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power multiple amp+ pis

Matt Lutz

June 06, 2015 19:17

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Hello all,

I recently bought my first Pi and amp+ combo, and am using it to replace my old squeezeboxes. It's working great so far. I have 7 zones in my house, and all of them get wired to the same place in the house. I was wondering what would be the most efficient way to power them.

CCTV power supplies usually seem to only have 1.1amps per channel, which I understand would not be enough. There are also "Y-adpaters" for a 2.1DC plug (http://www.amazon.com/JACKYLED-Female-Power-Splitter-Cable/dp/B004EAMFDC/ref=pd_sim_421_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0SA6F1CMK75PQ0D6D13G). Is something like that safe to use on a bunch of amp+ boxes, assuming I buy a big enough power supply to feed the splitter? I'd prefer to clean up the wires by not having a ton of small power supplies.

Thanks,
Matt

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3 comments

• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team June 07, 2015 07:22

  Hi,
  
  in general using the same power supply for multiple amps will work. However I do not recommend this. The problem with long power cables is inductance and resistance. Both can have a negative impact on the performance. Don't underestimate the voltage drop on a long power supply cable. You can try and if you're happy with it, it's ok. I would recommend local power supplies.
  We will also do some tests with Power-over-ethernet. You won't be able to use the full power, but only about 10W. We also haven't tested it yet, therefore I can't say how well it will perform.
  
  Best regards
  Daniel
• 0
  
  Matt Lutz June 07, 2015 14:24

  
  Daniel,
  
  thanks for the reply. sorry if I wasn't clear... all of the raspberry Pis are centrally located, so the power supply cable would be about a foot at the longest.
  
  I'll give it a try and see how it goes. If it doesn't work, I can always get discrete power supplies for each one.
  
  thanks,
  Matt
• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team June 07, 2015 18:56

  Hi Matt,
  
  if the power supply is powerful enough, this should'nt be a problem.
  
  Best regards
  Daniel