Setup recommendations please

I want to connect outdoor speakers Bose 151 to my Raspberry Pi 3, which is running Volumio.
I’m not Audio expert, so I need some recommendation here.

Currenty I have Raspberry Pi audio out connected to some old stereo AUX.
Now I want to get rid of that old stereo and instead of that use PI + (some audio shield connected to pi?) + some AMP + Bose 151.

Can you guys give me some recommendation what do I need to get those speakers playing?

Thanks!

Why can’t you use your existing stereo amp to run the Bose speakers?

It’s not amp, is some old stereo shelf speaker system with AUX input. Need to turn it on everytime I want to listen to volumio :wink:
I was thinking about getting some car amp and connect PI to it… That would probably work.

If you’re looking to keep the cost down, what about an older secondhand stereo integrated amplifier?
Secondhand shops, op/charity shops, online ads (ebay, etc).
I often see inexpensive stereo amps in cash converters and similar shops. I bought a great old stereo tuner from one of those shops.

I was also thinking about this. But I need amp to be always ON, which is probably not good for amp? My typical scenario is, that I come out of the house, grab my iPhone/watch and say “Hey Siri, turn on the radio” :slight_smile:

I just got one car amp from my firend:

2Channel Power Amplifier 500 watts peak power - Mac Audio MPX2000
Specs:
[size=85]Max Power output 2 x 180/ 1 500 watts
RMS power output 2 x 60 / 1 x 150 watts
Max power output into 4ohm 2 x 250 Watts
Frequency Resp 5 - 50kHz
THD <0.05%
Signal to noise ratio >100dB
Input Inpedance 20kOhm
2 Ohm stable
Variable Low pass filter
Varibale High Pass filter
Bridge/Tri Mode capability
Protection circuit that safe gaurds against short circuits
Status LED
[/size]

Will this work if I connect it to power supply adapter and then directly to Raspberry Pi audio out, using this adapter:

You’ll need a mains to 12V PSU with adequate current delivery to run that car amp, but it sounds like you know that.
You’ll be able to connect the audio out from the R Pi to the line level inputs of that amp ad control the volume from the Volumio interface.
There’s probably no issue with running that PSU and amp always on, apart from unnecesary power usage.

I have no idea how you’d get Siri to control Volumio.

Yes, I know that I’ll need a 12V DC PSU, however I don’t have an idea which one to use yet. Any idea how much current does that amp draw?
Power usage should be probably at minimum when nothing is playing?
So I should be fine by using just that adapter (see my previous post) to connect PI output to AMP? Or should I use some of those PI hats, like
Hifiberry DAC?

About HomeKit/Siri and Volumio: you need a HomeBridge with Volumio module.
However the Home App from Apple doesn’t support controlling speakers. As a workaround, the accessory is declared as “Lightbulb” and you can control the volume by controling the “lightbulb Brightness”. Then you name that accessory, for example “Radio”. And Siri commands like “Turn on radio” and “Set radio to 50%” for controlling volume works perfect.

That amp has a 25 Amp fuse on the 12V input, so big current draw when it’s running hard.
A PSU with that sort of capability will be expensive
jaycar.com.au/13-8-volt-20- … y/p/MP3098
jaycar.com.au/13-8v-20a-swi … y/p/MP3078

An old computer PSU might be workable to get you something like that sort of output at 12V.

It just seems a strange way to go though, why not get a secondhand hi-fi stereo amp that will be cheaper and easier to deal with.

Depends on how much you want to spend.
I have a couple of these listed below and they work great.

The higher ones have Sub out which allows you to add a cheap sub and get better sound.

amazon.com/SMSL-50Wx2-TDA74 … 840&sr=8-8

amazon.com/SMSL-AD18-Blueto … 956&sr=8-3

amazon.com/Dilvpoetry-Toppi … r=8-3&th=1

Ahh, it looks like I took a wrong turn with that car AMP. I don’t want to spend too much for PSU and I don’t want to burn down the garage with some computer PSU :stuck_out_tongue:

I’ll just buy some old HiFi Stereo or small Amp.
That SMSL SA50 50Wx2 TDA7492 Class D Amplifier looks simple and nice. Thanks for the suggestions.