LEDs on subs

[AK bass]

what if I took a small amp hooked it up through the out put on my big amp, and hooked up the leds through the small amp?

I'm thinking about doing this because I have a few amps laying around.

as they said in an earlier post... the sub amps were specifically meant for audio trying to use their output on something other than audio can mess things up

well I'm going to try it anyways because I have nothing to do and I have extra leds, amps...... if it works, it works, if it doesn't, well shit.

[Wicks]

I don't have the electrical yet but I will before I do it... the 8k+ I'm thinkin about doin is linking a pair of SQ 3500 together... hmm... so could I maybe take the RCA that is linking the master and slave together and split that so one goes to the slave and one goes to the LED controller? and no if that controller is the one that you were saying you didn't like then I'm not going to get that one I'll just have to find a different one... hopefully I can find one that has an RCA input instead of having a headphone jack style input

SQ3500 amps? I'm not familiar with them.

Assuming its a typical mono-block that is strap-able they should have slave inputs/outputs. I would connect the LED controller to the pass-through output on the slave amp.

This would be the string of the audio signal = HU to master amp to slave amp to LED controller. NO splitting.

The LED controller will have some input impedance. Splitting the signal in between a master and slave amp combo could interfere with the signal levels between the two and throw off your output.

I've never seen a controller with an RCA input. RCA's and 3.5mm jacks present the same signal level. Therefore you can simply take a spare RCA cable and cut off one of the ends and solder on a 3.5mm jack and you're good to go!

[bassfreake]

I don't have the electrical yet but I will before I do it... the 8k+ I'm thinkin about doin is linking a pair of SQ 3500 together... hmm... so could I maybe take the RCA that is linking the master and slave together and split that so one goes to the slave and one goes to the LED controller? and no if that controller is the one that you were saying you didn't like then I'm not going to get that one I'll just have to find a different one... hopefully I can find one that has an RCA input instead of having a headphone jack style input

SQ3500 amps? I'm not familiar with them.

Assuming its a typical mono-block that is strap-able they should have slave inputs/outputs. I would connect the LED controller to the pass-through output on the slave amp.

This would be the string of the audio signal = HU to master amp to slave amp to LED controller. NO splitting.

The LED controller will have some input impedance. Splitting the signal in between a master and slave amp combo could interfere with the signal levels between the two and throw off your output.

I've never seen a controller with an RCA input. RCA's and 3.5mm jacks present the same signal level. Therefore you can simply take a spare RCA cable and cut off one of the ends and solder on a 3.5mm jack and you're good to go!

SoundQubed http://www.soundqubed.com/Q1-3500D1-Amplifier_p_32.html fka Audioque and yea they're strappable... if I am right in how strapping works though once you switch the slave amp to slave nothing on the slave works except for the input that takes the RCA from the master and of course the power input and the speaker terminals... ??

[Wicks]

what if I took a small amp hooked it up through the rca out puts on my big amp, and hooked up the leds through the small amp?

I'm thinking about doing this because I have a few amps laying around.

Using a small spare amp as the LED controller....interesting concept.

An audio amp is basically a variable frequency inverter. It converts DC to AC.

LEDs are primarily meant for DC signals.

LEDs (light emitting diodes) are a type of diode. Diodes only conduct in one direction. Therefore they would only light on half of your audio signal.

That may be good enough for a visual effect.

Diodes will restrict conduction in the opposite direction but they have whats called a breakdown voltage.

This means that they'll restrict conduction with a negative voltage up to a certain point.

If pushed past that breakdown voltage the diode will fail. Diodes typically fail "short" which means they turn into a short circuit (~0 ohms).

The LED strips have a current limiting resistor which will help BUT...if that failed diode gets hot, the output of the amp isn't fused or anything to help avoid issues.

So there is a chance of bad things happening.

Since the LED strips are meant to be used with a controller or a straight DC voltage, they probably don't list the breakdown voltage so it may be hard to tell.

I like the out-of-the-box idea but I'd be cautious about doing it.

The LED strips are designed for a 12V output from the LED controller. Therefore the breakdown voltage "should" be at least -12V.

