If you’re looking to add some extra flair to your music experience, consider hooking up some LED lights to your amp.
It’s a great way to create an immersive environment to enhance your music listening experience. This article will show you how to hook up led lights to your amp.
Hooking up LED lights to your amp is a great way to add extra visual flair to your show. By using a few simple techniques, you can create an impressive lighting display that will make your performance stand out from the rest.
Read on for instructions on setting up LED lights with your amp.​ We’ll also provide tips on choosing the right LED lights for your car. Let’s get started!
Summary: Hooking up LED lights to your amp is an excellent way to enhance the ambiance and create a visual connection between your audio system and the surrounding environment. To achieve this, you will need an LED light strip, a 12V power supply, a compatible controller or relay, and some basic tools such as wire strippers, connectors, and electrical tape. It is essential to ensure that the LED light strip you choose is compatible with the amp and the power supply.
Begin by connecting the LED light strip to the controller or relay following the manufacturer’s instructions. Identify the amp’s remote turn-on wire, which is typically blue or blue with a white stripe. Connect the controller’s remote input wire to the remote turn-on wire using a suitable connector or electrical tape.
Next, connect the positive and negative wires from the 12V power supply to the controller’s respective terminals, ensuring proper polarity. Secure all connections with connectors or electrical tape to prevent any shorts or disconnections. Once the LED light strip and controller are connected to the amp, test the system by turning on your audio system. The LED lights should respond to the audio output, creating a synchronized visual effect.
10 Simple Ways on How to Hook Up Led Lights to Your Amp:
1. Use a Simple Cigarette Lighter Plug
The first way to hook up led lights is by using a simple cigarette lighter plug. A cigarette lighter plug can be hooked up to a “remote” wire of the amp, hooking up to a 12-volt power supply.
The power supply can be anything from a simple car battery to a rechargeable battery bank.
2. Use a Battery Cable Adapter
The second way to hook up led lights is by using a simple battery cable adapter that converts the amp “remote” wire into a cigarette lighter plug.
This method can be done without cutting any wires within your amp, thus making it great for emergencies.
3. Use an Internal Diode
The third way to hook up led lights is by using an internal diode. If your amp does not have a remote wire, there is another option you can try.
This method involves creating a circuit that allows current to flow from the negative side of your amp into one end of the diode then out the other end of the diode.
The diode then takes those electrons and sends them directly to the ground, thus allowing current to flow only one way (from negative to positive).
4. Make a T-Harness
The fourth method is by using a T-harness. A t-harness can be purchased at your local car audio shop and is most commonly used for hooking up subwoofers.
If you’re trying to hook up several speakers, make sure you purchase a t-harness that has enough output ports (don’t worry about the “impedance” level).
5. Use an RCA Cable
Connect the RCA side of your cable to your amp’s input, connect the other end to the amp’s output on the led lights.
If your amp does not have an output on the led lights, you can hook it up to a power supply or any accessory always powered on.
6. Use Speaker Wire
If your speaker wire has two conductors (positive and negative), this will work as well. Push both ends into the light’s splice connectors and twist to tighten.
If you’re using a speaker wire that has more than two conductors, connect the positive wire to your amp’s output (speaker) terminal and connect the negative wire to the ground.
7. Use a MIDI Cable
Although this method does not require any splicing or soldering of wires, MIDI cables are not as standard as other methods.
If you have a MIDI cable from an old keyboard, piano, or drum machine, it can be converted so that your led lights will flash to the beat of the music.
This method uses alligator clips (or any metal wire) and is great for emergencies or where custom light shows are desired.
8. Use the Head Unit’s Internal Amplifier
The eighth way to hook up led lights is by using the head unit’s internal amplifier. If you have an aux input that allows you to play music from your phone or MP3 player, this will work great.
By plugging the line-in cable into your amp’s input and running an RCA cable to your speaker system (or led lights), you can have your amp control the song’s volume.
9. Use a VU Meter
The ninth way to hook up led lights is by using a simple VU meter found in most head units.
No modifications are required; all you have to do is look for an AUX input and connect your RCA cable between the head unit’s AUX input and your amp’s input.
10. Use a Multimeter
The final way to hook up led lights is by using a multi-meter (or any HVAC meter that will test voltage).
For example, you can connect an “ohm” tester across the light’s positive and negative leads. You should see 12 volts if the led lights are good and 0 volts if they are dead.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Led Light Setup
1. You should always make sure you have a good ground on your vehicle. This will give the best voltage to your lights, and they stay bright for more extended periods.
2. If you plan to hard-wire it to your car’s battery, find one with attractive color and hue that matches your car’s interior and exterior colors.
3. If you are using the cigarette lighter method, be sure to unplug the car battery before putting this in so you don’t drain its power while trying to play your music loud!
4. Keep them out of the weather and always insulate any bare wiring with electrical tape or other materials so they can withstand exposure to elements.
