Beginner seeks simple advice

[daryll]

Hi,

Im very new to diy audio but am very keen to get started on my first amp 🙂

Could anyone give me a basic quick list of what components are needed to make a simple amp?

Ive been looking for a few days but cant seem to find anything thats very clear.

Basically, just the simplest componets to take a signal and amplify it - nothing fancy.

Also, can anyone suggest a resource or maybe a book that would be useful to someone just starting out? Maybe a guide to what effect better components have on the sound an amp produces...

Sorry if its a lot to ask..ill keep searching myself but any help would be great 🙂

 

[daryll]

Ok ive managed to find the diagrams etc in the wiki which seem to make it all very simple..perhaps too simple?

I cant see any need for capictors etc in the diagrams so I must be looking at it wrong..

This might sound stupid but are the - & + symbols in the diagram relating to the - & + of the power supply?

 

[djk]

Take a few days and read every word.

http://sound.westhost.com/index.html

 

[daryll]

Thankyou djk ive just had a quick look at that site and it is exactly what I need!

Im going to print it all off and have a read.

I'll post in a day or two when im all gened up (hopefully)

Thanks again.

 

[azira]

My own personal advice, start with opamps. You can build a functional low power opamp breadboard design with < $10 in parts and 2 9-volt batteries and have tangible results that you can really tweak with.

Then try and find some net lit on how they derive feedback equations, why high openloop gain is important, how to make active high/low pass crossovers (what the caps are for in the feedback and inputs) These fundamentals will be worth a lot when it comes time to design your own amp.

After that, the P3A and the Leach amp are well designed amps that you can buy the PCBs for and build for yourself.
--
Danny

 

[Vivek]

For your first project, STK 4171, STK 4191, LM 3886, TDA 7293 based amps will be fine I think. They are simple to build and need very few components.
Good luck.
Vivek

 

[Kilowatt]

Nah, you don't learn anything with opamps. Maybe do something really simple with them if you haven't yet, but I would recommend starting with very simple descrete amps, then you can appreciate what goes on in an opamp (they all have similar topologies). 🙂 The p3 or p3a there on Rod's site is a good place to start. Personally, my first amp (besides like the 741 and stuff) was the Leach Amp, but I found it to be complex and expensive to build, and not as educational, though it sounds great. One advantage though with it is there is a PCB layout on the site, which you can print off for making your own board, though I'm a bit apprehensive to recommend it if this would be your first time etching. Good luck and have fun, whatever you do.

As for books, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/104-4607806-3376733?v=glance&s=books

Chris