Ok, I've got my main receiver/amp and (for now) a stereo amplifier that I am using for my subwoofer. I have the power for my sub amp plugged directly into the rear of the main receiver/amp in the "AC Switched" outlet. My sub amp is capable of drawing 600W, which is a bit higher than the 120W limit . I have (suprisingly) been lucky and nothing has popped or smoked yet. But, I am looking at adding another external amplifier to power my mains. Problem is, I don't want to push my luck and daisy chain these amplifiers together and risk breaking anything.

So my question is, how do I supply power to external amplifiers to have them power on when the main receiver/amp powers on via the remote control? Basically, I need some sort of relay that will plug into the wall outlet and then allow power to flow to the amplifiers once it receives a signal that the main amp has powered on. Does something like this exist? And if so, what is it called? I was thinking of modifying a power strip with a solid state relay to do this function, but if something already exists, and is reasonably priced, I would much rather go that route.

Thanks for the help!

Well, I went ahead and built what i needed since I couldn't find a ready-made product anywhere (not having a clue what the home theater world calls it didn't help either). Here is a basic electrical diagram of what I did.

My list of parts is as follows:

- (1) cheapo electrical cord for the part that goes to the receiver
- (1) better electrical cord that plugs into the wall
- (1) 120VAC/120VAC solid state relay (ebay)
- (1) dual wall receptacle
- (1) grey plastic, deep receptacle box
- (1) wall plate

Total cost is about $30, half of that being the solid state relay. I will post pictures of the finished product to give you an idea of what it looks like.

And the best part is, it worked the first time I tried it! This should save my receiver from blowing its fuse and/or overloading the switched power circuit.

Congrats! It's always a great feeling when something you design and build works the very first time.

I wish I had seen this post sooner. In the Mame Arcade cabinet building circle, the Bits Limited's Smart Strip is a popular product. If you can't tell from the product description, there are a few outlets on the power strip that are always on, and a few that are controlled outlets. One of the always on outlets, the blue one, is the "control" outlet. When the device plugged into the control outlet is turned on, all of the controlled outlets turn on. When the device plugged into the control outlet is turned off, all of the controlled outlets are turned off.

Pretty much exactly what you did, except you would just plug your receiver into the control outlet and your subs into the controlled outlets. I still like your solution and am more for it, as a Do-It-Yourselfer, but I just thought I'd let you know what is out there.

We did this exact thing many times in the Custom A/V World, works like a charm.

Also, if your receiver has a 12v trigger, you can use a (much cheaper) 12v relay controlled by the 12v trigger rather then the switched AC:

Click to view attachment

You can also use this to control PC peripherals so they are only on when your PC is on. Wire the relay up to the 12v portion of a molex (yellow, IIRC) then plug it into an unused port on your PC power supply:

Click to view attachment

Plug your computer into a live outlet, then your printer, monitor, etc into a power strip switched by that relay and you're done, instant power savings...

That is exactly what I was looking for! Oh well, what I built should do the job fine for now. It only has two outlets, which will be fine for now, but ultimately I will have 3 external amps, so I would have to use a splitter or power strip to distribute the power.


OKflyboy, I looked for a 12v switched power, but my receiver does not have one. That would have been MUCH easier and cheaper (since I have those relay's on hand).

Thanks for the comments.

This is exactly how I did it for my MAME arcade cabinet. I knew of the Smart Strip, but I knew that a 12V relay would be the much cheaper route to go.

Most of the time, they'll look like 1/8" Headphone jacks. It will largely depend on the age and price point of your receiver. My old Pioneer Dolby Digital receiver (one of the first, when they were still sometimes calling it AC3) doesn't, but my newer (~2 yrs old) Marantz receiver does.

It's weird, I figured my receiver would have it, but it was omitted on this model (Denon) for some reason. Of all things my old CD changer has one, but all my other audio equipment does not. The same model, only one year newer than my current receiver has one as well. For now, the switched 110V will work fine and can work fine for other folks who don't have a switched 12V source to work with.

As long as your solution works, then its all gravy. I'm sorry I didn't see this when it first came up but Congrats on coming up with the perfect solution on your own!