TA2020 MKII Portable system

[Needadispenserhere]

Hi, I've been wanting to to make a portable stereo system for a while now, and have been doing research and decided on using a MKII Tripath TA2020 Board from eBay, and I was wondering if I would need a pre-amp (Going to be using a Ipod/Mobile phone as input), what sort of battery I would need, If a pair of Celestion Ditton 6" Speakers would be ok, and if I would need a driver to power a VU meter I was going to add (and if i can't get that working, how hard would it be to make a LED VU meter).

Also, is the board I'm looking at the best one for the job? I was going to make my own board using a TDA1558Q But apparently they put out a heap of heat and don't sound that great anyway.

Thanks

[pacificblue]

The TA2020 will work without preamp.
The battery should obviously be a 12 V type, the capacity depends on how long and how loud you want to listen.
If you refer to a pointer VU meter, you need to check the voltage rating. Most likely you will need a voltage divider. For a LED VU meter you will need a driver (LM3915 or LM3916).
For a battery-driven amp class D is better than class AB, so forget the TDA1558. If you want other suggestions for suitable class D amps, there is a Class D section in the Forum, where you can ask.

[saturntube]

"For a battery-driven amp class D is better than class AB"

Very interested in this.

Can you please expand on it?

I did a little seraching on the Class D forum but could not find anything on battery driven.

Can you please explain some of the theory behind this?

I am looking for a very small Battery driven amps for high efficiency speakers in home use.

Rechargeable Battery NiMh 2200Ah 4200Ah

Maybe something like this.

[pacificblue]

Class D amps are more efficient than class AB, so they consume less power for the same output. Theory.