Audiobahn car amp powered in the home?!

Hi all,

I am building a showcase arcade cabinet, and really want to set it off with some good looking equipment. I have the PC, and monitor etc, but what I would really like is to be able to use a display amp like some from the Audio bahn selection.

The problem is, how do I power it from a UK plug socket? I have seen people bodging car amps by using lots of car batteries or PC powersupplies, but I was wondering if I could use a:

3V-15V Adjustable 25/30A Max Power Supply

(From MAPLIN.CO.UK item code RP10L)

Would this work?!

[Rob.Screene]

I used to use a big 12v power-supply to power a Kenwood car amp to drive my first subwoofer.

It worked fine, but the amp did cut out occasionally if I ran it at relatively high volumes, which I think was the power-supply not providing quite the current required.

I guess the amp might not work as well off DC power rectified from AC mains in that it's probably not as pure as the car's alternator when using the car battery as a big capacitor.

Certainly gave me a cleaner isobaric sub at the time when REL's were 4 times the sub+amp price, till I switched to a THX power-amp, then finally replaced the sub with a big powered SVS one.

regards,
rob.

[deaf cat]

Interesting stuff,
We stayed out in the middle of nowhere one holiday and we had a solar pannel that charged 2 lorry batteries during the day, these powered the whole bungalow but of course when the lights started to dim you knew it was bed time and needed more sun to have more power!
But I guess you will be after something else.

Just gotta make sure that the transformer (230vac to 12vdc)
that you use can supply enough amps to keep your car amp happy.

And here is that question...

How can I be sure that the transformer can supply enough amps to the amplifier? What part of the specification should I be looking at...

I am a complete newbie to car audio!

I would like to have 1 small subwoofer and perhaps 1 or preferably 2 normal speakers, again from Audiobahn. I also do not need an amp with mega power, this is more for looks than sound power!! Could anyone perhaps recommend me a complete spec from Audiobahn (I would like an amp which looks like the A4401T), with speakers which will work with the transformer..

I know this is a big ask from a newbie!

[deaf cat]

I can't seem to open the Audiobahn site to be nosey, but I guess the old
Power(watts)=Volts x Amps would give you a start.

Say you have an amp rated to 100watts max,
divide that by the voltage (12vdc)
to give the amps (8.4).

This should give you a rough guide but remember the transformer will only be so efficient, so the rating would have to be that bit more to allow for the losses.

Lets try it the other way around,
Power supply 30Amps, at 12Vdc
30 x 12 = approx 360Watts

Its been a long time since I've done any calculations like this so it may be wise just to double check. I guess the staff at maplins would be able to work it out as they work with the stuff all day long.

I went to my local Maplin the other week, and my god were they not helpful. They were just basically like, why are you doing this wouldnt it be easier to use a home amp etc etc, which is fair enough but its not what I need to use.

I found that formula as well and was wondering if it really was as simple as that...

The amp I was looking at was the Audiobahn A2301T... and I was wondering whether I could power a Audiobahn 10" sub and 2 normal Audiobahn speakers from it, or would it be better just to put the sub on it and power the 2 Audiobahn speakers from a headunit?!

As I said complete beginner here!

[alexs2]

You may get some more help from the ICE section ofthe forums also,and it may also be worth looking to some of the other ICE related forums as well.

[deaf cat]

I hear that CPC have a dedicated technical team who answer all the awkward questions but I don't know how helpfull they may be to anyone who does not have an account and only wants the one transformer - may be worth a go......? I would suggest gathering all the info/ratings etc you can so if they ask you can give......
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/home/homepage.jsp