Posted November 26, 2014 Hi LTT people, Just wanted to share some DIY budget tips with you. A lot of people are looking for cheap amplifiers, that's why you see amps like the Lepai LP2020+ recommended so often. This list contains some of my favorite amps, ranked from extremely cheap to cheap. Strap them to the back of a bookshelf speaker like the Micca's or Dayton's and you got an amazing Logitech beater. Most amps have a JST/PH connectors. This has three inputs: left/right/ground. Those three wires can be converted to RCA or 3.5mm for example. If you're not able to solder you can go for one with a 3.5mm/RCA jack input already onboard. Prices are including shipping, because shipping from Chinese webshops is often free. Most amps can be found on eBay. Sometimes sites like DX or BG have them too. But don't get your power supply from China, they suck . You can power them with a Molex connector from your PC (12v) or a laptop power brick (often 19v), depending on the input voltage range. Output scales with input voltage and speaker impedance (max possible output per channel = input voltage squared divided by two times speaker impedance). There are a lot of fun upgrades you can do to these boards like modifying input gain, changing the highpassfilter, swapping out elco's and the list goes on. I recommend buying a PCB that resembles the one on my photo. A board design can make or break the sound, and there are ones out there that break the sound significantly. Be careful with polarity and shorting things out, because that may break your amp. All amps can take 4-8 ohm speakers, except the TK2050. Going lower than advised may lead to thermal/current issues. #1. Chip: TDA7297 Voltage range: 7-18v DC Max output: 2x 15W Price minimum: 3 dollars Yes, you read that right. 3 dollars, that's why some people call it the 'lunch-money amp'. It's a class AB chip which is often found on a 50x50mm pcb with a big heatsink. This heatsink is needed because class AB is not very efficient and the inefficiency is converted to heat. Nice features are the onboard potmeter (volume control), 3.5mm input, 'ON' led. #2 Chip: TA2024 Voltage range: 9-13v DC Max output: 2x 15W Price minimum: 6 dollar My personal favorite. Because of the high efficiency class D chip a heatsink is not needed. Nice I/O terminals, high efficiency, good sound.... For 6 dollars what do you want more? #3 Chip: TDA2030A Voltage range: 7-21v AC Max output: 2x 18W (speakers) 1x 36W (subwoofer) Price minimum: 8 dollar Most 2.1 amplifiers at this price point are crappy, this one is not. It's a class AB chip, so heatsinking the chips is recommended. Sadly it works on AC, but this can be fixed by removing the bridge rectifier next to the big electrolytics. Then wire your + and - from the DC PSU to the output of the rectifier. Bass/treble/volume knobs are on the nice looking PCB. #4 Chip: TPA3116 Voltage range: 18-24V Max output: 2x 50W Price minimum: 12 dollar More volts, more watts. A 19v laptop PSU brick makes a great PSU for this one. There are also 2.1 versions of the top pcb (two chips on board) #5 Chip: TA2020 Voltage range: 9-15v DC Max output: 20W Price minimum: 20 dollars Here we have him: the chip used in the famous Lepai LP2020A+ Went through a lot of crappy revisions to get to where it's at now. Still not my favorite board, that's the one from YJ, but the Lepai has a nice case, tone control and volume knob with LED. #6 Chip: TK2050 Voltage range: 12-32v DC Max output: 2x 50w Price minimum: 20 dollar High power amp with a big voltage range. Recommended impedance is 6-8 ohms. ----------------------------------- Do you know of an amp that deserves to be in this list? Do you see any mistakes? Please tell me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted November 26, 2014 Awesome sauce. Gonna have to remind myself to bookmark this. PC Build in LTT Gallery - JBL J88 - Fostex T50RP (Modded) - Pioneer SE-A1000 vs audio-technica ATH-AD500X - Skullcandy Aviator audio-technica ATH-T400 - CHC Silverado and Laredo - Clip-On Headphone Roundup - Sony LinkBuds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted February 19, 2015 Author Some more amps. Hope this list helps people despite the low response #7 Chip: TPA3132 Voltage range: 10-25v DC Max output: 2x 25w Price minimum: 7 dollar Awesome value. Small footprint, Volume knob onboard #8 Chip: TDA7492 Voltage range: 10-26v DC Max output: 2x 50w Price minimum: 9 dollar High power, can be bridged. #9 Chip: PAM8610 Voltage range: 7-15v DC Max output: 2x 10w Price minimum: 6 dollar General purpose board Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted February 20, 2015 Use the erase function on your text plz () PC Build in LTT Gallery - JBL J88 - Fostex T50RP (Modded) - Pioneer SE-A1000 vs audio-technica ATH-AD500X - Skullcandy Aviator audio-technica ATH-T400 - CHC Silverado and Laredo - Clip-On Headphone Roundup - Sony LinkBuds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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