Q&A for How to Power a Car Amplifier Using a Computer Power Supply

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After connection is done, can I use a normal speaker?

Alexander Brune

Community Answer

Yes, you can use normal home entertainment system stereo speakers with your "new" computer power-supplied indoor car audio amplifier!

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Question

How do I connect a power supplier that has two black wires, a red wire, and a yellow wire?

Community Answer

You only need the yellow and black wires. The red wire is not needed to power your amp. Use the yellow as + and black as -.

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Question

My amp is taking current but not giving output and the light of the amp is off (the green light is off).

Kenneth McCann

Community Answer

First, make sure you have 12v at the dc+ input of the amp and 12v to the remote input to the amp.The amp will not turn on if the remote wire is not hooked up and powered. Last, make sure the ground wire is connected and grounded properly. A bad ground is the cause of most troubles.

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Question

Can I power a 1200 watts amp with a 200 watts computer power supply?

Community Answer

In theory yes. However, the difference in power may overheat your PSU and will give a lot of clipping at higher volumes. The AMP wants to draw more power than your PSU can handle. If you play loud enough, the amp may shut down, PSU may overheat and speakers may be blown.

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Question

How do I know what power supply I need for my car amplifier?

Community Answer

Your car amplifier have 2 "different" power ratings. One is maximum (short bursts) watts and second is the nominal (RMS) Watts. The first is basicly a short powerfull burst of watts to a speaker, and the second (RMS) is the maximum continously power. The power supply should match the RMS rating by at least 70%. say you have a 1000 Watt RMS amp, then you should have at least 700 watts PSU, depending on how loud you want to play.

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Question

I have a 1000-watt Sony Xplod car amp and a 12v 34ah power supply. Any problems?

Kenneth McCann

Community Answer

There shouldn't be any problems as long as you are pushing speakers or sub that is in that range. You couldn't push an earthquake hole 15" with it, but you could push a pair of 10's or 12's.

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Question

What size power supply would I need to run a 3500 amp?

Community Answer

3500 is usually the maximum burst output of the amp if all channels are used. An amp have watt ratings per channel. Look for RMS watt on your amps specifications per channel. Add that to the number of channels used. That is the "optimal" power supply you need. For example: 4 channel amp with 100w rms per channel = 400w power supply (maybe a bit more to be safe).

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Question

What does "group all the ground wires together (except the ground wire)" mean?

Community Answer

Keep one ground wire separate to use for the "activation/green wire" from the psu. The rest is combined. Also, if you have 10 yellow wires combined, have 10 black wires combined as well.

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