Car Stereo in Home AC/DC

Car audio is pretty new to me and I'm learning as I'm going. There is material on this subject but I want to do things differently and I have some questions. I am trying to hook up my Sony car radio CDX-M620 12v DC to a wall outlet AC. In the future I might add more speakers, subs and an amp or not but I want to have the possibility to do so. I am not going this route trying to save money I'm doing this because I want a project and want to learn and be creative. eventually making my own speaker box for this.

I have got most of my car audio knowledge by searching the web and I am getting some mixed answers and some bad advice, some good advice. So I came here to set things straight. I hope some of you can answer my questions.

How do I know how many amps the radio needs? manual only stated 12V. Online answers said a radio needs between 2-10 amps DC.

I read that you should not use a battery charger as they can damage your electronics, not sure if that's true. If its the right amps and voltage it should be good?

Some people use computer power supply's. Its good if you have one laying around but they are big and odd shaped. I was going to use a server's (computer) power supply as they supply much better amps that would be helpful if I had an amp hooked up. But the price is a little high. If I'm going to put $30+ in a power supply for this I should just go all out and get a pyramid power supply, But I just want a smaller unit with decent output.

I found one on ebay: 12v 10A 120w DC I think I could use.
https://www./itm/Wholesale-100-240V-To-DC-12V-2-3A-5-6A-8A-10A-Adapter-Power-Supply-For-LED-Strip-/251299068343?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item3a829779b7#ht_8896wt_1005

I started to look at my other power supply's that I had that aren't being used and I found my power brick. I know I would have to do some special wiring to make it work but at least it had the right output.

AC Adapter 360 Output: DC 203W 12V 16.5A 5Vsb 1A

Could I cut off its head and rewire it to work properly?
I'm not sure if I could use the stand By power. which one is amps? 16.5A? or 1A? Is 16.5A to much or can it harm my setup?

please inform me and I will continue to search for answers and pass along my information that I have to give.

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Let the fire burn.

That supply you have should be fine. You can't have too many amps in a power supply, the device will only draw what it needs. If the radio maxes at 10 amps then 16.5 amps gives you plenty of overhead above that.

Both the 16.5 and the 1 are amps. the 1A is on a 5v lead though which you won't use in this application, insulate it will and tie it out of the way. the 16.5A if for the 12 volt part of the supply which is what you will be using for your stereo.

Other than adding that 2 pins on the PC PSU's need to be shorted to turn it on (ie, the pins that go to the front panel "on" push button), I merely have a few minor comments - of admiration!

Thanks Freak for your answer. "Can't have too many Amps" (loads only take what they need), and insulating unused outputs - excellent!

And tytytucke, I admire your ingenuity and research.
PC/ATX etc supplies are probably the cheapest high current supply available, and obviously reasonably reliable & stable.
I even intend using them instead of a 12V 2A plugpack for a water pumping application. (And the ATX remote-on means the water switches can control the PSU instead of merely the 12V pump.)

The PSU's 12.0V may be adjustable or able to be boosted if 12V isn't high enough (since automotive "12V" usually means ~12.6V and usually ~14V, or anywhere between 8V & 16V).

But a 10A battery charger would require a battery; will be electrically noisy; and be far more expensive.
IMO anyone that suggests a battery charger as an audio DC supply lacks knowledge and practicability.

instead of rigging things up to a PC power supply, why not get a display board power supply? i doubt just a radio will draw more that about 7 amps continuous unless you add more speakers than it can handle. either way is fine i guess, i know just enough about computers to know that its possible, i wouldnt know how to activate the power supply but unless you had a pretty nice power supply i think it might have to work hard to handle a radio and i think you mentioned something about using an external amp too.

i think it could be tricky, mainly because high wattage PC power supplies split that power into multiple outputs, i know this because my 800W cooler master has way way more outputs than i can use in my PC.

a display power supply is meant to deliver that current on a single output that you can tap multiple devices onto without fear of over loading any single output, it can be used as a battery charger but it has a more regulated cleaner supply than a normal battery charger would have.

soundnsecurity - how much would such a PSU cost?


I think many car audios use a 10A fuse, hence a max load of nearly 150W though usually only 100W in practice with say 4 x 16-20W output (ie, running at 70-90% of fuse rating).
Not that that means having to running full boar @ 10A. 3/4 volume should mean way under 7A.   


I haven't checked if each supply wire (+12V & GND) is capable of carrying full rated outputs of 16A or 20A etc, though after recently checking wiring tables about the (IMO!) ridiculously thin wires used on modern Delco/Delphi fusebox 10A & 15A circuits, I'm sure they will.

there are cheap ones and expensive ones. a 10A power supply from pyramid can be bought for around $60, i also found some 50A power supplies used for home LED lighting for around the same price. these were on ebay but im sure there are other brands for around the same price. if he wants to add an amp in the future then he will need around a 50A supply. i would also suggest wiring in a small 12v battery so that you dont lose your settings everytime you switch the power off.

the main reason for thinking that a PC PSU wont deliver full current on any single output is that that much power isnt ever drawn by any single PC component, nothing in a PC drawn that much power unless maybe you have a liquid cooling system or it lights up like a christmas tree on the inside.

