I have 2 10" AudioBahn Car Subs that I'm no longer using in my car. I've done a little bit of research and although it seems possible to do, I'm not sure how.

My receiver has the ability to set the crossover frequency. I'm trying to figure out how to power this sub.

Option 1: Use a computer power supply and car amp.
I found this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdx4IS1WS-g) that kinda explains how to go about doing this. My question is whether this is safe, and whether the power supply would actually last more than a few weeks.

Option 2: Use a car battery, car charger, and car amp.
My only concern with this approach is the danger of having a car battery and car charger hooked up inside a house/apartment. There are some pretty nasty fumes that car batteries give off, and the car charger could be a fire hazard.

Option 3: Buy a home theater amplifier for the sub.
I've heard this can be tricky. It appears that finding the right resistance (ohms), amps, and wattage can be difficult. It also appears to be costly.


The questions I have are:
1. Which of these are possible?
2. Which is gonna cost the least?
3. Which is going to be the safest?

Thanks!
-Jim-

I would say option 3 is your least problematic option and possibly the cheapest in the long run (how many computer power supplies will you burn out? What if you cause damage to your residence using a car battery?) . It is also the safest. What resistance are your subs? If they are both 4 ohm, you could either a) wire them in series to present an 8 ohm load to a sub amp (many sub plate amps are rated at 4 ohms) or b) get one plate amp for each sub, such that each sub presents a 4 ohm load to each amp.

I have a pair of these amps for my subs which I really like: http://oaudio.com/500W_SUBAMP.html

Great features at a great price! The above amps were actually tested, you can read about them at this thread (it's a long thread however): http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=855865&highlight=measuring+amplifiers&page=8

yes, I agree with above... Do a little research on the driver's enclosure dimensions and if so inclined, build a solid enclosure with 3/4 MDF dampened and some microfill. Put a good amp/x-over combo on it and have fun. I have a good friend that does this on the side and, dollar for dollar, will blow away what you could otherwise buy. There is a lot of info on the web on how to do it....;)

Do a google search for Behringer EP2500. That amplifier has all the power you should ever need.

A pro style amp such as the Behringer mentioned above would work as well. Some of them can run 2 ohms on each channel as well. Pro amps tend to yield a lot of power for not a lot of $, many on the DIY sub forum use them. Some folks use them for powering mains as well. The advantages that the plate amps have are convection cooling - no fan noise, auto turn on, and no issues with the output impendence of the receiver or pre/pro sending the amp it's signal. The latter isn't always an issue, but it can be.

Definately power the sub with an amplifer (I suggest with) with additional crossover settings such as:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-750 at 300 watts

or

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-752 at 500 watts


Check the DIY Speakers and Subs section. You'll probably find more suggestions for powering subs there.

Put the car amp on eBay or craigslist and buy a sub meant for home use. All problems go away.

Great idea but Audiobahn!. get some quality subs. :)

Just found this thread and thought about doing this for a recording studio. My question is how do car stereo stores power all of their 12 volt gear?

Put the car amp on eBay or craigslist and buy a sub meant for home use. All problems go away.

This would seem to be the best way to go but car audio equipment has very poor resale value. I myself use a car stereo sub as my subwoofer and have for years and it continues to serve me well. I power it with an amplifier of similar style of the Dayton amplifiers from parts express. I have 300 watts going into 4 ohms. I would suggest that you buy an amplifier built for DIY subs like the BASH amp razel has links to instead of buying a relatively expensive DC power supply that can push out tons of current to power a car amp. If I had it to do all over again I would have saved money and bought an HSU or SVS sub, but they weren't around at the time. My Vega totally blew away my Paradigm PS-1000 that I bought at the time for 450 bucks. There are a lot of good choices today of subwoofers. I suggest unless you just absolutely have to have your Audiobahns hooked to your stuff and wanna play with it that you use them money you would use to buy a BASH amp and apply it to a home true subwoofer.

Car subs are more like powered woofers (mid bass). Home theater subs go much deeper in Freq.

Car subs are more like powered woofers (mid bass). Home theater subs go much deeper in Freq.

I agree but there was a time where it wasn't like that. Even for 600 or 700 bucks way back when you couldn't get the kind of sub you can get now. For that amount of money you can get something that will shake your house loose from it's foundation. My Vega can get lower and way louder than my Paradigm sub used to. The Paradigm was more of a powered woofer. For 450 bucks now days you can do way better. I don't have the 700 bucks yet for what I want and have bought other components more important at the time like center speaker, rear speakers, and new receiver. A badass subwoofer will top my system off someday. Today, I wouldn't do the car woofer thing. However I do get very good response down to 25Hz on my Vega. It dips pretty fast below that until you hear very little at 20 and almost nothing at 19. But if you already got the speakers, an amp is cheaper than getting a 500 to 700 dollar sub.

Car subs are more like powered woofers (mid bass). Home theater subs go much deeper in Freq.

Drivers are drivers. The only exception are car subs that are designed for extremely compact enclosures, that rely heavily on the vehicle's transfer function to gain low bass.

In most cases, car and home are easily interchangeable. As far as impedance; for most good amps it's strictly a question of efficiency. 8ohm drivers tend to be more efficient, but with a little less "output."