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Powering a sub from a switched outlet? (1 Viewer)

Marvin Namro

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On my home theater amp (Centrum Titan 500) i have a switced ac outlet. The outlet says ''Max 100W'' I was thinking powering my sub from there, so i dont have to power it off manually everytime i turn off the amp, since my sub doesn't have stand-by feature. My sub is a König hav-sw100 with 40W max effect and 40W RMS. Could this possibly hurt the amp or put a strain on it?
 

schan1269

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It would be the opposite. However, since 40 is less than 100, there shouldnt be a problem.Same thing if you ran you hair dryer or vacuum. They'd survive, the outlet would fry.
 

hvjackson

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schan1269 is right, the outlet *MUST* have a higher rating than the appliance.

However, just because it's a 40W sub doesn't mean it's going to draw only 40 watts. Could be more, depending on the efficiency of the amp and other electronics in the sub. I would be a little surprised if a 40 watt amp drew more than 100 watts, but I wouldn't be *that* surprised. To avoid blowing a fuse or starting a fire, I would strongly suggest you measure the subwoofer at full volume with a watt meter, e.g. Kill-a-watt or something similar.
 

Marvin Namro

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What's the worst thing that could happen? For example if the sub would be drawing more power than the outlet would allow, would that harm the sub or the amp, or would the outlet be the only that takes the damage?
 

schan1269

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By the way, I finally found where I could find both of these.

You said "home theater amp"...instead of AVR.

No, do not hook up a powered speaker, ever, to an AVR.
 

Marvin Namro

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Well, i'm not quite sure.

This is how mine looks like


6473199106.png
 

Dave Upton

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They aren't meant to be power distribution devices. That little outlet is useful, mostly you plug a low wattage item like an AC adapter or DVD player into that outlet. Subwoofers and amplfiers in general draw a lot of extra power and will literally risk smoking/burning your receiver out.
 

hvjackson

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I don't see a problem using the outlet for an amplifier as long as you stay within the rated limit. There's no reason to make this more complicated than that. 100 watts could well be enough for a small amp. The important thing is to measure it, not just speculate.
 

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