If you measured the voltage rails on your "small" amp and made sure that they were 12V or less then it may work just fine.

I'm not recommending this but with the right precautions and measurements it may work.

[Wicks]

but yea wicks I plan on adding probably 2 big batteries to my trunk plus I've been talkin to mechman about an alt and as I get closer to the time of maybe doing this might start talking to them about how to do more than one alt

8KW in a trunk car is ambitious!!!

I've never ran anything that big but 3 batteries may be necessary, depending on how big they are.

Two Alts in a car? That would definitely help. What car? Two Alts in a car is tough.

If you pull this off I want to see a build log! and fuses...lots of fuses!

[bassfreake]

Lol I've seen lots of cars with that kinda wattage... And haven't you seen guys on here running like 4 alts? And idk i might only use one of them i haven't decided yet... Might start out with 1 and then upgrade to 2 later... But 1 of those amps is still 4k lol either way I'm doing at least one probably xs d7500 in my trunk

[Wicks]

I don't have the electrical yet but I will before I do it... the 8k+ I'm thinkin about doin is linking a pair of SQ 3500 together... hmm... so could I maybe take the RCA that is linking the master and slave together and split that so one goes to the slave and one goes to the LED controller? and no if that controller is the one that you were saying you didn't like then I'm not going to get that one I'll just have to find a different one... hopefully I can find one that has an RCA input instead of having a headphone jack style input

SQ3500 amps? I'm not familiar with them.

Assuming its a typical mono-block that is strap-able they should have slave inputs/outputs. I would connect the LED controller to the pass-through output on the slave amp.

This would be the string of the audio signal = HU to master amp to slave amp to LED controller. NO splitting.

The LED controller will have some input impedance. Splitting the signal in between a master and slave amp combo could interfere with the signal levels between the two and throw off your output.

I've never seen a controller with an RCA input. RCA's and 3.5mm jacks present the same signal level. Therefore you can simply take a spare RCA cable and cut off one of the ends and solder on a 3.5mm jack and you're good to go!

SoundQubed http://www.soundqubed.com/Q1-3500D1-Amplifier_p_32.html fka Audioque and yea they're strappable... if I am right in how strapping works though once you switch the slave amp to slave nothing on the slave works except for the input that takes the RCA from the master and of course the power input and the speaker terminals... ??

Ahh, I thought the model number sounded like AQ.

That is a damn good question!

I looked through the manual and it doesn't go into that much detail.

It is possible although I'd think that they would be more concerned with turning off the other set of RCA inputs so the amp doesn't have to contend with two different inputs.

You would think that the "linking" output would still work. What if you had four of these amps and wanted two strapped pairs.

You would probably want the RCA inputs daisy chained to all four amps with all the same signal levels.....?

You might need to send an email to their technical service dept for that kind of detail.

[bassfreake]

Yea the linking output still works... That's linked to the master though... And you said no splitting lol only way to hook the master and controller to the same input would be to split the connection...

[Wicks]

Yea the linking output still works... That's linked to the master though... And you said no splitting lol only way to hook the master and controller to the same input would be to split the connection...

The "master output RCA" on the actual Slave amp is still open.

I would assume you use this output and link together two more slave amps.

So it'd look like this: Master => Slave1 => Slave2 => Slave3 => Slave4.

Speaker output-wise, Master1 and Slave1 are strapped together. Slave3 and Slave4 are strapped together.

On your second statement about splitting:

My assumptions are that these amps have "active circuitry" on the inputs that take the incoming signal, repeat it with a separate driver chip (IC) and then output the copied signal to the output. This would help reduce any strain on the HU if it had multiple amps daisy chained.

I would hope that inside the amp, the input/outputs are not just hardwired together...but who knows.

Hopefully the LED controller would have a high enough input impedance that it won't affect the audio signal to the amps at all.

[bassfreake]

I might be missing something cuz the only RCA inputs i remember seeing on the pictures I've seen on that amp is the 2 rca inputs to come from the head unit and the link RCA that when you strap them you connect the one on the master to the one on the slave... This is just going from a video that ami customs posted showing how he strapped his together he has the same amps