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Inexpensive chip amp kits

Sticklyman

Sticklyman

Well-Known Member
I've been reading the thread about T-amps up in General Audio and it's gotten me thinking again about how much I'd like to have a little secondary amp, mostly to use with my PS3. I frequently like to run background music while I play games. There are plenty of super cheap T-amps shipping out of Hong Kong these days, but I would also love something that satisfies my desire to build a kit.

Unfortunately, the only chipamp kits I seem to be able to find are too pricey. Does an inexpensive chipamp kit exist? Or am I just whistling to the wind? By inexpensive I mean $100 or less when all is said and done (power supply and case included in that price).
 
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Keep in mind that a chipamp can refer to a lot of designs, but in the DIY scene you usually see T amps and gainclones.
For gainclones kits are there (T amps I don't know, but they are there);

http://www.audiosector.com/ is great, but there are more!
 
I'm in the process of building a ChipAmp LM3886. Might be just a little bit over your $100 limit but I know of another AKer who build one for $120, complete. Very comparable to the AudioSectors, in many ways as the proprietors worked together to develop the products.
 
how chip-py do you want to be? Velleman has a small family of kits; we built one of these years ago and it's not bad. We're not talking 47 Labs "chip amp", though.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=320-212

320-212_L.jpg
 
Search this forum for Bauhausler's LM1875 amp project (that was also written up in Make magazine.) I built one last fall and it has been my daily driver in my office system ever since. So, when I think about it I realize that this means I run it 8+ hours a day, five days a week, which is a lot more than I get to run my main home setup. It has been completely stable and reliable and sounds great to boot. Cost can vary widely depending on what caps, resistors, wire, etc. you may already have on hand, but it should be doable in or near your budget. Plus, Bauhausler is very helpful if you need advice.
 
voltcontrol said:
The Squelette I assume? http://makezine.com/23/chipamp/

Hope someone will post a link to a T amp project too.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the one. I'm not very up on fully understanding my amplifier class terminology. (I can build one when it's presented as a matter of "connecting the dots", but I'm still a long way from really understanding much about electronics :stupid:.)The Squelette is class D, right? Class T is Tripath's brand name for their implementation of class D, I think?
 
For a very nice lm3886 amp, see the MyRef-RevC thread in
the chipamps forum of diyaudio.com
PCBs and kits are available from a forum member there who goes
by "linuxguru"
 
I also would recommend nosing around diyaudio.com They have forums for chip amps, class d amps, and solid state. Also some decent suppliers of pcb's and kits have forums there.
 
Sound quality is very OK. The amp currently has an issue (hum in one channel) resulting from an "incident" at my son's college (where it spent most of its life). Haven't invested much effort in troubleshooting it, truth be told.
 
Thanks for all the great suggestions you guys. In the end, I decided to go ahead and order a pre-fabbed amp from overseas. Forty bucks after the non-included power supply and shipping was too good of an offer to refuse. Especially after the recommendations of other members.

I will definitely save this thread for future reference. Once summer comes around and I'm flush with cash, and have completed more schooling (I've got straight electricity classes this spring, several are about electronics more than high-voltage wiring) I'll pull it out.
 
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