Pre-amp for chip amp

[wotsascott]

Hello one and all,
Can anyone let me know of a diy preamp for my gainclone? Something decent, but not ESP! ESP are awesome I just want a bit more choice?
I know us newbies can be irritating so thanks and watcha to all diyers.
wotsascott

[Cal Weldon]

Hi wotsascott and welcome to the forums.

You might wish to pick a different section to post this as not everyone reads the introductions.


EDIT: thread now moved

[jleaman]

Cal has a good point. But do you really need a pre-amp with a chip amp. They have alot of gain as it is.

[wotsascott]

Hi Cal and Jleaman,
Thanks for the reply! I bought some lovely vintage 25k clarostat dual pots and I can just pop 1 in for volume and a rotary switch for select. However, my mp3 player will not play using the LM3886? This is why I thought I needed a pre-amp? Do you know where I can get a crash course on how opamps work in relation to sound, gain and all those other terms I'm a little rocky on?
Thanks guy's,
wotsascott.

[jleaman]

Do you get any sound at all ? You should.

[Nuuk]

Wotsacott, you don't need a pre-amp with a GC but they do work better with one.

Take a look here
for some ideas.

[cpemma]

Originally posted by wotsascott
However, my mp3 player will not play using the LM3886...

I've had low max volume problems with portable sources using a single 1.5V battery, I'd guess a preamp with voltage gain of 3-4 would help. Or you could maybe try changing the FB resistor on the 3886 as a quick cheap fix?

[DocLorren]

Why not ESP? I used to drive my GC with a Death-of-Zen pre-amp with excellent results. Now for something completely different, I currently drive the Sonic T amp (mister...don't mention the t-amp in this forum) and again am very happy with the way it sounds.
The DoZ pre-amp is cheap, simple to make, has great documentation, you can always ask Rod from ESP for advice and he will respond quickly, and it just adds some gain without audible distortion, hiss or other unwanted sideproducts.

[jleaman]

Can i ask what kind of mp3 player you are connecting ? I have used my ipod and other external devices and they have plenty of output.

[wotsascott]

I popped in a cheapy CPC pre-amp with tone controls and now my MP3 players fine <it's an old 20gb toshiba>. The Doz looks fun so I may give that a go.
Thanks one & all, it's nice to have some fresh answers to basic questions I have. The last project I built before my amp was in my physics 'o' level <long time ago>.
Which amp and preamp or intergrated amp do you guy's recomend for my games/listening room? My GC is now dismantled as I'd done such a bad job!!! Safety first fella's.
So, What say you? What's the best and most fun to build?