New guy new amp

[calgarc]

hi. i am new here, but have been trolling about for a bit.

I am visiting my parents right now and helped them clean out their basement. long story short i have plenty of speakers and plenty of wood. lets build an amp

i decided to build my amp based around the lm386 chip. with volume, tone and gain. i understand that the 386 is a low power chip but is there anyway to get around 3 watts with them. i have two 3 watt speakers i am putting into a cabinet i am building.


any pointers and tips would be helpful

[sofaspud]

Welcome to diyAudio. The LM386, even the "N-3" suffix, can't output 3 watts. This PDF, though, does show how to build the circuit you describe. You can build it permanently on perfboard or a universal PCB. Cheap, easy, beginner-friendly.
You could do some searching through websites of dealers, and chip makers such as NXP and Texas Instruments, for more powerful chip amps. Or you could build the Amp Camp Amp from here on the forum. DIY audio is a wide wonderful world.

[calgarc]

Originally Posted by sofaspud

Welcome to diyAudio. The LM386, even the "N-3" suffix, can't output 3 watts. This PDF, though, does show how to build the circuit you describe. You can build it permanently on perfboard or a universal PCB. Cheap, easy, beginner-friendly.
You could do some searching through websites of dealers, and chip makers such as NXP and Texas Instruments, for more powerful chip amps. Or you could build the Amp Camp Amp from here on the forum. DIY audio is a wide wonderful world.

its very wonderful i have built synths and guitars in the past.

what if i were to swap the 386 chip for a 2030 or 3886??

maybe there are there other 8 pin chips that might work

[sofaspud]

LM380, SSM2211, LM383/TDA2003, TDA1013, etc. Not all are DIP packages. Higher outputs are usually in a power package (that can be heatsinked). I suggest sticking with outputs =<5 watts per channel for those speakers.

[bobodioulasso]

Good and easy one to start with.
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm1875.pdf

[Minion]

you might be able to parallel and/or bridge several LM386 chips for higher output power ....

[DUG]

I just got back a board I designed for two LM386's to drive an 8R load a little closer to the rail...Each amp thinks it is driving 16R. In theory I could get 2.5W 8R at 3%thd. I prefer to rate amps at <1% thd so it may be only 2W. Since my speaker is only 1 W I should have lots of headroom. (this one is for speech only)
Haven't built it yet...hope it is stable...sometimes 386's aren't happy with their surroundings. (previous experience)

Another build involved two TDA2040's for a headphone amp. Put on some small heat sinks of bent aluminum bits. Ran it +/- 12V and it had lots of headroom...worked great. Similar to the LM1875 in complexity as suggested by bobodioulasso in post #5.

Have fun either way.

[calgarc]

how would i go about wiring 2 chips in a bridged connection.

[calgarc]

I figured it out. I will post pics of the build soon

[calgarc]

do you guys think bridging two 386n-4 could give me close to 3 watts at 12.6v ??