[niietzshe]

Hey DIY'ers. I've so far done many custom cable projects, tacken appart my technics decks and done some stuff to them but apart from that am a bit out of my depth on this one so need some help/advice.

I've after buying or making a DIY amp. I have a MacBookPro and 2 Blueroom Micropod speakers (just bought this second as an impulse buy) and need to connect the two together. I also presume there will need to be some amplification, not just conversion. My aim is to just have some nice output for watching films and listening to easy listening in my bedroom, so nothing crazy.

If anyone has any information on how I can go about this, on a cheap budget, could you please let me know. Or if any of you veterains in Britain think you can make one on the cheap let me know.

I think something like the Mint Box Amps for ipods would probably do, although it would need speaker terminals on the back. Wireless would be nice, if anyone knows any bluetooth/802 hardware that will plug straight into the jack/phono on the amp, that would be brilliant.

I know it's a bit vague, but any info is a great help.
Thanks
Christian

 

[tangent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by niietzshe I think something like the Mint Box Amps for ipods would probably do, although it would need speaker terminals on the back.

No, no, no. You can't convert most headphone amps into a speaker amp just by changing the connectors out. What makes a headphone amp a headphone amp, and not a speaker amp, is that it's designed to put out a whole lot less power. While there are a few exceptionally studly headphone amps that can also drive speakers, they usually require pretty efficient speakers, and you may have to go in and change things like use bigger heat sinks.

Instead of trying to make the wrong thing do what you want, why not use the right thing? Take this up somewhere like diyaudio.com, where they cover more than just headphone amps. There you'll learn about things like Gainclones, and Tripath chip amps, and many other things that will probably work for you. If you want something off the shelf, cheap, it's hard to beat one of these. There is a wireless version, but I have no idea how well it works. The wired version was recently reviewed by Stereophile, favorably.

 

[ezkcdude]

For the wireless, I'd just get a SqueezeBox.

 

[niietzshe]

Thanks for the input tangent!!!
So IF I were to go for this amp, it would be a decent choice?

You see my DJ setup has 150w per channel, so I'm a bit cautious about getting an amp that only outputs 15w's a channel when my speakers handle up to 100w;s...

As I've said before, i'm only after a bit of clarity while watching movies at the moment, however the speakers might join my 5.1 setup next year as the rear speakers when I move.

If you agree that the Super T-Amp is what I should go for then i'm fine with that, looks like the right thing!!!

Thanks again!!!
Niietzshe

 

[velmeran42]

Most speakers don't need more than a few watts of power to put out decent amounts of sound. The Micropods are only 87 db/W efficient, but they should play loud enough for casual listening with 10 W or less. If you want to give yourself a bit of a project, I would highly recommend a 41hz Amp6-Basic . It uses a Tripath "Class-T" amp (a specialized class D) that will put out 25W per channel and will run off of 12V DC (say a 12V gel cell or wallwart). They sound really good and the AMP6 doesn't require any small surface mount soldering like many other amps of that size/class. I'd recommend giving it a look and serious consideration.