# How To:  Hook up your car amp in your home!



## Dual_Corex2

Iv got alot of people ask me, iv never seen anywhere where its stated how exactly to do it.  So i made a video on how to do it.  But before i get into the video, i want to explain it much deeper.

1. First, your gonna need a nice power supply, cheap ones usually fry or give bad SQ cuz they cant supply the amperage needed to power the amplifier.

REMEMBER, that even cheap small amplifiers will need a good power supply to have the best SQ and performance.  

I recommend using a power supply with no less then 3 +12v 15A each, even that might not be enough to power a 500watt RMS amp.


2.  After you have the power supply, look at the cable that hooks into your motherboard.  There should be 1 green wire, and right next to that wire should be a black wire.  You have 2 options here.  You can either, cut the 2 wires and hook them up to a switch to control the PSU or if the PSU already has a switch on the back just connect the 2 wires and use the switch on the back.  However it would probily be best to connect the 2 wires to another switch as using the main power switch could cause damage in the long run.  But im not 100% on that.

3.  Next you will need to get one of the regular power cables, which should have 4 wires on them:  1 red, 2 black, and 1 yellow wire.  Strip the yellow wire, and strip one of the black wires.  Only one of the black wires will work, so trial and error until you find the one that works.

4.  The yellow wire will hook into your +12v connector on your amp and the black will be the GND (ground).  

5.  After you have those wires hooked up, run a very short wire from the REM (remote on) connector on the amp to the +12v connector on the amp so that the amp powers on when you turn on the PSU.  Or, you could run a wire from the REM and the +12v to an external switch and use that, either way should work fine.  

Now your amp should turn on with your PSU, if not check and see that your using the right black wire. 

Thats about all there is to it, its not that hard.

Here is a link to the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdx4IS1WS-g

(video might still be processing)

If anything needs cleared up, let me know 

Here is a video of how good my cheap power supply powers my amp, this is half gain on the amp, near full volume on my computer, i only use 3 speakers for my room.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyy1HrDDIJo

There is a little distortion with my mid-range, i dont think it can take the power, you can hear it hit the bass and it dont sound very good, everything else sounds pretty good.  My amp is 165watts @ 4 ohms RMS.


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## INTELCRAZY

Cool.....now I know exactly how to do it

Thanks man


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## The_Other_One

Um...  I must disagree with your specs...  I've not done much with this, but I have run 120 watt amps from standard house 12v DC 1A transformers without a problem.


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## INTELCRAZY

The_Other_One said:


> Um...  I must disagree with your specs...  I've not done much with this, but I have run 120 watt amps from standard house 12v DC 1A transformers without a problem.



But this is with junk computer PSU's. This is the "ghetto-rigged" way and I am going to experiment with new ways.

By the way this is for 500W and greater amps, not 120


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## Crypto

I got one question...Why?


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## The_Other_One

Well mine was made just using spare parts...  And yes, I figured it was over 120w, but I still don't see why you need three 12v rails to power it.


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## Dual_Corex2

The_Other_One said:


> Well mine was made just using spare parts...  And yes, I figured it was over 120w, but I still don't see why you need three 12v rails to power it.



For a 120watt amp, i can assure you a little 1A transformer wasnt powering it enough.  You were MAYBE getting 20watts out of that transformer, if that.  Your lucky it didnt blow it.  Iv blown those DC outlet power supplies, thats why i dont recommend using them.  In fact i blew 3.  And iv blown 2 previous computer power supplies.

The reason i recommend a high powered power supply is becuz car amps tend to pull alot of power, usually more then a home amp.  The reason being they are made for 12volts, not 110volts like home amps.  Home amps can run ALOT less amperage since they can take a higher voltage.  Try running 110volts straight to your car amp and youll be sorry.  

A high power PSU like i had described would maybe cost $100-$150.  Not alot if you want clear, reliable power to your amp.  The more power you got goin to your amp, the more headroom for that volume knob without any distortion.

For example, my old home amp was 125watts RMS @ 4 ohms, it was made for 110volt wall socket, it had a 5amp fuse.  My 165watt Sony Xplod amp has 2 30amp fuses for 60amps.  Thats how much more power these car amps need...

Even my 100watt car amp had a 40amp fuse.


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## Dual_Corex2

INTELCRAZY said:


> But this is with junk computer PSU's. This is the "ghetto-rigged" way and I am going to experiment with new ways.
> 
> By the way this is for 500W and greater amps, not 120



This is actually the only proper way it can be done without buying a $1,000 power invertor/convertor made for car amps.


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## INTELCRAZY

Dual_Corex2 said:


> This is actually the only proper way it can be done without buying a $1,000 power invertor/convertor made for car amps.



Haha.....I like this way


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