Building a Subwoofer Amp with 3-6 Channels

[jwmbro]

Hello Amp-heads,

I've collected some experience with speakers, having built some speakers, and designed and built some subwoofers.

Now I've decided it's time to learn something about amps. I've been studying Electrical Engineering for over two years now, so I do have a fairly good theoretical knowledge of electrics and electronics, however my practical knowledge is as good as zero.

What I would like to do is build an amplifier for my subwoofers. I'm currently running 3 subs, but this number may grow by varying amounts. Therefore I'd like to have at least 3 channels of amplification, 4 would be nice, though I won't complain if I can get more channels for a good price. As for power, I would like to have 100Wpc (here is a simulation of the power I will need to get 100dB/1m - you may recognize this as a sealed, linkwitz-transformed subwoofer), though I'd be content with less (I'm rather impressed by the 10Wpc I'M using right now already).

The Amplifier will get it's signals via the following signal chain: HT-Receiver (LFE-Out) --> Behringer DCX2496 --> Amp. I assume the level supplied by the HT-Receiver will be good enough, and I won't need another pre-amp between the Behringer and the Amp I build.

I was thinking I'd build something from a kit, just to gather some experience before I dive into building the entire amp myself, though I would be willing to go all the way, if it could save me some money, or get me a better product. Though I will say the sound quality is probably not so hugely important, it's only for my subs.



So, my idea was to build something based on the Sure Electronics 4x100W Board. I have read some complaints on this, regarding troubles adjusting the DC offset, and also concerning boards just dying, but I think at that money it's probably worth a try. I realize it won't actually get 100Wpc, but 40Wpc should be realistic into an 8Ω load, and that's only -4dB compared to 100W.

Is this board my best bet for a first project, or are there other products worth considering?

I see a lot of people use the Mean Well 350W 24V power supply (NES-350-24) with this board, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding a place where I can actually buy this. Sure has a few power supplies in their online shop, but I only see 36V output supplies with 350W, which is too high of a voltage for the 4x100 board. Does anybody know a good source for the 24V model in Europe? I found nothing with google.

Other than that, anything anybody can tell me? I'm open for any sort of suggestion. Thanks in advance.

EDIT: WRT the Mean Well power supply, this page claims the output voltage can be regulated down to 32V. This is slightly above Sure's maximum voltage spec, but still within Tripath's spec. You think I could risk that? Maybe with one or two power diodes for safety?
BTW, I'm not stuck on the Mean Well, if there are other good power supplies to be recommended, or if I can safely build my own, I'd happily do that as well.