Use car amplifier at home with SMPS

[uttam27]

Hi Friends,

I have JVC class D mono amplifier and subwoofer installed in car (in addition to head unit and other speakers). I drive car mostly on weekends and realize that my sound investment is lying idle most of the time.

I am exploring the idea of connecting the subwoofer amp and subwoofer at home. Will the subwoofer amp work with 12v/20A SMPS like the one available here?

Has anyone tried this? Is it safe for amp? Will the performance be good? Shall appreciate any views.

Kind Regards,
Uttam

 

[greenhorn]

the amp will work, but the sound of the sub will be very different, as car subs are tuned for a very different room response than home subs

 

[uttam27]

I did a pilot with 12v/2A power adapter of my DTH box, and it worked well.. enough for low volume hearing. I have ordered 12v/30A power supply from ebay to make full use of it.

 

[viki_v2]

It will work.
Get a Pc smps.
find out the wires which give 12 v.
Add two 10000uf capacitors to 12v .
Connect your car amp and voila its done.

But to get proper sound you will have to make proper enclosures for your sub woofer other wise it will sound all boomy.

hope this helps

 

[yugaaa]

instead of converting 230v to 12v and then again converting higher rail voltages , you can just buy a class d amp rated at 250w on ebay which actually work out much cheaper . You will be losing at least 30% in the conversion process .

 

[yugaaa]

It will work.
Get a Pc smps.
find out the wires which give 12 v.
Add two 10000uf capacitors to 12v .
Connect your car amp and voila its done.

But to get proper sound you will have to make proper enclosures for your sub woofer other wise it will sound all boomy.

hope this helps

This is a high risk . Be prepared to have a fire extinguisher if you plan to listen for extended periods . The 12v on a PC smps does not put out enough current . The car amp could just blow up the smps

 

[bobbyprajan]

Most of the midrange SMPS are group regulated design. If you load only the 12 volt section, the voltage regulation might not function correctly.

I agree with the previous reply, this is high risk and best avoided.

 

[Yogesh Khadtare]

Even I wanna use dual monoblocks in home for pair of heavy 12" subs. I did a lot of research der is no way to use amps to full throttle by power supplies! The only way to get 120A DC supply seems to be home inverter with big battery. Now coming to the sound. To use car subs in home u need to build twice bigger enclosure for subwoofer to make it audible in home! Tune it lower & u can enjoy soft lows in home. It's bit tricky but it's very nice way to get some serious heavy Low frequency bass in home!

 

[alok_student2000]

If a head unit is connected with PC power supply, there is no risk as I have used my car stereo at home with a local 15 amps PC power supply for 3 months without any issues. I used speaker cables to power the stereo and got good SPL in my room with just 2 speakers.

But cant say much about car amps.

 

[venki7744]

Even I wanna use dual monoblocks in home for pair of heavy 12" subs. I did a lot of research der is no way to use amps to full throttle by power supplies! The only way to get 120A DC supply seems to be home inverter with big battery. Now coming to the sound. To use car subs in home u need to build twice bigger enclosure for subwoofer to make it audible in home! Tune it lower & u can enjoy soft lows in home. It's bit tricky but it's very nice way to get some serious heavy Low frequency bass in home!

Not always, depends on the specs of the sub and how the tuning frequency of the box.

Most of the midrange SMPS are group regulated design. If you load only the 12 volt section, the voltage regulation might not function correctly.

I agree with the previous reply, this is high risk and best avoided.

I guess the amp would be having its own SMPS inside (boost type), and most of the amps do not have regulated Power supplies.

This is a high risk . Be prepared to have a fire extinguisher if you plan to listen for extended periods . The 12v on a PC smps does not put out enough current . The car amp could just blow up the smps

Not sure if this would happen, as a 450W smps would be able to deliver about 20A of current through the 12V output.

 

[bobbyprajan]

[quote name="bobbyprajan" post=641179]Most of the midrange SMPS are group regulated design. If you load only the 12 volt section, the voltage regulation might not function correctly.<br />
<br />
I agree with the previous reply, this is high risk and best avoided.[/QUOTE]<br />
<br />
I guess the amp would be having its own SMPS inside (boost type), and most of the amps do not have regulated Power supplies.<br />
<br />

Not exactly an electronics guru, just trying to help and avoid fire !

The PC smps is designed to cater to the typical load behaviour of PC. If you use it to power an amplifier which loads only the 12V rail, the closed loop feedback of the smps might not work correctly. As a result the 12V will go out of spec. Now the tolerance of the amp on the upper level might be ok since it can handle 14.4V (battery charging peak). Not so sure about the lower range. My suggestion would be to test this with a cheap headlight bulb (don't hold it in your hand) and see how it behaves before you connect it to a costly amp.

 

[Chetu2109]

Do any use car amps in home to a good effect?