John Ritac
So i have been looking around and doing research on possible ways to hook up my car speakers and amplifier to a computer and/or a tv. My problem is finding the easiest and best solution with price being a factor. I have taken into consideration of buying a plate amp and going from there, but i do have an amp or two designed for car audio laying around that i would like to put in action. My amp is 4000 watts at 2 ohm and i have 2 sub-woofers that are 2000 watts rms also at 2 ohms. What converter would i need to pull this off? Could i possibly have a link as well please?
Answer
You need a very heavy duty 12 volt power supply to do this. If your amplifier were truly 4000 watts and if it were class AB you would need about 8000 watts from the 12 volt supply. That's about 660 amps. Your 120 volt ac outlet is typically rated for 1800 watts but it would need to be 10,000 watts to power your 12 volt supply. The good news is that your amplifier probably isn't even remotely close to 4000 watts. The even better news is that you don't need any where near that much power nor can your "2000 watt" speakers handle anywhere close to that much power. Even if they can, it does not mean that they are great powerful woofers, it means they are horribly inefficient woofers.
While the woofers you have might be great for car audio they will not necessarily work well for home audio. They are designed for filling a small space like a car cabin, not for filling a larger space like a home theatre. They won't work well for low frequency, you may be lucky to get down to 40 Hz with them in a room without a lot of EQ.
For some reason everyone seems to think watts is some kind of measure of the output capability of subwoofers, it isn't. It's just a bunch of marketing nonsense. The output of a woofer is determined by how much air it moves and the less power required to do it the better.
The question of using car audio for home theatre comes up here all the time and as others will certainly post, it's never a good idea. You're best bet will be to go ahead with your plate amp idea. Sell the car amplifiers on e-bay. Also sell the car audio woofers on e-bay and buy some woofers designed for home audio from Parts Express or Madisound.
Follow the DIY section of the AVS Forum, see what others have done for DIY home theatre subwoofers. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=155 Done properly you can end up with a superior subwoofer to any of the commercial options you might consider. Done wrong... ie, with car audio components and you will end up with a woofer that can not do low end in a room and is a jumble of power supplies and amplifiers that make an extraordinary inefficient use of power. You end up with a cluttered mess that can't do the job.
mk
You need a very heavy duty 12 volt power supply to do this. If your amplifier were truly 4000 watts and if it were class AB you would need about 8000 watts from the 12 volt supply. That's about 660 amps. Your 120 volt ac outlet is typically rated for 1800 watts but it would need to be 10,000 watts to power your 12 volt supply. The good news is that your amplifier probably isn't even remotely close to 4000 watts. The even better news is that you don't need any where near that much power nor can your "2000 watt" speakers handle anywhere close to that much power. Even if they can, it does not mean that they are great powerful woofers, it means they are horribly inefficient woofers.
While the woofers you have might be great for car audio they will not necessarily work well for home audio. They are designed for filling a small space like a car cabin, not for filling a larger space like a home theatre. They won't work well for low frequency, you may be lucky to get down to 40 Hz with them in a room without a lot of EQ.
For some reason everyone seems to think watts is some kind of measure of the output capability of subwoofers, it isn't. It's just a bunch of marketing nonsense. The output of a woofer is determined by how much air it moves and the less power required to do it the better.
The question of using car audio for home theatre comes up here all the time and as others will certainly post, it's never a good idea. You're best bet will be to go ahead with your plate amp idea. Sell the car amplifiers on e-bay. Also sell the car audio woofers on e-bay and buy some woofers designed for home audio from Parts Express or Madisound.
Follow the DIY section of the AVS Forum, see what others have done for DIY home theatre subwoofers. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=155 Done properly you can end up with a superior subwoofer to any of the commercial options you might consider. Done wrong... ie, with car audio components and you will end up with a woofer that can not do low end in a room and is a jumble of power supplies and amplifiers that make an extraordinary inefficient use of power. You end up with a cluttered mess that can't do the job.
mk
I'm thinking of the fathom f212 home theater sub woofer?
tu
so the question would be what should i get to match that high quality? i've never done home theater before but i want it to hook up to my computer since i watch most of my movies and listen to my music most here. anyway not to get too far off topic, i just want to know suggestions on any brand i should think about that would get the best bang out of my buck.
PS i have 2 12w7 in my car so i know it'll sound soooo cool in my room. =)
Answer
You're going to need something with some output capability so that means you will need some power to drive the mains. Something like this...
http://emotiva.com/xpa2.shtm
Speakers have the biggest impact on how the system sounds and "best" can be very subjective. What ever sound quality characteristics you like you need something that can keep up so I would suggest floor standing over bookshelf. Something along the lines of this perhaps...
http://www.dynaudio.com/eng/systems/lines/excite/excitex36.php
There is some measurement data for the Fathom f113 in the link below. The f112 apparently wasn't measured but the results of the f113 will at least give you an idea of the sub's capabilities. Don't be alarmed by the high distortion numbers, this is normal for a subwoofer. It's not ok in my opinion but it is normal. To get away from this and get distortion down to single digit or under 1% you have to design and build your own. With DIY you can do that but it's going to be a lot bigger than the f112. Mine are in the < 1% range at typical movie levels but there are two each 9.5 ft tall and weighing 700 lbs. For it's size the Fathom is not bad so yes, put some good mains and amplification with it.
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/subwoofer-tests-archived/8152-jl-audio-fathom-f113.html
mk
You're going to need something with some output capability so that means you will need some power to drive the mains. Something like this...
http://emotiva.com/xpa2.shtm
Speakers have the biggest impact on how the system sounds and "best" can be very subjective. What ever sound quality characteristics you like you need something that can keep up so I would suggest floor standing over bookshelf. Something along the lines of this perhaps...
http://www.dynaudio.com/eng/systems/lines/excite/excitex36.php
There is some measurement data for the Fathom f113 in the link below. The f112 apparently wasn't measured but the results of the f113 will at least give you an idea of the sub's capabilities. Don't be alarmed by the high distortion numbers, this is normal for a subwoofer. It's not ok in my opinion but it is normal. To get away from this and get distortion down to single digit or under 1% you have to design and build your own. With DIY you can do that but it's going to be a lot bigger than the f112. Mine are in the < 1% range at typical movie levels but there are two each 9.5 ft tall and weighing 700 lbs. For it's size the Fathom is not bad so yes, put some good mains and amplification with it.
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/subwoofer-tests-archived/8152-jl-audio-fathom-f113.html
mk
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar