Converting a car sound system

TLDR; has anyone converted a car amp and speaker system for use in their home, or with their synth…?

A bit of backstory… I used to cycle commute and one day when I got home, I say my father-in-law’s car in the drive. He wasn’t in the house though, and I was informed the car was for me, so I didn’t have to cycle any more. The car was the biggest pile of :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: I have ever had the misfortune to drive. So in a fit of pique, I went to a local car shop and had them fit a sound system for me. When the car finally died, I tore the system out of it, with the intention of putting it into my next car. As the two cars since have both been Ford’s, I’ve never felt the need to reinstall it, so it’s been sat in the loft for the last ten years.

I thought it might make an entertaining project to convert it for use with synth building activities. However, I have no idea where to start. So was wondering if anyone had done this kind of thing and could point me in the right direction, or dissuade me completely if it’s not worth the bother…?

When I read the title I imagined a car converted into a synth :stuck_out_tongue:

What inputs does it have?

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One side:

The other side:

The main issue is that I have no idea how to power it. I’m pretty sure these things pull a huge current, so it’s not just a case of slapping a 12v wall wart into it.

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According to the manual:


800W/60A is not something to mess with.

Does anyone know how car stereos are normally wired?

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I put some 15" car subwoofers I got for free in a vented port cabinet before. Wasn’t terrible, not exactly ready for the club, but you can never have too many speakerboxes! :smiley:

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you can run it off +12volts of a computer’s ower supply salvaged out of said computer. Alot of internet buzz articles on just how to do it too. I Have done this alot and use one in my garage.

yes , thye use +12 volts and you can use rca outs/ins from your home items or use a car stereo. The wires for speakers are usually brown , gray with and w/o stripes for L & R , red for power , yellow for anntenne , blue for turn-on from stereo lead , if needed , green for ground , so on the amp its red+12v , blue for REM and green or back for ground .

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Evidently you can also use HAM Radio PSUs for this kind of thing too. Given their cost though, a Lepy amp and a couple of small speakers makes for a more wallet friendly approach I think. Cheers both.

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A couple of lead acid car batteries and a 12 volt lead acid battery charger? Switch the charger off when wanting to listen to sounds, switch back on when done listening to sounds.

This way, you can use a cheap 12 volt charger and keep costs down by not having to have an audio rated power supply.

Just an idea… It’s how I’d rig things up.

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