5. If you must have them exposed, make sure to insulate the area around them, so they do not short out. A little bit of electrical tape will do the trick if it has access to any moisture or weather elements.
6. To control the lights easily with a switch, connect a few 16G wires from your lights to a small switch you can install in a place where it won’t get in the way of anything.
7. Connecting them to an amp will be slightly more complicated, but tuning your lights is simple and effective once you have done this.
Five Advantages of Using Led Lights to Your Amp
There are many advantages of using led lights on your amp. These include:
1. Reduce Overheating and Burn Out
If you are an electrician, it is much easier to wire up led lights than speakers. For one thing, speakers have voice coils composed of copper wire. If these wires get too hot, they lose their conductivity, and the output will suffer.
This problem is eliminated when you use led lights instead because the only electrical load that the led light draws is to drop about 1.5 volts.
In addition, if you wire up your led lights in series, then they do not receive as much current and thus wattage. This can be a benefit because it reduces the likelihood of the lead overheating and burning out.
2. Longer Lasting
Speakers are subjected to much harsher conditions than lamps. Speakers typically last longer because they are not operating under the same degree of heat that led lights require to operate.
If you overheat your speaker, its voice coil will burn out and be irreparable. This is not true when using led lights because their efficiency will drop significantly when you overheat them.
3. Colored Lighting
This is one of the biggest reasons people use led lights in their amps. It just looks kick-ass when you turn on your amp, and all of a sudden, it’s glowing this cool-looking color.
It looks sweet! Plus, colored led lighting can help enhance your stage presence, and overall sound quality since humans perceive higher notes better than lower notes.
4. Less Power Consumption
You will have brighter led lights that draw less power than speakers for the same amount of wattage. Thus, this is a big advantage to many people looking for ways to reduce their costs on electricity bills.
If you’re especially looking for ways to cut down on your energy consumption, then this is a great way to go.
5. Save Space
The most significant advantage of using led lights over speakers is that they take up less space. If you’re looking for an amp that doesn’t get in the way, then you should get something like a guitar practice amp or one with built-in speakers.
On the other hand, if you want to use an amp with your computer, you should consider led lights because they will take up less space.
Plus, if it is something small like a headphone amp or computer amp speakers, the sound quality might be better when using led lights rather than built-in speakers.
How to Hook Up Two Amps Together?
You will need to know which terminals on the amps are positive and negative. You can find this out by looking at your amp or asking your local guitar tech. With that sorted, connect all the red and black wires.
It doesn’t matter if you’re connecting them to amps with more than one channel; you can easily switch the connections by switching where you connect the positive and negative.
Once you’ve connected all of your amps, make sure that they are not both on at once, or you will get a nasty pop! Now turn them on one by one.
They should be hooked up correctly. If there is a loud pop when you turn them all on, one of the connections is backward, and you’ll need to switch it around.
How To Connect Led Lights To Amplifier?
Connecting LED lights to an amplifier can be a great way to create dynamic lighting effects for various events. Here is how you can connect LED lights to your amplifier:
- First, you need to connect the LED lights to the amplifier’s DMX Input port using an XLR cable.
- Once the connection is made, use the amplifier’s software or panel interface to configure and control the LED lights.
- Adjust the settings in order to get the desired effects from your LED lights, such as speed, strobing, and fading.
- Lastly, use additional cables or converters in order to control other devices, such as smoke machines or fog machines, in tandem with your LED light show.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Amp Fuse Do I Need for Led Lights?
The Amp Fuse that you need to use with Led lights depends on the output of the Led light. If the Led light is rated at 25 watts or less, then you will need a 10 amp fuse. If the Led light is rated at more than 25 watts, then you will need a 20 amp fuse.
How Do I Connect Led Lights to My Sound System?
To connect LED lights to your sound system, you will need to use an audio cable. This cable will allow you to connect the LED lights to the sound system and control the brightness and color of the lights using the sound system’s volume buttons. You can also use the audio cable to play music from your sound system in conjunction with the LED lights.
Do Led Lights Pull More Amps?
This question is difficult to answer without more information about the type of light being used and the application in which it will be used. If you would like help determining whether or not LED lights pull more amps, please contact our support team for assistance.
Can I Wire Led Lights With Speaker Wire?
Yes, you can wire led lights with speaker wire. This is a common method for connecting led lights to an audio system or Home Theater System. The speaker wire can be used to connect the led lights to the audio system or Home Theater System, and the audio system or Home Theater System can then be used to provide sound to the led lights.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking for an easy way to add some extra light to your next gig, hooking up some LED lights to your amplifier is a great option.
While it’s not a difficult process, there are a few things you need to know before hooking up your LED lights.
In this article, we’ve outlined the basic steps on how to hook up led lights to your amp as well as some tips to help make the installation go smoothly.
So if you’re looking to add some extra flair to your next gig, read on and get inspired! How have you added LED lights to your performances? Let us know in the comments below!