Hey
Sorry if this has been asked 1000 times before - I couldn't find the information I was after.
I'm looking to build (or buy if it makes more sense) a small amplifier for use with speakers (which I will also build) for my computer. I'm decent at soldering though my knowledge of electronics is not much better than my forum searching skills..
My budget is tight (€150 all in?) so I thought DIY would be the way to go but if anyone has any other ideas I'm open to anything. I'm never shy of a challenge but I need a nudge in the right direction so any other threads, books, websites you could reccomend would be a great help.
I'm a designer/furniture builder by trade and was impressed with these joey Roth wooden speakers ( Grovemade and Joey Roth Wood Speakers - Design Milk ) so I want to try and build something along those lines? The enclosures shouldn't be a problem but amp/driver combos leave me a little overwhelmed!
Anyway - I already wrote a lot so thanks for taking the time to read it and any help or advice you could give someone just starting out in the world of electronics would be so great!
Best,
Rich
Sorry if this has been asked 1000 times before - I couldn't find the information I was after.
I'm looking to build (or buy if it makes more sense) a small amplifier for use with speakers (which I will also build) for my computer. I'm decent at soldering though my knowledge of electronics is not much better than my forum searching skills..
My budget is tight (€150 all in?) so I thought DIY would be the way to go but if anyone has any other ideas I'm open to anything. I'm never shy of a challenge but I need a nudge in the right direction so any other threads, books, websites you could reccomend would be a great help.
I'm a designer/furniture builder by trade and was impressed with these joey Roth wooden speakers ( Grovemade and Joey Roth Wood Speakers - Design Milk ) so I want to try and build something along those lines? The enclosures shouldn't be a problem but amp/driver combos leave me a little overwhelmed!
Anyway - I already wrote a lot so thanks for taking the time to read it and any help or advice you could give someone just starting out in the world of electronics would be so great!
Best,
Rich
Hi Richard welcome to the forum..
Personally with your limited budget and skill set i would go for a ready built amp such as the SMSL SA 36 or SA 50 if a bit more power is needed and concentrate most of your available funds on the speakers.
If you decide to take this route decide on a amp then post in the dedicated speaker forums for advice on suitable drivers etc .
Personally with your limited budget and skill set i would go for a ready built amp such as the SMSL SA 36 or SA 50 if a bit more power is needed and concentrate most of your available funds on the speakers.
If you decide to take this route decide on a amp then post in the dedicated speaker forums for advice on suitable drivers etc .
Hi Richard,
Can't offer much help regarding the speakers, but you might check out the "Full range" section of the forum. Personally, I've been looking at this:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/175056-martello-enclosure-fr88ex.html
Not as "organic" looking as Joey Roth's (man, that's a really nice kit he's made!), but might fit the bill...
As for the amp, since you're a furniture builder, I guess you won't have any problems with the enclosure 🙂
My recommendation would be any of the TPA3116 boards of better quality, or even a slightly less powerful board, like TPA3118 or TPA3110 (since the amp is to be used for a computer system, so there's no need for a lot of power - 2x20W should be more than enough....).
If you want to avoid the usual ebay roulette, I can heartily recommend our own forum member doctormord - he makes some very nice, good quality amp modules - send him a PM and see if he has anything that fits the bill:
diyAudio - View Profile: doctormord
I also make enclosures for amps (and Raspberry Pi based servers), but I went for aluminium+wood combo... see attached photos, maybe that could also give you some ideas.
Rgds,
Denis
Can't offer much help regarding the speakers, but you might check out the "Full range" section of the forum. Personally, I've been looking at this:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/175056-martello-enclosure-fr88ex.html
Not as "organic" looking as Joey Roth's (man, that's a really nice kit he's made!), but might fit the bill...
As for the amp, since you're a furniture builder, I guess you won't have any problems with the enclosure 🙂
My recommendation would be any of the TPA3116 boards of better quality, or even a slightly less powerful board, like TPA3118 or TPA3110 (since the amp is to be used for a computer system, so there's no need for a lot of power - 2x20W should be more than enough....).
If you want to avoid the usual ebay roulette, I can heartily recommend our own forum member doctormord - he makes some very nice, good quality amp modules - send him a PM and see if he has anything that fits the bill:
diyAudio - View Profile: doctormord
I also make enclosures for amps (and Raspberry Pi based servers), but I went for aluminium+wood combo... see attached photos, maybe that could also give you some ideas.
Rgds,
Denis
Attachments
BTW, browsing the Grovemade site (https://grovemade.com/journal/designing-the-wood-speaker/), in one of the photos way down the page you can clearly see the Blue/black TPA3116 board that they use 🙂
And the general forum consensus seems to be that it's not even the best ready-made TPA3116 board 🙂
You could also use one of the Breeze 2.0 stereo boards (it's a yellow board with a distinctive two rows of electrolytic capacitors:
However, this board also needs some tweaking to get it up to specs... 🙁
Like I said, if you want a guaranteed well made Class D amp board, contact our member doctormord...
And the general forum consensus seems to be that it's not even the best ready-made TPA3116 board 🙂
You could also use one of the Breeze 2.0 stereo boards (it's a yellow board with a distinctive two rows of electrolytic capacitors:
However, this board also needs some tweaking to get it up to specs... 🙁
Like I said, if you want a guaranteed well made Class D amp board, contact our member doctormord...
Or gmarsh here:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/grou...ier-group-buy-3-wiener-pro-prototypes-34.html
Yes, run from an old 18-19V laptop supply a TPA3116 amp has more than enough for computer speakers.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/grou...ier-group-buy-3-wiener-pro-prototypes-34.html
Yes, run from an old 18-19V laptop supply a TPA3116 amp has more than enough for computer speakers.
thank you so much for the replies! 🙂 sorry I haven't checked back, been working nights and loosing the days to sleep..
den_hr those boxes look great! I love the exposed screws on the front. Also well spotted on the grovemade site! I think I will get in touch with doctormord as I see he's based in Germany (I'm currently living in the Netherlands) so postage would be cheaper than gmarsh. Otherwise I am definitely up for trying my hand with the Breeze 2.0 - I guess I can find a thread regarding mods on here! (there seems to be an answer to every question the more I look!) I will definitely post some updates when I'm further down the line - I'd love to share with you guys what I manage to make! 🙂
den_hr those boxes look great! I love the exposed screws on the front. Also well spotted on the grovemade site! I think I will get in touch with doctormord as I see he's based in Germany (I'm currently living in the Netherlands) so postage would be cheaper than gmarsh. Otherwise I am definitely up for trying my hand with the Breeze 2.0 - I guess I can find a thread regarding mods on here! (there seems to be an answer to every question the more I look!) I will definitely post some updates when I'm further down the line - I'd love to share with you guys what I manage to make! 🙂
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