Powering LEDs for speaker - Power only when HIGH volume

[deuceman24]

Hello all, first post here - Usually never have problems when it comes to basic electrical things but this makes me confused.

I am hooking up my LEDs to my rear speakers (I don't have speakers there anymore, so I can use the wires to power my led strip.) Now heres the thing, the LEDs work, but only get sound activated when the volume is REALLY LOUD - I assume the LEDs get the voltage it needs when the speaker wire is pushing more juice?

Anyway to "reverse" this? And make the LEDs light up sound reactive the whole time or a medium volume? Thanks for reading!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/cool.gif.3bcaf8f141236c00f8044d07150e34f7.gif

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[garretttt4 10+ year member]

You just need more power. You can't make them light up more on less power.? I think that's what you mean right? Lol kinda confused.

 

[deuceman24]

You just need more power. You can't make them light up more on less power.? I think that's what you mean right? Lol kinda confused.

They light up, but only when the audio is very loud (assuming more power going to the speaker wire). I want them to light up (sound reactive) the whole time or at a medium volume. Need a way to "amplify" my LED strip to work at a lower volume.

 

[garretttt4 10+ year member]

They light up, but only when the audio is very loud (assuming more power going to the speaker wire). I want them to light up (sound reactive) the whole time or at a medium volume. Need a way to "amplify" my LED strip to work at a lower volume.

Ooooo. Ok. I thought you meant to get em to light up off the same power source. I had a little legacy 240 watt amp sitting in my room and hooked it up like you would a normal amp and just put the light pos and neg in the speaker wires like you would normally. Worked good for me. I'm sure you could get a cheap *** amp for like 30$. Got mine for 20 shipped.

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

x2 get a cheapo amp and turn up the gain until you get the desired effect...

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

x2 get a cheapo amp and turn up the gain until you get the desired effect...

 

[deuceman24]

x2 get a cheapo amp and turn up the gain until you get the desired effect...

Wow thats right, I forgot all about the gain on the amp. I hooked it up to my subs channel bc I'm pushing a bunch of juice to it. Now the LEDs light right up (probably gong to add a resistor in the future bc they are very bright), Thanks!

 

[robert420 10+ year member]

or get a music interface. there like 20 some bucks on amazon. you basically give the little device power, connect rcas in the back coming from the headunit, then wire up the LED's into it. I believe it also has options if you want the LED's to bump with the music, or if you just want them to stay on

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

an LED needs 2-3VDC across it to illuminate. from there the brightness is determined by the "drop resistor" that sets the amount of current through the LED at a certain voltage. most LED's want no more than 20mA of current. With music, to prevent destroying them but getting them to turn on soon enough, a zener diode and a bridge rectifier can help.

however, you still need voltage to be high enough. running them off of a sub amp is easier since voltage is plenty high.