Hello /diy
pic related to my question, they say on the product page that this amp requires a 13.5V 3A power supply for "optimal results"
I have a similar 25W amp that I power with a simple 12V 1A power supply and it works just fine.
Does it really make that much of a difference if I use the 13.5V 3A supply?
or a 12V 2A would be just as good?
why does it work with 1A when it requires "25W"
I will plug 2 HiFi speakers that were literally dumped behind my house, like under the rain, I could salvage the stereo because by the time I took those inside som1 else already got the stereo system...
>>1016357
You can underpower drivers and not hurt them. They just wont get as loud as they are capable of. Its not a flat scale though. A driver designed for 3 amps wont sound 1/3rd as loud if you only give it 1 amp. It will probably sound quite a bit softer compared to a 3 amp power source and the same volume level.
I've got a set of 125 watt speakers and they sound great even though my amp only puts out 75 watts a channel. The amp gives them what it can and they take it because they are a passive device. They aren't like electronics or something. Where you can blow up your power supply if you put a device with a 3 amp draw on a 1 amp source.
>>1016360
thanks a lot, this is for a small room and I don't think I need all that power.
Cars are 12-13.4V. It's probably meant for a car.
>>1016357
>>1016362
Basically, if you never turn the amp up high enough that it needs more than 12w, then a 12w supply is just as good as the 40w supply it's asking for.
If you do, the supply will be operated outside its specifications. This is fine for modern, high-quality power supplies: they just deliver less voltage in the hope the load takes the hint (this is called "sag"). In extreme cases the supply may switch off entirely.
But if you didn't get it for a dollar from Hong Kong, it won't go on fire or anything.
It's because output power is relative to the input voltage squared. 13.5 V will gain you a bit of power - and if you're powering normal home speakers, you're limited to about 5 W with either supply (25 W is garbage because Ohm's law), so every little bit counts.
If it sounds okay, don't worry about it.
But most car amps have an internal amps which bumps up the voltage so the amp it's self may be running of + - 35 volts or so.
>>1016437
Auto correct
S.m.p.s