Ian, allow me to enter the role of "the devil's advocate" and forward this argument to you and perhaps some less experienced DIY's.
I have such a TDA2030 board from out east. It cost less than 1GBP. As we learned from the very interesting video linked to by asuslover, even the "fake" TDA2050 work but with reduced performance. My suggestion: put the <1 GBP experiment together and gain some "hands-on" experience. Experiment with the output coupling capacitors, loading, the gain setting, bandwidth limitation etc. The worst that can happen is the circuit stops working and you have lost less than 1GBP. If you can make it work with a "fake", you can also make it work with a "real".
These very cheap boards and kits do not serve to represent state of the art. They leave us a possibility to learn about electronics at a very low cost. The learning with a "fake" is as much as with a "real" because the "fake" is likely to be more delicate to handle. How much learning can you else buy for 1 GBP?
When you decide to build something to be used for long and you will put considerable effort into a project, buy the "real" stuff such that your efforts are not wasted.
I know, printing "ST TDA2030" on a probably fake chip is legally fraud. But, I still believe we can use such components for experiments.
The devil's advocate will rest his case.
I have such a TDA2030 board from out east. It cost less than 1GBP. As we learned from the very interesting video linked to by asuslover, even the "fake" TDA2050 work but with reduced performance. My suggestion: put the <1 GBP experiment together and gain some "hands-on" experience. Experiment with the output coupling capacitors, loading, the gain setting, bandwidth limitation etc. The worst that can happen is the circuit stops working and you have lost less than 1GBP. If you can make it work with a "fake", you can also make it work with a "real".
These very cheap boards and kits do not serve to represent state of the art. They leave us a possibility to learn about electronics at a very low cost. The learning with a "fake" is as much as with a "real" because the "fake" is likely to be more delicate to handle. How much learning can you else buy for 1 GBP?
When you decide to build something to be used for long and you will put considerable effort into a project, buy the "real" stuff such that your efforts are not wasted.
I know, printing "ST TDA2030" on a probably fake chip is legally fraud. But, I still believe we can use such components for experiments.
The devil's advocate will rest his case.
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Nice photo's.
You are right, they look small. It is the old and rather simple TDA2030, not the more modern and complex TDA2050.
TDA2030s and "fake" TDA2050s are not worth investing much time and money in. But, they can still be valuable in a learning process.
1.59UKP for two is really cheap. With shipping?
Here, continental EU shipping costs make everything costly and slow. Electronics shops are almost extinct and all has to be bough on the Internet.
You are right, they look small. It is the old and rather simple TDA2030, not the more modern and complex TDA2050.
TDA2030s and "fake" TDA2050s are not worth investing much time and money in. But, they can still be valuable in a learning process.
1.59UKP for two is really cheap. With shipping?
Here, continental EU shipping costs make everything costly and slow. Electronics shops are almost extinct and all has to be bough on the Internet.
Fakes components are usually re branded/ relabelled products , in our case rebranded tda2030 chips. The "fake" ones will work most of the time , but to take fully advantage of the schematic you need to try to find original components. Indeed this is a cheap amplifier , and not worth investing too much time and money in it. I would suggest you to buy lm1875 to replace the one you got with the kit or you can look up the tda2050L, you could actually buy it from here: TDA2050L-TV - Single Channel AF Power Amp Pentawatt .
These are the replacements I bought:
TDA2030A 18 WATT PETAWATT AUDIO AMPLIFIER QTY = 2 | eBay
If they also turn out to be fakes I will simply open a case and claim back the price.
TDA2030A 18 WATT PETAWATT AUDIO AMPLIFIER QTY = 2 | eBay
If they also turn out to be fakes I will simply open a case and claim back the price.
Ian, they are marked with "ST" and it seems ST has not been behind production of TDA2030, TDA2040 and TDA2050 for 5 years. Most likely, the parts on Ebay are not more than 5 years old. Thus, they are most likely parts produced by someone else than ST.
But, how will you prove they are "fakes" to Ebay? What did the advertisement promise you? How can you prove they do not live up to specs?
The "fake" problematic is really difficult to handle.
NB: The ones on Ebay look more like the originals shown in the YouTube video.
Asuslover kindly informed us that UPC (Taiwan) produces TDA2050. Are they "original" TDA2050 quality? or "fakes"? or somewhere in-between? What will UPC TDA2050 cost you?
Face it and use the TDA2030 for what it is - a rather cheap experiment. Following, swap to LM1875 (as recommended by asuslover) that still is in production from NS(TI). It is pretty similar to the original TDA2050 and very well sounding. But, also LM1875 exists in versions that are not identical to those believed to be originals. I have several. Are they also "fakes" and how do they perform comparatively?
A never ending story.
But, how will you prove they are "fakes" to Ebay? What did the advertisement promise you? How can you prove they do not live up to specs?
The "fake" problematic is really difficult to handle.
