Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - High-current 12V power supply?

skaven · 05-14-2005, 05:32 PM

I'm getting a new car soon and I won't be transferring my existing car stereo equipment into the new car. I was thinking it would be nice to use my gear as a home theater system.

I already know that car stereo components aren't as efficient as their home theater counterparts: a car is a very small space to fill with sound compared to a living room.

Nonetheless, I would like to try setting it up. To power the amps, however, requires a lot of current at 12V I'm guessing somewhere in the 30-50A range for the size amps I have and leaving some headroom for spikes. Does anybody out there have any experience with building or purchasing something like this?

I looked at Jameco and Digi-Key and found some large 12V supplies (36A with 50A peak) but they are over $200!! Surely one could simply purchase the parts to build one of these power supplies for far less.

One alternative I was considering was using a couple standard ATX power supplies: one for each amp. The 12V rails on a 350W power supply can put up 16A of current; two 350W supplies could be purchased for around $60. Simply put a load on the 3.3 and 5V rails to keep the regulators happy, and hopefully the supplies could put up enough current to run the amps at a reasonable volume.

BTW here are the equipment specs:

Sony 600W 4-channel surround amp
Sony 1200W 2-channel sub amp
2x Infinity reference 10" subs
2x Infinity reference 6-1/2" component speakers (would be front left/right)
2x Pioneer IMPP 3-way 6x9's (would be rear left/right)

For the center channel I could get a pair of small (4"?) components and run them from a modest amp, or even use the speakers already in the TV...

After all that I'd only be out ~$200 for what seems to me would be a kick-ass home theater sound system (though needlessly hacked and complicated)

Any ideas? comments?

05-14-2005, 05:32 PM	#1 (permalink)
skaven Insane Location: Austin, TX	High-current 12V power supply? I'm getting a new car soon and I won't be transferring my existing car stereo equipment into the new car. I was thinking it would be nice to use my gear as a home theater system. I already know that car stereo components aren't as efficient as their home theater counterparts: a car is a very small space to fill with sound compared to a living room. Nonetheless, I would like to try setting it up. To power the amps, however, requires a lot of current at 12V I'm guessing somewhere in the 30-50A range for the size amps I have and leaving some headroom for spikes. Does anybody out there have any experience with building or purchasing something like this? I looked at Jameco and Digi-Key and found some large 12V supplies (36A with 50A peak) but they are over $200!! Surely one could simply purchase the parts to build one of these power supplies for far less. One alternative I was considering was using a couple standard ATX power supplies: one for each amp. The 12V rails on a 350W power supply can put up 16A of current; two 350W supplies could be purchased for around $60. Simply put a load on the 3.3 and 5V rails to keep the regulators happy, and hopefully the supplies could put up enough current to run the amps at a reasonable volume. BTW here are the equipment specs: Sony 600W 4-channel surround amp Sony 1200W 2-channel sub amp 2x Infinity reference 10" subs 2x Infinity reference 6-1/2" component speakers (would be front left/right) 2x Pioneer IMPP 3-way 6x9's (would be rear left/right) For the center channel I could get a pair of small (4"?) components and run them from a modest amp, or even use the speakers already in the TV... After all that I'd only be out ~$200 for what seems to me would be a kick-ass home theater sound system (though needlessly hacked and complicated) Any ideas? comments?