Hello from Romania

[Blueridge]

Hello everybody!

I'm Blueridge -Andrei or Andrew by my real name- and I decided to become an active part on this forum. At first I guess I'll be more on the guidance asking side, but as I'll progress and gather some know-how I'll try to bring my contribution to this forum as well.
So, what bring me here: I've decided to put a little more effort in a long time burning wish of mine, that started during high school: building my own amplifier. lack of money and later, lack of time made me postpone this until today, when I decided its time to do something about it or forget once and for all... So here I am... trying the do something part.
I'm now a young engineer, married and father of a wonderful 1 year and two months old boy. Suffice to say that my son consumes all my free time but after he falls asleep every night, the ole' spark lights up...

So, I decided to start with a chip-amp (or two...), play a little with them, learn something, re-embrace analog design and work my way up to class A power amplifiers. Ever since I graduated college I've been working as an automotive design engineer so i drifter further and further away from analog design... But that's all about to change...

I'm starting on a very tight budget and for a good period of time I'll stick to power amplifiers, preamplifiers and tone correctors and finaly DACs (like that's not enough), but i also intend to try some DIY speakers, but in the distant future.

Fist thing first: I'm gathering the parts and doing some basic calculations for a LM3886 chip amp. I think I'll go the op-amp buffered chip amp route at first.

I'm planning to buy my first set of speakers hopefully by the time I finish my first chip amp. I've been listening music for the past 10 years on some cheap PC speakers so It's time for a change (even my wife think so... ).

So, wish me luck in my endeavor and please be patient with me as I'll be asking my share of dumb questions.

[wintermute]

Hi Andrei and welcome to diyAudio!

Tony.

[planet10]

Welcome to the forum Andrei

dave

[Bluto]

Welcome Andrei-

Quite an ambitious plan you have for yourself- All you need lies within the site. Good Luck!

[Rodeodave]

Bunä siua! And welcome to the forum!

Starting with chipamps is a good idea, since they only require moderate heatsinks and can achieve great performance with simple power supplies since they have a very high PSRR.
May I suggest you look at the LM4780? It contains two LM3886 chips in one package. I have built an LM3886 amp (one LM3886 per channel) and really liked it, and also an LM4780 single chip stereo amp which is almost as nice, but I must say that meanwhile I prefer the LM4780 in parallel configuration (that is one chip per channel). Very quiet and can deliver loads of power. You can get free samples from National Semiconductor and suitable pcbs are quite common. See LM4780 - Overture Audio Power Amplifier Series Stereo 60W, Mono 120W Audio Power Amplifier with Mute

Good luck!

[Blueridge]

Thanks for your replies!
I am a little bit nervous about starting this activity, I know I'll have to go slow, as my free time is quite limited and I'll have to patient and the results will show up...

I've gotta confess that I'm feeling a bit like a teenager waiting for the girl on their first date... It could turn out to be bliss... or ... but only time would tell.

I'll make sure to start a thread in the appropriate section When I'll start my build up...

[ikoflexer]

Hai noroc! And welcome to the forum! I started with a LM3886 too. Good place to start.

[SunRa]

Hi Andrei,

Good luck with your new hobby! Building a chipamp is really easy, there are tons of resources on the net, and the parts are readily available here in Romania. Let me know if you need to be guided around to the local parts dealers.