Hi,
I am looking at building a pair of monitor speakers for a radio studio. I am looking at 22W full range drivers, so I was thinking about a 35W amp. I obviously looked at the LM3886 IC, but I think it might be overkill. While not really an issue, I was hoping to find a lower power IC, that could potentially accept +-18V so I can power it from a 36 or 48VDC supply.
Please let me know if you have any insight or tips.
Thanks!
I am looking at building a pair of monitor speakers for a radio studio. I am looking at 22W full range drivers, so I was thinking about a 35W amp. I obviously looked at the LM3886 IC, but I think it might be overkill. While not really an issue, I was hoping to find a lower power IC, that could potentially accept +-18V so I can power it from a 36 or 48VDC supply.
Please let me know if you have any insight or tips.
Thanks!
If your speakers are 8ohm then TDA1521 is worth a look, it can run on a single supply, 36V quite nicely. It won't drive lower impedances though.
LM4766 Overture Series: Dual 40W Audio Amplifier with Mute | TI.com
LM1876 Overture Audio Power Amplifier Series Dual 20-Watt Audio Power Amplifier w/ Mute & Standby Modes | TI.com
Also maybe TDA2616
And of course, TDA2050 or TDA2052
LM1876 Overture Audio Power Amplifier Series Dual 20-Watt Audio Power Amplifier w/ Mute & Standby Modes | TI.com
Also maybe TDA2616
And of course, TDA2050 or TDA2052
But honestly, if you ask me (which you didnt but hey) I would go either with TDA2050 or a LM3886TF (note the TF suffix, means insulated casing) for the ease of assembly.
LM3886 will run perfectly well, loafing, at +/-18V.
It needs 9V on the - side to overcome the undervoltage cutout; you have double that on tap.
There's no such thing as "overkill" in a radio studio. While the afternoons may be tame, the overnight DJ gets crazy.
And custom work may have a long service life. I ran LM377s in a smaller job from when they were new till past the end of production. I got lucky and noted the EoL, ordered my lifetime spares then, and left town a few years later with two spares taped to the box. LM3886 is more popular than many others and supplies may be around longer.
It needs 9V on the - side to overcome the undervoltage cutout; you have double that on tap.
There's no such thing as "overkill" in a radio studio. While the afternoons may be tame, the overnight DJ gets crazy.
And custom work may have a long service life. I ran LM377s in a smaller job from when they were new till past the end of production. I got lucky and noted the EoL, ordered my lifetime spares then, and left town a few years later with two spares taped to the box. LM3886 is more popular than many others and supplies may be around longer.
I like listening as soft to moderate levels most of the time.
Measuring with a (probably not highly accurate) iPhone app SPL meter, from where I sit at 2 meters from speakers, if I turn it up so that peaks in music content are 75 to 80 dB, it's moderately loud to me. If I really crank it when my fav song comes on, then 80 to 83 dB peaks seem very very loud to me!
I think all of this means that I am using 1 watt most of the time, and 2 watts to 10 watts on rare occasion. Still I think there's an advantage to having more power available than what I need. The Amp is not having to work as hard. Is this called headroom?
Measuring with a (probably not highly accurate) iPhone app SPL meter, from where I sit at 2 meters from speakers, if I turn it up so that peaks in music content are 75 to 80 dB, it's moderately loud to me. If I really crank it when my fav song comes on, then 80 to 83 dB peaks seem very very loud to me!
I think all of this means that I am using 1 watt most of the time, and 2 watts to 10 watts on rare occasion. Still I think there's an advantage to having more power available than what I need. The Amp is not having to work as hard. Is this called headroom?
It is. Bare in mind an increase of 10dB will sound twice as loud but requires 10 times the power.
+1 for TDA1521 !
MUCH easier to use than LM1875 et. al.
https://utcdn.utsource.info/goods_files/pdf/19/19206_PHILIPS_TDA1521.pdf
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That should be +/0/- voltage supply.
You can only use a power supply with a zero volt line.
You probably know that but I have seen people use power supplies without the zero volt line and fry things.
Given both the 3886 and 1875 have AVmin of 10, I'd err on using the 3886.
Probably more gain than you want, but still!
Also might be worth seeing if there's any decent kits using the smaller TDA32XX class-D chips. But nothing saying you cannot run the 3886 off a single 36V SMPS as long as you use the single-ended circuit in the DS (I think it's in there!)
Probably more gain than you want, but still!
Also might be worth seeing if there's any decent kits using the smaller TDA32XX class-D chips. But nothing saying you cannot run the 3886 off a single 36V SMPS as long as you use the single-ended circuit in the DS (I think it's in there!)
Currently listening to background music while browsing. My amp has nice power VU meters. The current track is lively and rather louder than what was on until now. I am seriously considering lowering the volume. The VU meters peak at about 1W. The loudspeakers are of rather low sensitivity. A pair of KEF Carlton III.
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