How to power a sub in my house?..

[Jd377 6]

I've always want to run a sub in my house but can't figure out how to power it. I once used a cpu to power the amp.. but those are crazy expensive to get one big enough to do anything... so i was wondering..

Can you use something like these to power a sub in your house? http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/live-sound/live-power-amplifiers

I thought I might have seen some people use these to power subs in there house and was wanting to try it out if it does work.

Also, is there a way to use a bass guitar amp head to power them?.. I play bass for my church and I could just bring a bass cabinet's head home if that works?.. Because one time we had a party and my friends hooked up music to his dad's bass head/cabinet and we used those for the subs for the music for his b-day.

[topgun 262]

Yes. You can use either a rack amp, like you linked or you can use what is referred to a Plate Amp that is made to go inside of the subwoofer box. The plate amp is what you see in all the commercial home subwoofers.

Personally I use a QSC rack amp to power my subwoofer in my house. They are more cost effective for higher power applications, but also have their downsides. For a plug and play easy setup, it is hard to beat a plate amp.

[topgun 262]

Moved to home audio.

[Jd377 6]

Ok so next question then, I have a bass amp like a combo amp for my bass guitar but it is basically like a cab and head combined.. well it has a "speaker out" place where you can power another speaker/sub and it just use's the power from my combo to power it. Is there a way I can use that to power my sub?.. If so how do you connect it to the quarter inch jack?..

I assume the way you connect it will be the same either way if its the combo or the bass head but both use 1/4" so I was wondering how to do that to my sub if you can and thanks for the help!

[Shogen 325]

you can get wires from monoprice.com and probably find a quarter jack to RCA wire.... Shouldn't be hard....

[///M5 2,833]

Pro audio gear (ie your bass amp) are normally low power to drive a high efficiency driver. Getting a rack or plate amp is a much better idea

[Jd377 6]

Do I just get something like that like a 1/4" jack that goes off into a red and black cord. Like one side is 1/4" and other side is a black and red and Just run the Red into the + terminal on the sub and the black into the - terminal on the sub?...

[Shogen 325]

yes if you wanna go that route... that is how the cable works... but like M5 stated... the rack amp is better...

[Jd377 6]

Oh, yes I was meaning will this method work for that power amp also? I am planning on buying an amp like my link showed. I was just bringing up the combo amp while we were on the topic since I always wondered if it was possible. I guess the 1/4" would work for the amp head or plate amp?.. But how to you connect to the power amp's like the one's in the link? I didn't know if they have 1/4" outputs or something else.

[onebadmonte 235]

Some of those rack amps have both 1/4" and XLR connections. Depending out the output voltage of your pre-amp you might be safe with and RCA to XLR adapter. If your pre-amp doesn't have enough voltage output then you might have to use a line driver. Usually those will have an RCA input and XLR out. Good luck.

[Cant Get Enough 6]

Instrument jack on the bass amp isn't designed to handle straight sound coming from a stereo which is amplifying the signal to levels that will damage your amp. I have a studio and learned from experience a plate amp or rack amp is your best bet. RCA out from stereo to 1/4 inch rack amp input or what ever style input your plate amp requires.

[hondakilla98 29]

I just ordered a Sampson s convert to boost the signal from my ht receiver, a behringer feedback destroyer to act as an eq and a behringer ep2500 to power my aa avalanche 18". I spent right at $400 for about 1500 watts rms and full tuning capability. That's a pretty good deal for that much power. I figure all together I'll be around $800 for output you'd have to pay $2-3k to get from a consumer

[Jd377 6]

dude.. now that is legit.. If i had like 1000wrms going to an 18 in my house im pretty sure.. that would be awesome. I think crap would fall off the walls/police called by neighbors?.. lol