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My super cheap semi-diy PC desktop system:)

Posted by Frank25 (A) on February 8, 2007 at 08:42:33

I did this more for the fun and learning experience but was quite surprised at the results. Heres the parts I used.
1 - 500w pc power supply
1 - old 4 channel Kenwood car amplifier KAC646x
1 - pair of cheap radioshack 2-way bookshelf speakers Minimus7
1 - diy 8in sub

The idea came up when my dad asked me to put together a super cheap desktop system for his PC so he could listen to music while hes working at the PC. He has a cheap 2.1 Logitech system and didn't like the sound at all. My mom wouldn't let him spend anymore money on audio/video equipment since he just bought a 42in lcd screen and surround system. So I looked around in the basement storage area and came across the stuff I mentioned above.
I hooked up the amp to the power supplies 12v rail and shorted the switch wires that are used to turn the PC on/off. This got the power supply to power up without being connected to a motherboard. I then connected the bookshelf speakers in stereo to two of the channels and let them run full range. The other 2-channels were bridges and connected to the 8in sub, the amps 80hz low pass was used. I connected my MP3 player to the inputs of the amp and powered everything on. To my surprise everything worked as I planned and even sounded very good. It sounds far better and plays louder and clearer then the 2.1 logitech system that my dad currently uses. I'm in the process of testing it now to make sure the power supply doesn't over heat. Its been on for a few hours playing loud bass heavy music and the power supply isn't even warm! If it gets through the testing phase Ill build a case for the amp and psu. Any ideas what I could do to improve this setup?? I was thinking of maybe some sort of filtering before the power goes to the amp to get rid of any of the switching power supply noise. And also was thinking of a storage capacitor or two. What do you guys think?
thanks

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