
reasonably priced, and doesn't need any actual circuit building.

--
Regards,
Dave

[email protected]
http://welcome.to/daves.website
http://travel.to/formula.one
 
A

Al

Dave Ryman said:
Hi,
You may remember me posting here a while back about a 5-channel
amplifier I was thinking of building.

Well, that little projects on hold for now, but I did think of an
alternative. There are quite a few reconditioned or used car amps on the
market. I was wondering about taking a PC case (with high power PSU),
fitting a total of five channels of car power amp run off the 12v supply
from the PSU (maybe adding a second PSU for the extra power handling),
and putting a couple of fans in for cooling. The line-in and speaker-out
would be wired in the back of the case. I would then sit this next to my
PC, taking the lines from the PC sound card, and providing amplification
for the five channels into my speakers. I already have an active bass
unit, so that channel isn't a problem.

The front of this unit would probably be fitted with a master volume
control and a switch. The switch would allow the amp to operate on five
seperate channels, or to split the incoming stereo signal between the
front and rear amplifiers (for music).

Any comments on this? Am I right in assuming that the car amps are ok
in an application like this? I like this solution because it is
reasonably priced, and doesn't need any actual circuit building.
Click to expand...

My son is an accoustic double bass player. While he was in high school
many years ago, I put together a portable sound system for him. The
heart of it was a car stereo amplifier. He still uses it today for paid
gigs; he is a very talented amatuer. The most difficult part was the
power supply. The battery in the car can supply humongous amounts of
current when needed for transients. I used a surplus 12V PS which could
put out 15 amps. I tweaked the voltage adjustment pot so the supply put
out 15 volts. Turned out to be ample for his use.

Al
 
J

John Woodgate

I read in sci.electronics.design that Dave Ryman
[email protected]>) about 'Car power amplifiers - are they any good for
home use?', on Sun, 11 Jan 2004:
I was wondering about taking a PC case (with high power PSU),
fitting a total of five channels of car power amp run off the 12v supply
from the PSU (maybe adding a second PSU for the extra power handling),
Click to expand...

The 12 V supply is quite low-current. Think about 20 to 40 PC supplies
to power 5 car power amps.
 
D

Dave Ryman

My son is an accoustic double bass player. While he was in high school
many years ago, I put together a portable sound system for him. The
heart of it was a car stereo amplifier. He still uses it today for
paid gigs; he is a very talented amatuer. The most difficult part was
the power supply. The battery in the car can supply humongous amounts
of current when needed for transients. I used a surplus 12V PS which
could put out 15 amps. I tweaked the voltage adjustment pot so the
supply put out 15 volts. Turned out to be ample for his use.

Al
Click to expand...

Thanks - it may be a good solution for PC sound.

--
Regards,
Dave

[email protected]
http://welcome.to/daves.website
http://travel.to/formula.one
 
N

Nico Coesel

Dave Ryman said:
Hi,
You may remember me posting here a while back about a 5-channel
amplifier I was thinking of building.

Well, that little projects on hold for now, but I did think of an
alternative. There are quite a few reconditioned or used car amps on the
market. I was wondering about taking a PC case (with high power PSU),
Click to expand...

I think you're better of by slamming a few STK amplifier modules
against a heatsink, a big transformer, a few elco's and 4 diodes and a
few small components and you're all set. Probably for much less than
you can buy the car amps for.
 
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