Chip Amp Photo Gallery

My First one or is it 5 :p

So i like music like billions of other people, so i search high and low for good amplifiers and speakers , but i was never happy with something someone else ,maid , i didn't like the flashing led's and plastic looking dials.

My media setup is a pc running mediaportal connected to our tv. al movies , dvd's music , photos are on the pc. My current sound setup is a mid early 80's pioneer SA420 amplifier. With Sanyo speakers out of the same era. All and all good for now but need upgrading.

So i started with my surround amplifiers:

I LOVED okapi's design on page 12 of this forum. So I stole his idea and changed it a bit.

500VA 25-0-25 toroidal
40000uF rectifier caps per volt rail

5 x lm3886 each with their own heatink (size 15cm x 5.5cm x 5cm)
So far i REALLY like the sound , It seems like my bass is a bit lagging , but i think i go used to the bass tone controll on the pioneer , The subwoofer should cure my needs their.

The mid's and high's though is BRILLIANT compaired to the previous setup.

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Well i use the onboard sound of a gigbayte socket 478 motherboard. Cpu 2.4Ghz, So i could do a lot better with more expensive sound card.

I do get a very soft hum , but you have to put your ear against the speaker to hear it and when i plug out the rca audio in it is slightly softer. But as i said , it's so soft you have to put your ear against the speaker ,Nothing to make struggl with it for now.

The real problem at this stage is ,when i switch the pc on or off a VERY load POP or POPGRRRRRRRRR sound is made on the amplifier , it was so with my previous amplifier also. I would to find a solution to that irritating problem.

But building my sub amplifier and box and surround speakers is next big mission.
 
tangmonster,

thanks for the compliment. I'm glad you like my design.

i finally got around to making cases for mine. i will post pics soon along with a couple of other chip amps i've been working on.

i also have a zen v9 in the works but completion won't be for a while.

how did you make those nice clean bends in the metal that forms your case?

also, where did you get your heatsinks?


Tim
 
I had a big heatsink (300 x 150 mm) my whole design was based on it's size. I count the fins and got it cut down in 5 pieces. (losing about 3 fins)

Then i played with autocad ( my firt try) and designed cases around the size of each heatsink.

At the company i work i do a lot of orders for all our production (pc boards / enclosures / electronic parts etc. ) So i had all the contacts to source me with parts.

basically i drew up the enclosures and emailed it to the guy i use to make our enclosers and mounting plates for our other products and he did it ,also the natural anodizing.

He also did all the hole punching and bends.

i made a 8 ohm resistor out of some big 50W resistors and put an 1khz sinewave in , and turned up the input until my output was about 28V peak , those heatsinks got hot but not too hot.

So i was happy they are big enough ,they don't even get close to that hot under normal loud listening.

i have to say they are more than loud enough for my needs. It is just so cool too be able to turn things up to just about too loud and still no distortion :)

I was slightly dissapointed in the beginning about the lower frequencies not being enough , but it just because i got too used to the pioneer tone controlls being set on full treble and it's bass on 3/4's

on this amp i have no tone controls but mid's and highs are better and i was complaining over nothing with the low frequencies , i don't know if the amps sound changed slightly with time or if it's my ears but currently they sound great , i was planning on building a tone control but it's not even neccesary.

Can't wait for your updated pictures Tim.
 
LM3875

The unit is an old Yamaha CD Player.
Trans = 300VA 25/25
Two 400v 30amp Rectifiers
Caps are 1000uf x 10/per rail
Snubber caps 1000Vdc 22nf


I think I posted a pic of this before, but I had to pull this apart to do a quick repair on the led board so I took some of the inside.

I built this about a year ago and it's been running fine.....
 

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WAF & SAF

Both the wife and son seem to think it's o.k. I run my Imac through it, as it's a better sound than my old Yamaha CD player. And keeps everything nice and tidy.
The speakers are Image Loudspeakers from a New Zealand company. They are rated at 180watts which is a total over kill. And they are not that sensitive..............
One of my next projects is to build a nice pair of OB's I think.........
 

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Actually, not a lot. I just downlaoded some CD's to the hard drive. I couldn't be bothered with storing CD's in the bedroom, not enough room for that. And it's just about listening to some music. Which is really good quality from this Pioneer DVD/CD drive. I'm not really going to analyse the sound. It is also good as we can throw on a music dvd and watch a concert, or even a movie. Like today when it's wet, I can just throw on a music DVD and jump on the net.
I want to build a better system for the lounge which will have my TT and some nice speakers.