DC powered guitar/vocal amplifier

[Lawrence]

Howdy all..... :-)

Am thinking about building a portable DC powered (12V car battery for now) guitar/vocal mixer/power amplifier in the 20W - 30W output range.

After scanning some of the past messages here, it would appear that a chip amp solution would be appropriate.

Any suggestions for building such a beastie, references to past threads covering this topic etc would be much appreciated.....thanks!

PS......I notice that the term "gainclone" is used quite frequently. Is this just a generic term for DIY amplifiers or does it refer to a specific line of chip amps?

Thanks again......:-)

[mrfeedback]

Hello Lawrence,
If you want best quality and your desired output power go for DC operation using two 12V batteries connected so as to provide +12V and - 12V. (Gel-Cell batteries are ideal)
+/- 12V is perfect for pre-amp supplies, and there are TDA series power op-amp ICs available that run bridging speaker output connection.
You may need to run two IC amplifiers and two speakers to achieve clean 20-30 W - double this for more.
Tda Selection Guide

Eric.

[paulb]

Originally posted by Lawrence

PS......I notice that the term "gainclone" is used quite frequently. Is this just a generic term for DIY amplifiers or does it refer to a specific line of chip amps?

Gainclone is used both as a generic reference to DIY chip amps, but (more commonly on this forum) as a specific instance: the Thorsten topology arrangement with the National LM38xx parts.

[carlosfm]

There are some TDA power op-amps that were designed for car-audio and only need one battery (12V and ground).
Some of them are powerful (Philips has one that gives you 70w), but they will consume some current, you'll need a big battery.
If you go for these ones and one battery, and you need signal op-amps on the preamp seccion, you can make a virtual ground with two resistors for them, but you'll have to choose op-amps that work well with low voltages.