[SLUSHIE]

Does anyone know of a good, cheap and easy kit to build to power speakers?

I'm looking for something in the rage of $50 and maybe about 20W or so.

 

[m0b1liz3]

There are gainclone kits around that price but the toroid will end up costing about that again. There are also tripath kits but they are more difficult to build and involve surface mount parts and more tricky soldering.

 

[no_eye_dear]

The TA2024 (tripath) boards are your best bet.
You can either buy an amp for about $50 including SMPS.....
Or you can build one using a pre-built PCB like the SURE boards on Ebay... but you will end up around the $50 mark anyway once you've bought a case, SMPS, binding posts, RCA's etc...

 

[m0b1liz3]

Where do you buy the tripath boards either than 41hz?

 

[error401]

On a $50 budget it's going to be really tough to find anything, even with such a low power requirement. The Sure Electronics no_eye_dear mentions are one route, they sound decent and are pretty cheap, but not really DIY (just add case, power brick and you're done).

Another option might be TI TPA3123. It's a class-D chip that'll do 25Wx2 into 4R. Add a cheap 24V SMPS and some passives and you've got an amp. There's a schematic in the datasheet. These parts are supposed to sound decent. I still doubt you'd be able to do it for under $50 though, even if you etch your own boards.

LM1875 is probably doable - IF - you have a suitable transformer on hand. Otherwise the transformer alone will eat at least half your budget. It's easy to wire up on protoboard though and sounds great.

My advice is buy the Sure 15W module, wall wart, maybe a volume pot, and a cheap case for it. That'll consume your budget and it'll get you a decent sounding amp. Otherwise save more money and get a 41hz kit or build a chipamp.

 

[SLUSHIE]

...You look awfully familiar.... hhaaaha.

So do those Sure board actually come assembled like that? Its not so much the DIY thing I'm looking for as much as it is getting a cheap amp.

 

[no_eye_dear]

The sure boards are dirt cheap and you get everything other than a volume pot (if you want one, drive it with an MP3 player and you're good to go)..... power supply and case. Any 12V SMPS over 1amp will do for starters, max voltage is 13.4V for safety. If you have an old laptop supply hanging around then you are only looking for a case. Again, you can make one yourself or get one from an old amp or... whatever! I've seen these amps in snuff boxes, it doesn't really matter as long as it's metal.... some people don't even care about that!
It comes with binding posts and cables as well....

 

[-=Germania=-]

Haven't built it - but reviews seem very positive!

Parts Express:Velleman 30W Stereo Audio Amplifier Kit

 

[error401]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLUSHIE /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...You look awfully familiar.... hhaaaha. So do those Sure board actually come assembled like that? Its not so much the DIY thing I'm looking for as much as it is getting a cheap amp.

Yes, they come assembled.

 

[Uncle Erik]

$50 won't take you very far, unless you're willing to scrounge from old electronics and TV sets.

If you want to solder, maybe find a neat old Marantz, Fisher, Stromberg-Carlson, etc. receiver for free or cheap and use the leftover cash to put in new filters, metal film resistors and a set of Orange Drops. You'll get a nice deck and won't have to bother with casing something.

 

[-=Germania=-]

T-Amp by Sonic Impact! Cheap + sounds good + right wattage

 

[error401]

Quote:

Originally Posted by -=Germania=- /img/forum/go_quote.gif T-Amp by Sonic Impact! Cheap + sounds good + right wattage

And discontinued

 

[amb]

With that kind of low budget, just buy a Sonic Impact T-amp (not DIY - ready to use) and be done with it. It's $10 over, but I've yet to see anything that gives more for that price.

(EDIT: out of stock at parts express, but it says that they will have stock 8/15/2008)

 

[SLUSHIE]

OK, so not very DIY but what do you guys think of the quality versus the price of this?

Parts Expressyle Pro PTA2 Mini 2x40W Stereo Mixer/Power Amplifier

 

[no_eye_dear]

Quality?
Build quality is not very good on the Sonic impact but some are reasonable.
Sond quality is much better on any of the Tripaths, sometimes with a little DIY modding

The TA2024 will give you better power output before clipping also.

Price can be similar if frugal with the case + sure Ta2024 kit.