If you want to add an amp and subs just get the right supply from the start. Look in to the Astron power supplies - I have a VS-50M and can power a decent sized system off of it. There is no way you are going to add a sub amp off of a computer power supply. I would not recommend a Pyramid supply either - spend a little extra and get a nice supply that will last forever.

If you are going to use a battery charger just make sure you have a battery connected to it (a sealed one, at that). The issue with using a battery charger is that the output of the charger may or may not be stable under changing loads. They are designed to be connected to a large fairly stable load - not to a quickly changing load like a stereo system. If you add a battery you could use the charger to keep the battery charged and use the battery to power your gear. Also, this will be a more "realistic" setup if you are really wanting to learn about car audio!

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Kevin Pierson

soundnsecurity wrote:

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the main reason for thinking that a PC PSU wont deliver full current on any single output is that that much power isnt ever drawn by any single PC component...

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All ATX supplies I have seen are merely paralleled output leads - ie, all +12V & GND outputs come from the same PCB tracks. So it's merely an output wire rating issue.

And since ATX supplies are often junk parts, else $10, or $40 new, etc.

ok, if you say so, i have never taken a power supply apart to look at how the wires are distributed. what i do remember is from reading the manual of my 800W power supply and seeing something about how some of the outputs were rated for different amperage output to power different types of PC components. not to say that this is how it is in all power supplies, i guess the only way to know for sure is to dig up the specs on whatever PSU the OP decides to try to use.

Thanks for the great reply's everyone.

What I meant is that I could use a pc power supply, But I'm going to try to use a power brick (power supply) from an Xbox 360 that has that output: AC Adapter 360 Output: DC 203W 12V 16.5A 5Vsb 1A



I found this photo online. Its someone using a pc atx power supply with a xbox 360. Helpful for my use. I Think I'm going to cut off the head of the socket instead of wiring it directly to the head. Do I connect the 3 12v wires to each other; same with the ground wires or only use 1 12v and 1 ground wire? I could also use the 5v standby power as led lighting with a switch.

I'm guessing this would work as good as a 'display board power supply' at a fraction of the cost (I have an unused power brick)

I plan on putting this in a reasonably sized wooden box and having hook ups in the back just like a receiver/stereo. Also I want to add a car radio antenna (powered) like the one below. I would use the stand by power for this.

https://www./itm/Car-Radio-Fm-Antenna-Signal-Booster-Amplifier-15db-Gain-/390326980787?pt=US_Wire_Harnesses&hash=item5ae14d10b3

Phreak480> Good information, I going to try and use the 5v standby power as led lighting with a switch.

KPierson> your right. The right setup has to have all the goods from the start. If I do want a perfect complete system I will make A better setup as my next audio project. I will definitely consider adding a battery to this one, probably not a car battery as they are to large and heavy.

oldspark> Thanks! you also scared me a little bit when you talked about overloading the fuse. But as you said it should be fine with normal use. It is a 10a fuse.



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Let the fire burn.

there is a certain trick to making the power supply for a 360 come on, make sure you do your research. i know you can use a regular atx power supply on an xbox but i dont know if a xbox power supply can be used for anything else.

I wish I had caught this thread earlier. Hopefully this will still help. I just built a second bench testing unit (pics later) that uses a Pyramid ps-52KX 45a continuous variable voltage power supply. They both run a 10a radio, 2 speakers, a 500w rms (@2 ohms) amp and subs. Both run 8-12 hours a day and are a fully functioning system. I bought the power supplies on ebay from sonic .for $230 shipped each. It is overkill but it is very capable and runs cool and solid. We all know electronics that run well under their rated loads thus running cooler will last longer than anything running near capacity and running hot.

I will post pictures this evening

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To master and control electricity is perfection. *evil laugh*

If you want just a cheapo way to turn on a radio and run a couple speakers check out your local auto parts stores for a low amp (3a) battery maintainer. I use one in my home garage. I dont remember the brand but I got it at Meijer and it is orange. I think it cost $17.99. Again this will not run anything more than 1 radio and 2 speakers at medium volume, but it is cheap.

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To master and control electricity is perfection. *evil laugh*

racerjames76 wrote:

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I wish I had caught this thread earlier. Hopefully this will still help. I just built a second bench testing unit (pics later) that uses a Pyramid ps-52KX 45a continuous variable voltage power supply. They both run a 10a radio, 2 speakers, a 500w rms (@2 ohms) amp and subs. Both run 8-12 hours a day and are a fully functioning system. I bought the power supplies on ebay from sonic .for $230 shipped each. It is overkill but it is very capable and runs cool and solid. We all know electronics that run well under their rated loads thus running cooler will last longer than anything running near capacity and running hot.

I will post pictures this evening

(edit) here is a link to the build page I did for the first bench tester..

https://www.promodding.com/frankentunes.htm

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To master and control electricity is perfection. *evil laugh*