Subwoofer Amp

[RobKeevil]

For my first diy hifi project i decided to build a ported subwoofer enclosure. Everything went well and sounded great, especially considering the crappy amp i was using to drive it (salvaged from a set of pc 2.1 speakers, this is a budget project!) Messing around with the amp to try and improve it I managed to finish the poor thing off, and it's beyond repair. Oh well, i needed a better amp anyway, it didnt even have a low pass filter. Id love to replace the amp (im missing my bass fix!), but I'm a bit bemused on how to do this. The sub on http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=300-784 looks perfect for the job, but there doesnt seem to be any equivalent available in the uk. I can get a car sub amp for £30 , but im not sure about how to convert it to A/c power. Id like to keep this pretty cheap if possible, as I may as well buy a whole new sub if it costs too much. Any help much appreciated!

[daatkins]

These guys go a good range of bass plate amps starting at 90 quid:
http://www.bkelec.com/Modules/Sub_Bass.htm

Nice one,
David

[richie00boy]

CPC stock the "250w" plate amp that Parts Express carry, about £90.

[RobKeevil]

Cheers for the reply! That looks just the job, but a bit overpriced when you consider you can get a 200W car amp for £40 here http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...=SEO&U=strat15 . Is there anything cheaper (sorry for being such a cheap ***), or a way to get car audio working for home audio?

[richie00boy]

Well the first flaw in your plan is that "200w" car amp will actually be about 50w in real life.

[RobKeevil]

Ive just had a chat with a more knowledgable neighbour, and i reckon that ill stop being a wuss and attempt to build it myself. Well, not completely build it myself, i think ill start with one of these http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...&criteria=200w power amp&doy=15m9 , add a transformer, a crossover and volume control. I might be back in a few days begging for more advice. Do you think that amp is suitable?

[richie00boy]

It's a good little amp and would be fine as long as you never wanted more than about 90w.

The CPC plate amp or even something from BK will be about the same price or cheaper than you can make something equivalent for. If however you want a project then welcome to diyAudio

[dangus]

You can "domesticate" a car amp by running it from a sealed lead-acid battery, like the ones used in a computer UPS or for emergency lighting. Use a float charger to maintain a charge on it, like, say, the charger built into a computer UPS. Smaller UPSs (200 to 500 VA rating) generally have 12V batteries; big ones (like around 1 kVA) tend to have 24V batteries, which are considerably less useful (at least as far as the charger part goes). This is worth trying if you can scrounge this stuff cheap.

Or... use one channel of an old stereo amp or receiver from a charity store or car boot sale.

[TomWaits]

Originally posted by RobKeevil
...i think ill start with one of these http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...&criteria=200w power amp&doy=15m9 , add a transformer, a crossover and volume control. I might be back in a few days begging for more advice. Do you think that amp is suitable?

That sounds like a great way to start out DIY. Who cares if its the best or not, it will do the job. The price looks good too!

Shawn.