am somewhat of a newbie at the diy stuff but i am trying to decide whether to build my own car amplifier using the philips tda1562q or just go the easy route and buy a cheap one ie 2x50W rms.
does the tda1562 have good performance in car audio applications? i am not looking for a lot of power, just something to drive some aftermarket speakers.
does the tda1562 have good performance in car audio applications? i am not looking for a lot of power, just something to drive some aftermarket speakers.
The plain truth is......
It will most definitely cost you more money to build your own.
Now that is out of the way consider this.
Going down this path of education will teach you what? What skills do you have and wish to put to bear on the job at hand? What will you have to learn in addition to get the job done?
If you learn how to pull this off there are a great many projects that are of similar complexity and greater pay off. Think home amps, speakers, subwoofers etc.
A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step!
Mark
It will most definitely cost you more money to build your own.
Now that is out of the way consider this.
Going down this path of education will teach you what? What skills do you have and wish to put to bear on the job at hand? What will you have to learn in addition to get the job done?
If you learn how to pull this off there are a great many projects that are of similar complexity and greater pay off. Think home amps, speakers, subwoofers etc.
A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step!
Mark
I must respectfully disagree. If you only want a few watts and especially if you have the amplifier chips and other bits laying around, it can cost possibly less than $10 or $20 to get an amplifier going.
If you are looking at making a SMPS and a few other "normal" car audio amp things, it may very well cost more than $50.
But you can build a high quality amplifier to your specifications for less than you can buy a high quality amplifier.
DIY in this case depends on how much you value the learning of the experience.
If you are looking at making a SMPS and a few other "normal" car audio amp things, it may very well cost more than $50.
But you can build a high quality amplifier to your specifications for less than you can buy a high quality amplifier.
DIY in this case depends on how much you value the learning of the experience.
thanks for the input guys!
i guess for me, on the one hand, i do very much want the learning experience. however, i find that i dont have a lot of free time, and it could take several months before i have anything finished. on the other hand i could just buy an amp and install it in an hour or two and be done with it.
cost-wise i think i could build my own for about the same, if not less, than one that i would buy (i'm thinking < $100). the reason i might like to use the philips tda1562 is because it won't require me to delve into building an smps, and seems to provide a high output power from 12v. so, i guess i just need to figure out if building an amp with this ic is comparable to or better than buying an ampflier in terms of sound quality. does anybody have any experience with this particular chip?
i guess for me, on the one hand, i do very much want the learning experience. however, i find that i dont have a lot of free time, and it could take several months before i have anything finished. on the other hand i could just buy an amp and install it in an hour or two and be done with it.
cost-wise i think i could build my own for about the same, if not less, than one that i would buy (i'm thinking < $100). the reason i might like to use the philips tda1562 is because it won't require me to delve into building an smps, and seems to provide a high output power from 12v. so, i guess i just need to figure out if building an amp with this ic is comparable to or better than buying an ampflier in terms of sound quality. does anybody have any experience with this particular chip?
Well somebody has used them, otherwise they wouldn't be made...
Try it, chips are cheap. You will likely be surprised by what a few watts will get you, how fast it goes together and how compact the package is when the amp is done. Then decide for yourself if you want to get a prebuilt amplifier now or sometime in the future
Try it, chips are cheap. You will likely be surprised by what a few watts will get you, how fast it goes together and how compact the package is when the amp is done. Then decide for yourself if you want to get a prebuilt amplifier now or sometime in the future
Also, you don't NEED an SMPS. Like all electronics, there are 101 different ways of achieving the same result with some pro's and con's to each solution.
The one I have in mind are simple voltage doublers and triplers, and etc., etc..
If you plan on building your own, I'm interested in tagging along.
The one I have in mind are simple voltage doublers and triplers, and etc., etc..
If you plan on building your own, I'm interested in tagging along.
A voltage tripler off a dc supply is going to have an inverter on the front of it. 1/2 step from a full SMPS. BUT for the chip in question you will be able to get fairly high power output just connected to the regular 12-14.4 volts to be found in your car.
Do you have these chips or are they just an appealing solution to you, feelander?
Do you have these chips or are they just an appealing solution to you, feelander?
Stocker said:
no i dont have these chips, i just havent found any other that has comparable or greater output power with 12v input....in fact i am having a hard time even finding where to buy the chip....it is a discontinued product...which makes me wonder what kind of drawbacks the chip has.....
For a simple car amp check this out
http://www.elektor-electronics.co.u...nth=7&art=50445&group=Audio/Video/Photography
or
http://www.elektor-electronics.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=28&art=50922
And there are more on the website if you want to do the work. Just use the search box. If something strikes your your fancy and you want to make it drop me a line and I can send you the article. Or if you want you can order the PCB from them.
Mark
http://www.elektor-electronics.co.u...nth=7&art=50445&group=Audio/Video/Photography
or
http://www.elektor-electronics.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=28&art=50922
And there are more on the website if you want to do the work. Just use the search box. If something strikes your your fancy and you want to make it drop me a line and I can send you the article. Or if you want you can order the PCB from them.
Mark
If you have stuff to make PCBs (acid, transfer-paper/exposure box, drill, drill bits, etc.) then it wont cost you too much for a simple design.
If you go double sided and start using surface-mount, you will probably need it professionally made. I am working on a big class D with switching power supply and the cost is a little over 300$CDN. It can produce about 500Wrms.. This isn't factoring in the design and construction time.
If the amplifier doesn't work, then you pretty much wasted all of your money.. If you go to purchase the amplifier, at least if it doesn't work, you can take it back
I think this holds true for 99% of DIY electronics projects.. The only real reason you would make something yourself is to either make it better or to have something custom and call your own. It is very hard to make it cost-competitive with a store bought products because of the mass-production despite the profit margin involved.
Steve
PS - The only reason I am making the amplifier is because I enjoy designing things and I can get parts free through my school.
If you go double sided and start using surface-mount, you will probably need it professionally made. I am working on a big class D with switching power supply and the cost is a little over 300$CDN. It can produce about 500Wrms.. This isn't factoring in the design and construction time.
If the amplifier doesn't work, then you pretty much wasted all of your money.. If you go to purchase the amplifier, at least if it doesn't work, you can take it back
I think this holds true for 99% of DIY electronics projects.. The only real reason you would make something yourself is to either make it better or to have something custom and call your own. It is very hard to make it cost-competitive with a store bought products because of the mass-production despite the profit margin involved.
Steve
PS - The only reason I am making the amplifier is because I enjoy designing things and I can get parts free through my school.
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