# Active home setup



## egoaudio (Feb 26, 2008)

Hello all,

I placed a thread for this same topic @ DIYHA but there's not much action there yet. Since I have a good amount of experience with car audio installations and active processing for car audio I’m thinking about ways to achieve similar results in adjustability in a home theater situation. So here are a few questions. Thanks in advance:

What types of amps will allow for active processing?

Are there dedicated active crossovers for home audio?

I’m looking to make my own 3 way + sub loudspeakers but I want to be able actively adjust all the crossover settings and such. Similar to the pioneer 880PRS (car audio head unit) except with an extra bandpass for the midbass, is there anything similar to this for home audio use?

I’ve also though about using a dedicated car audio 4 way+ active crossover with a power supply for home use. Is this a bad way to go? 

I know I’ve thrown more than a few ideas out there. If anyone cares to chime in I would greatly appreciate it. 

Best regards,

EGO


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## egoaudio (Feb 26, 2008)

Oh, one more thing, obviously a 5.1 setup all active is going to be a ton more difficult/expensive/time consuming than a 2.1. Please talk about how one might achieve both (seperately or couse)..... maybe with a mix of passive x-overs once the sweet spots are found with active..... maybe?

EGO


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## egoaudio (Feb 26, 2008)

I know you HT guys are out there. Come on and help a curious guy out. I found the search button. 

Been searching around a bit and I read up on the Ultradrive Pro DCX2496. This can do all my processing.

So I could run my audio signal through that and come out to multiple amps then connecting to the different speakers midbass, mid range, subs and tweets. So this seems like a nice unit. Even has EQ’s, delay and a crap load of other stuff that I’d have to experiment with to understand. 

processing: check

Now for amplifier selections. Sticking with a 2.1 system for right now. I found this and it seems like a decent unit: 

Audiosource AMP100:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=302-601

Automatic turn on when signal is present, 50/60 watts x 2…… so maybe a pair of these, one for midrange duty and the other for tweets???

If I went this route I would probably need a more powerful amp for the midbass. Something that outputs around 80-100 watts x 2. Anyone got ideas for something like that?

Sub amp’s not a big deal, I can always get something hooked up for that. But my main concern is amplifiers for tweets, mids, midbasses. 

EGO

EDIT: or since car audio amps are abundantly 4 channel, is there a power supply large enough to convert ac/dc for some of these car audio amps?


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## egoaudio (Feb 26, 2008)

Bump.


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## Ga foo 88 (Dec 18, 2005)

maybe art sla-1 or sla-2


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

I've been told the big pyramid power supply works well and is most reasonable, not that bad up to about 50amps. Big 12v power at home is not cheap, or find a plate amp/amp for the sub. I would agree with the ultradrive. Not sure what to use for amps and pre amp. On the other hand car amps can be had so cheap that a big 12v power supply could run you quite a system that took up little room. What would be nice is a home multichannel amp and then a HT preamp (or HT with preouts for all channels), but I am not into that stuff. I hardly have time to use the cheap 5.1 in my house right now, maybe some day.


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## egoaudio (Feb 26, 2008)

sqshoestring said:


> On the other hand car amps can be had so cheap that a big 12v power supply could run you quite a system that took up little room. *What would be nice is a home multichannel amp and then a HT preamp (or HT with preouts for all channels)*, but I am not into that stuff. I hardly have time to use the cheap 5.1 in my house right now, maybe some day.


That's what I'm talking about. I guess no one has that in the market yet. I'm sure I'd be all over something like that if it were on the market.

Thanks for the tip on the pyramid power supply. Do you have any links to a specific model? I'll be searching google. Thanks again. 

EGO


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## egoaudio (Feb 26, 2008)

This looks like it would do the job well for tweets, mids, midbasses. What do you guys think? Can anyone recommend a 12 volt power supply or have experience with any that have been used to run car audio amps in a home?? 

http://www.trcelectronics.com/Meanwell/psp-600-12.shtml

thanks.


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## egoaudio (Feb 26, 2008)

Ga foo 88 said:


> maybe art sla-1 or sla-2


Those arts look nice. thanks for the tip. 

EGO


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

I was going to buy this one for testing amps but then a friend came up with one. At the top click on 'power supply' where the arrow points to it and it will show a bunch of them. If you use a class d (for subs at least) you can get a lot of sound out of 30A, or you can add a battery to it, etc. I don't know what kind of power you need to run though.
http://www.etronics.com/p-23886-pyramid-ps-36kx-regulated-adjustable-voltage-35amp-power-supply.aspx

The more efficient class d sure will run a sub louder on say 10A of power.

I have seen 4 ch amps, but I don't look at that home stuff very often. There are also rack mount amps, some are a pretty good deal and don't take a lot of space.


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## AWC (Mar 31, 2008)

http://cgi.ebay.com/High-End-Philip...ItemQQimsxZ20080903?IMSfp=TL08090313109r34452

I actually have one of these. They're extremely well built and sound fantastic. You can't see, in these pictures, is a monter of a copper chassis. This thing weighs a ton. Not alot of power but enough. Just a thought. He's got a buy it now of $259, I don't know if that's a good price or not. I wouldn't sell mine ofr that but its cuz I've got plans for it.


