DIY car ipod speaker driver

[sonicmook56]

Hi everyone

The stereo in my van has been stolen again, for the 5th time. It sucks cruzing around town without tunes, so I think it's time to DIY something so freaky looking nobody will ever steal it. I imagine it would just look like a black panel with a few toggle switches and a knob or two...no details on what the controls really do.

Here is my requirements:
1> use a simple integrated amplifier IC's on a perf board, bridged mono, 4 channels
2> Independent volume control for front and rear speakers
3> 1/8" stereo input for iPod
4> No fancy power supply, just 12v off the battery
5> cheap

That's it. I don't care for treble, bass, or balance controls.
Searching Google and the diyaudio forums I came up with two possible chips, the l first one being really cool ,and the second one being really cheap with a small parts count.

TDA1562Q
http://www.nxp.com/acrobat_download/...2Q_ST_SD_2.pdf
Im not an expert, It's kinda expensive, so Ill leave this one alone, even thoe It looks really cool.

TDA 2005M
About 1/4 the cost of the TDA1562, this one has sample schematics that I can use as a
spring board
http://www.st.com/stonline/books/pdf/docs/1451.pdf

Of course, this whole idea of building a 4 channel 20w amp on perf board could easly be over ruled by the knowledge of a cheap, manufactured, commercially available amp that I could just build a front end onto and be done with. If anyone knows of any, pleas let me know. Rember, it has to fit inside of the dash cavity as I want this whole project to be "one piece"

Any threads, websites, kits, schematics or comments are appreciated. I'll post my schematic for the 2005M (basicly the one in the datasheet) in a day or so for everyone to review.

Thanks
~B

[dangus]

So a regular car amp hidden away someplace under a seat or behind a panel is out of the question? Just run a patch cord to it from the MP3 player, and use a toggle switch to control the "enable" input. That's basically what I use, except it's a four channel amp with a separate active crossover.

Or, .. use a factory radio or funky twin-shaft cassette deck from a thrift store and cut the wires into the volume control and splice your 1/8" jack in there.

[Lothar34]

I would put the amp(s) under the seat and just leave that gap there in the dash so nobody breaks in.

You might be able to just get a cheap used 4ch amp off ebay cheaper than you could make one (or some).