Speaker Amps

You might find what you are looking for here...

I think what he's saying is that this is a headphones forum and speakers aren't really what we do here.

 

Granted, our beloved B22 amplifier will also do speakers (and its older brother, the B24, is designed exclusively for speakers I believe), those amps are quite difficult to build and are probably beyond the range of an inexperienced builder's first project (unless you happen to be an electrical engineer

 

Places like diyAudio are more geared towards general audio.

 

However, if you'd like to partake in building some headphone amplifiers, we'd be happy to help.  The big starting points here are first a cmoy and then the Mini3.  Good luck.

Why are you adverse to kits? What they do is save you a bunch of hassle with casing and layout. There is a bit of an art to laying out an amp - you can't just bundle everything into a box. Further, the case requires metalwork and/or woodwork skills.

A kit takes away those headaches. The layout is tried and tested, you won't have to scrap a bunch of materials while you figure out what will actually work, and it'll look professional when done.

For speaker amps, I'd probably grab one of the Dynaco ST70 reproduction kits. That's a very well-known and popular amp. Further, if you build it correctly, you'll be able to get your money back out if you sell.

Here is the "CMoy" of speaker amps.

Just be careful working around AC.

Anything that is a 'gain clone' will do fine (Arrow linked a version of it).

 

Google it or check diyaudio.

You should note that you will spend MORE to build this amp than if you just bought a reasonable used Japanese receiver or integrated amplifier from your local Craigslist or from eBay.  You can get a 50 watt per channel amp for around $100 -including shipping! - if you shop around.  You can't build a high-quality amp for this little money.  

 

For example, on eBay right now is an NAD 3225PE integrated amp for $45 "buy it now" + $15 shipping!  So, for $60 you have all the power those Pioneer speakers need, PLUS a preamp with a decent FET phono stage!  NAD products of this vintage tend to sound pretty good, a cut above the Pioneer / Sansui / Kenwood products in this range.  For $60, you really can't build very much.  The chassis alone could cost more. 

 

 

But if you are determined to build something, there are lots of nice PCB's for small / moderate size amps on ebay.  You can buy a PCB for a good quality class A amp and then  order the parts from Digi-Key or Mouser.  This would give you experience in navigating parts purchase.

 

I have had good luck buying stuff from Jim's Audio, which is an eBay "store" -  http://stores.ebay.com/jims-audio-store

 

For example, they have a design for a 25 watt / channel class A amp similar to Mark Levinson designs, see eBay item# 320385762535.  You can buy the PCB from them and build it yourself.  25 watts / side would probably sound nice on your Pioneer speakers which are probably pretty efficient (i.e., they don't need much amplifier power to play loud.)

 

"Class A" is a technical description of  a certain kind of amplifier that typically has somewhat lower distortion than other types.  Class A amplifiers are often thought of as a "better" amp design, more or less. (Your mileage may vary - there are some very good Class AB amps out there!  And there's always class D and other switching amps.)

 

The class A amp would also work nicely with your NEXT pair of speakers, too, which may be more revealing than these Pioneers.