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## seagrasser (Feb 6, 2007)

Ga foo 88 said:


> maybe art sla-1 or sla-2


The art's are very nice for the money. They sound pretty good also. The fan is also very quiet. If I was to go active like you are suggesting, the SLA-1 makes a great choice.

Great thing about them is that you can probably pick one up used fairly easily.

I picked one up for about $120.


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## egoaudio (Feb 26, 2008)

sqshoestring said:


> I was going to buy this one for testing amps but then a friend came up with one. At the top click on 'power supply' where the arrow points to it and it will show a bunch of them. If you use a class d (for subs at least) you can get a lot of sound out of 30A, or you can add a battery to it, etc. I don't know what kind of power you need to run though.
> http://www.etronics.com/p-23886-pyramid-ps-36kx-regulated-adjustable-voltage-35amp-power-supply.aspx
> 
> The more efficient class d sure will run a sub louder on say 10A of power.
> ...



Those are some of the power supplies that i've been scoping out. What do ya'll think of this one:

http://www.trcelectronics.com/Meanwell/se-1000-12.shtml

I also found some home 4 channel amps but they are a pretty penny. I'd be runnig a plate amp to the sub I think so just worried about the amps for tweets, mids and midbasses. Thanks for the info. 




AWC said:


> http://cgi.ebay.com/High-End-Philip...ItemQQimsxZ20080903?IMSfp=TL08090313109r34452
> 
> I actually have one of these. They're extremely well built and sound fantastic. You can't see, in these pictures, is a monter of a copper chassis. This thing weighs a ton. Not alot of power but enough. Just a thought. He's got a buy it now of $259, I don't know if that's a good price or not. I wouldn't sell mine ofr that but its cuz I've got plans for it.


That's a nice unit. Thanks for the tip. Doesn't look like a bad deal to me. So now I must decide between by a power supply for car audio amp use or this unit. hmmmm....... decisions decisions.




seagrasser said:


> The art's are very nice for the money. They sound pretty good also. The fan is also very quiet. If I was to go active like you are suggesting, the SLA-1 makes a great choice.
> 
> Great thing about them is that you can probably pick one up used fairly easily.
> 
> I picked one up for about $120.


Did you get yours local? that's a steal! thanks.

EGO


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

egoaudio said:


> Those are some of the power supplies that i've been scoping out. What do ya'll think of this one:
> 
> http://www.trcelectronics.com/Meanwell/se-1000-12.shtml
> EGO


Something like that should work fine, but I am not familiar with that brand. Has a warranty so that is good. The one I have is out of an ambulance, seems to work well: http://www.iotaengineering.com/12vdc.htm


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## egoaudio (Feb 26, 2008)

sqshoestring said:


> Something like that should work fine, but I am not familiar with that brand. Has a warranty so that is good. The one I have is out of an ambulance, seems to work well: http://www.iotaengineering.com/12vdc.htm


That one looks nice too. Any idea what the remote sensing feature does on the one I found? Here’s the PDF that shows how to wire it:

http://www.trcelectronics.com/Meanwell/pdf/se1000.pdf

i thought it would only turn on if a load was represented on the other side. does this sound right?

EGO


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

Sure looks like a load turns it on that way. Only issue is most amps take 1-2A of power idle, unless you cut the remote on the amps.


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## egoaudio (Feb 26, 2008)

sqshoestring said:


> Sure looks like a load turns it on that way. Only issue is most amps take 1-2A of power idle, unless you cut the remote on the amps.


I think I will cut the remote on the amp with a switch that I incorporate into the system. I'm gonna go with the car audio amplifier setup/power supply. It's only a couple hundred bucks. Plus I can just use my coustic XM-7, 30 band EQ and other crossovers for car audio to make a 4 way active system with some decent adjustability until I get extra cash for the DCX2496.

Thanks for the help. What amps are you running off the power supply? Which power supply did you get.... the 90 amp?

EGO


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

I have a 30 amp Iota and an RV battery. Also have a big server PS I am going to convert to run 12v. I test amps with it so far, but run various subs on them and can get things shaking in the house. Have a single ported 10 that sounds good and gets deep, I'd like to try that on my HT for fun. Have a nice 1kw lightning audio class d with adjustable SS that is too big but should work nicely. I'll have more time for that stuff in winter; I stay outside this time of year as long as I can. That 30A will make things shake like crazy in the house running test tones, would be more than enough for me for music/movies....I think it would anyway. Still need more power so I can test larger amps, so I might get another ~30A some day.

That class D and I have an infinity 4x111rms laying around here, plus some little bridged amp and I would have 5.1 if I had some kind of preamp to run it off of. But I hardly use the HT I have there now so its not high on my list.


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

Not that powerful but check out this ebay item 320298426767 Still not sure what you would use for a preamp.


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## egoaudio (Feb 26, 2008)

sqshoestring said:


> Not that powerful but check out this ebay item 320298426767 Still not sure what you would use for a preamp.


Nice find. Wish I hadn't gone to disneyland the day you put that post up i would've been all over that! Thanks anyways.

EGO


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