Tips on making my amplifier louder?

[itakenocrud]

I am trying to create a warble tone at 115 dB at 10 feet.

I have been playing around with several different amplifiers (tda2003, tda2030, and tda2040), none of which have been able to give me the volume I need for this project. I heard 115 dB at best.

I am limited to a +/- 15VDC rail voltage and I am currently using a 8 ohm stereo speaker with a horn.

Does anyone have any tips (should I look into getting a different horn?) or alternative amplifiers that could give me the volume I need?

[chris661]

More efficienct speakers would certainly help...

[thermal runaway]

remember for every 2db increase u need TWICE the power !!

[Andrew Eckhardt]

Every 3dB up the power requirement doubles. With such severely limited voltage it probably makes sense to focus on speaker efficiency since the amplifiers will vary performance by a piece of a dB into 8 ohms. What you'd really like is a speaker that will give you that much sound pressure with a couple watts... like a compression driver and horn.

[AndrewT]

95dB/W drivers are easy to find and not too expensive.
100dB/W speakers are getting expensive and more difficult to source.
105dB/W drivers are available but tend to be very expensive.

100W into 100dB/W @1m drivers will give 120dB@1m, this reduces to about 110dB @3m. I think you have done well to achieve 115dB already.

[jleaman]

Originally Posted by AndrewT

95dB/W drivers are easy to find and not too expensive.
100dB/W speakers are getting expensive and more difficult to source.
105dB/W drivers are available but tend to be very expensive.

100W into 100dB/W @1m drivers will give 120dB@1m, this reduces to about 110dB @3m. I think you have done well to achieve 115dB already.

Good food for him! I did this long time ago, loved the fact that i don't need megawatts now to run and listen to music, reality shows that using efficient speakers and some nice amplifiers is pleasant to listen to and enjoy.!

[richie00boy]

High efficiency 4 ohm speaker and a bridged amp. Chips will not cope with this load, you need a discrete design, something special.

[jleaman]

Originally Posted by richie00boy

High efficiency 4 ohm speaker and a bridged amp.

I don't think these words go in a sentence.!

[richie00boy]

They just did. What do you think a 4 ohm 15 inch PA speaker is?

[jleaman]

Originally Posted by richie00boy

They just did. What do you think a 4 ohm 15 inch PA speaker is?

ok, now run that on a tub amp. I believe 4 ohm was meant for car audio to keep the current and voltage at a certain level for power reasons.