AboutCleggsan Expertise Audio Design Engineer; systems, loudspeakers, cd/dvd players, etc. I am knowledgeable in all high end audio equipment and installations. MAKE SURE YOU GIVE A MAKE AND MODEL NUMBER AND CAR IF IT IS AN AUTO QUESTION.
Experience Have been associated with audio design, standards, testing and component systems for over 40 years.
Organizations Life Fellow Member of Audio Engineering Society
Life Senior Member of Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers
Publications Review technical manuscripts for IEEE Spectrum
Write occasionally for high-end audio publications
Education/Credentials BSEE/MSCS/MBA
Past/Present Clients Past Employee/advisor to several well known audio products manufacturers
Question I have quite the redneck home theater. I do car audio, so I have tons of equipment for it, but nothing for home audio, so I use car speakers in my house. I have little cash (saving for a new car), but I want to improve the bass from my theater. I found a plug (from a AA battery charger) that takes 120vac and makes it into 13vdc, and I stripped its wires and wired up a 150 watt car amplifier to a pair of extra subwoofers from my old car. My dad pointed out that the amperage will not work out, and he seems to be correct, the amp works for the most part, but every 30 seconds or so it shuts off and kicks back on. The plug also gets warm, which scares me, I DO NOT want a house fire (duh...) Any suggestions for fixing this? Any special adapters of some sort that will make this work better? I have a very small budget for this ($40-$50), so I can't spend much, or else I would just buy a home amplifier. But I'm open to just about any suggestion.
Thanks
Answer So why don't you get a 12v car battery and run the amp from that and use the battery charger to keep the battery charged? You can buy a good car battery for $30 and up.
Second suggestion is got to craigslist and find a good used home amp to run the subs. You can find lots of good audio this way at very cheap prices. Craigslist is better than eBay because you can find local seller and deal with a neighbor rather than someone from another part of the country.
Third suggestion is to get bigger power supply; a converter with much higher power rating. The car amp you have is 150w, but that is only when it is running at full power. While idle and at low power levels it only draws a few watts. The reason it is cutting out is from not getting enough current when you crank up the audio level. You can buy 120vac to 12v dc converters for well within your budget. Some wall pod units are available for up to 12v at 5 amps; they would run the amp for lower outputs, but for a full 10 or 12 amps you would have to spend more money than your budget would allow.
It has been my experience that running car electronics in the home is never a good idea because of heating, current and voltage regulation problems. Safety is also a great concern. My vote is for you to do the craigslist thing and get a good home based amplifier on the subs.
My second vote is for adding a car battery to your present system.
