Non-Car Car audio

I'm trying to set up a portable battery powered sound system for a wireless system and I've chosen a car amplifier to power the speakers... but I have a problem and I'm not the brightest electrical engineer on the block... There are three connections on the power block. One is labeled +12V Another is labeled RMT (Remote) And the last is labeled GND (Ground) Is there a way to wire this so that I don't need remote power from the "head" to power up the amp? How do I connect the amp to the battery (direct... remember we're not in a car here)? Thanks for the help...Martin

Ok... speak to me like I'm a 5 year old... The 12V + terminal on the battery goes to the 12V+ terminal on the amp... You're suggesting that the negative (-) battery terminal go to a switch and then to remote power... Isn't the battery negative terminal connected to ground (chassis) in a car? That's what all the installation diagrams suggest. It leads me to believe that the Negative terminal on the battery gets connected to the Ground terminal on the amp. Is that crazy? Thanks again!Martin

I think what he means is:  Connect the amp's 12 (+) volt to the 12 (+) volt positive on the battery, connect the ground (-) to the negative (-) on the battery, and also connect the amp's remote turn on to the battery's 12 (+) positive but add an on/off switch in between the Amp's remote turn on and the battery's 12 (+) volt.  Either way you'll need some kind of way to tell the amp to turn on and off.  Good luck

OK cool... that's starting to make sense. I heard though that the remote power took a lower voltage than 12V... It isn't going to fry anything to go direct from the Battery? Thanks!Martin

A remote wire can use any amount of voltage.  All it does is tell the amp that there's power coming from a source other than the battery itself (in most cases a head unit) so that the amp switches on.  This keeps the amp from staying on permanently and draining the battery, or from having to manually switch it on and off.Drew   "Fuses are only 10 cents...go for it."

I believe most remote lines require 12 volts to work properly (although I think I read somewhere of a few that used 9v, but I'm not sure). If you don't send enough voltage through the remote, the amp will either not turn on or will turn on and off constantly. Wire the 12v positive to the positive terminal on the battery, the negative to the negative terminal on the battery, and the remote to the positive on the battery. Install a switch (an in-line toggle or rocker switch) on the remote line like everyone else recommended to turn the amp on and off and you should be fine. Just out of curiosity, which amp and speakers are you using? I'm only asking to make sure you get the correct ohm loadSquirrel

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I'm using a Jensen XA92... The application is a theatrical wireless speaker system ... I'm transmitting RF to the rig and powering the XA92 with a 12 V deep cycle... The Jensen is 2 ohms stable... I'm fine on the rest of the application and have worked as a sound designer for almos t 8 years, just have little experience with batteries... and less experience with car amps... Thanks to everyone for the help! Martin http://www.heardrum.org Martin