NB: The ones on Ebay look more like the originals shown in the YouTube video.
Asuslover kindly informed us that UPC (Taiwan) produces TDA2050. Are they "original" TDA2050 quality? or "fakes"? or somewhere in-between? What will UPC TDA2050 cost you?
Face it and use the TDA2030 for what it is - a rather cheap experiment. Following, swap to LM1875 (as recommended by asuslover) that still is in production from NS(TI). It is pretty similar to the original TDA2050 and very well sounding. But, also LM1875 exists in versions that are not identical to those believed to be originals. I have several. Are they also "fakes" and how do they perform comparatively?
A never ending story.
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I have used amps similar to this for small setups around the house, NOT tda2030 or whatever is supplied on the ebay boards, but they work and are fun to hack around with different power supplies/capacitors etc.
Amazon.com: BOSS Audio CE102 100 Watt, 2 Channel, 4 Ohm Stable Class A/B, Full Range, MOSFET Car Amplifier: Car Electronics
That one uses a quad channel in btl configuration, no output caps with a single rail supply. It also has an op amp for a buffer as well.
Amazon.com: BOSS Audio CE102 100 Watt, 2 Channel, 4 Ohm Stable Class A/B, Full Range, MOSFET Car Amplifier: Car Electronics
That one uses a quad channel in btl configuration, no output caps with a single rail supply. It also has an op amp for a buffer as well.
I thought the same about the pictures, so let's see what I get - I shall post photos.
I felt that 1.59 wasn't too much to gamble.
You are ASSUMING they are fakes without actually TESTING them.
1) the video linked shows fake TDA2050 Twenty FIFTY , not Twenty THIRTY so I don´t know what´s the point about linking , worrying or even watching it.
2) 2050 is much appreciated and out of production, so it pays to fake them; 2030 are in current production and available by the millions, not worth faking.
3) in principle I´d trust more any 2030 supplied with a kit 5 years ago that random ones bought on EBay today
4) you seem more keen to weighting, cracking open, loupe/microscope inspecting, etc. chipamps than actually soldering and powering them ¿¿¿¿????
Just build the kit, power it, check you do not have DC at the output (more than, say, 100mV) and then connect a speaker and audio source.
5) the kit cost 1.5GBP for God´s sake, just build it instead of throwing money at it.
6) the parts supplied, as mentioned above, will most probably work fine.
7) "the chip is small" ... small compared to what?
A 2050 chip? .... well, it "should", wouldn´t it?
A 2030 chip? ... to me it looks like the right size.
8)
Why not build a SET amp instead? or "anything but" .... ?????
But the OP already has this kit, already has the PT, so why not build it anyway?
1) the video linked shows fake TDA2050 Twenty FIFTY , not Twenty THIRTY so I don´t know what´s the point about linking , worrying or even watching it.
2) 2050 is much appreciated and out of production, so it pays to fake them; 2030 are in current production and available by the millions, not worth faking.
3) in principle I´d trust more any 2030 supplied with a kit 5 years ago that random ones bought on EBay today
4) you seem more keen to weighting, cracking open, loupe/microscope inspecting, etc. chipamps than actually soldering and powering them ¿¿¿¿????
Just build the kit, power it, check you do not have DC at the output (more than, say, 100mV) and then connect a speaker and audio source.
5) the kit cost 1.5GBP for God´s sake, just build it instead of throwing money at it.
6) the parts supplied, as mentioned above, will most probably work fine.
7) "the chip is small" ... small compared to what?
A 2050 chip? .... well, it "should", wouldn´t it?
A 2030 chip? ... to me it looks like the right size.
8)
Sure, why not?
Why not build a SET amp instead? or "anything but" .... ?????
But the OP already has this kit, already has the PT, so why not build it anyway?
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Here's the replacement set, they look similar to the ones that came with the kit:
The kit ones:
This is what an authentic ST manufactured one looks like:
Is it worth bothering to use what are almost certainly not authentic ICs?
I mean, even if they don't produce the magic blue smoke, or don't oscillate, what will they sound like? If they don't perform as well as real parts, I don't see the point.
The kit ones:
This is what an authentic ST manufactured one looks like:
Is it worth bothering to use what are almost certainly not authentic ICs?
I mean, even if they don't produce the magic blue smoke, or don't oscillate, what will they sound like? If they don't perform as well as real parts, I don't see the point.
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Ian, it is up to you to decide if a TDA2030 amplifier is worth your time. Even if it is a "real" TDA2030, it is not a mind-blowing experience. If you like putting together a simple amplifier to see some electronics work, your efforts make sense. Even the "fakes" are likely to work and the difference in sound quality from a product that was last produced 5 years ago is difficult to judge upon. Even in the days when ST produced TDA2030 they most likely used different wafer houses. Were TDA2030 produced by different wafer houses always physically alike?
I also have the same "TDA2050". And those are genuine TDA2040. Genuine TDA2030 looks the same.
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