Need to power this massive system...

[tnptruck]

I have this 18 sub system that I am running off of batteries but I need the system to be able to hook up to a generator so I can run it for an extended period... Please let me know if you have any idea's...

http://www.oddnsuch.com/sky6.htm

I have 8 amps total... I was thinking of maybe hooking up a battery charger to the batteries and at least this would make the batteries drain slower...?

Thanks for your help,

-J

 

[AndrewT]

Hi,
sell off all those speakers and buy some Labhorns.
You will need about 10% of the power and thus 10% of the battery capacity.

 

[Eva]

I've ran into the same problem, but power conversion from mains to 12V is not that hard, see the power supply that I built in this thread:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60969&highlight=


Also, the power efficiency of those JLs in sealed boxes is quite low (not that low because there are a lot of them placed together and benefiting from mutual coupling). However, the mid-bass, mids and highs performance of your system is likely to be very poor. For compact and efficient subs (20 to 80Hz), you can consider placing some JLs in tapped horns (see the subwoofer forum), maybe 4, 6 or 8 of them and selling the rest. You would get the same SPL that way, but with much less power.

If your amplifiers are not class D, sell them and buy class D because in practice they produce the same output power with less than half the input power.

For mid-bass and mids consider some PA drivers loaded with horns, and for highs a pair of compression drivers with suitable horns would do. A digital crossover like Behringer DCX2496 (and somebody skilled enough to find the optimum parameters) is required to get the best out of such a system.

See my DIY horn loaded mid-high (250Hz-17Khz @ 106dB/W)

 

[ak_47_boy]

But class AB is like 90% efficient?

I would mount a few alternators under the hood with a removable belt. Three big ones should do 400 amps @ 12v which is 4800 watts. The only other way to get large amounts of power is 220. By the looks you need 4800 watts...

Edit: Or just use horns or other such devices. Might be easier.

 

[Gordy]

I was thinking of maybe hooking up a battery charger to the batteries and at least this would make the batteries drain slower...?
-J

For a small investment you could have two sets of batteries arranged such that one set is on charge while the other set is in use. Then all you need is a simple switching system to change from one set to the other, so as the fresh set is switched in the drained set is switched onto the charger.

 

[AudioFreak]

But class AB is like 90% efficient?

No. Typically more like 70% from memory.

 

[richie00boy]

tnptruck are those pics from the Love Parade?

I would look into running mains powered amps and hook up to a mains voltage generator. The current draw running that lot off 12 volts will be staggering and cause a lot of problems.