Hi all,
I know I'm not alone in the quest to find a basic and cheap battery driven ampifier to drive real speakers. This can be handy to setup in the event of a power outage, remote or ad-hoc location, events or just for fun.
It seems that there are very few Chip Amps that will run off 5V, as most chips needs at least 9V and some a whole lot more. Although there are a few 5V options, most are extremely low power, being around the 2.5 Watt per channel. Some can operate at 5V, but actually needs more and at 5V do not operate efficiently.
These days we have so many USB power bank options that it would only make sense to try and get a small and capable little amp that can run happily from a 5V usb source or else even a 4 x 1.2V AA rechargeable battery pack.
I have searched high and low on Ebay and found this little guy that suited all of my perceived requirements:
1) Optimised for around 4.8v - 5V
2) Maximum output for said input
3) Volume pot that includes on/off switch
4) Easy to implement
5) Reasonably good sound
6) run cool (very efficient)
7) will lend itself to be built into a little enclosure that resembles a classic amp design with all connections at the back.
8) Accepts standard connectors.
This is the one I bought:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141860897981?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
It cost me less than R70 landed cost and I received it within 2.5 weeks. I see it is currently listed for R62!
In the next post/s I will show pics and expand on my experience with it.
I hope this may help others that have also been wondering what options will work best in these situations. I do have other little amps on its way as well and will cover them possibly in this thread as well.
I know I'm not alone in the quest to find a basic and cheap battery driven ampifier to drive real speakers. This can be handy to setup in the event of a power outage, remote or ad-hoc location, events or just for fun.
It seems that there are very few Chip Amps that will run off 5V, as most chips needs at least 9V and some a whole lot more. Although there are a few 5V options, most are extremely low power, being around the 2.5 Watt per channel. Some can operate at 5V, but actually needs more and at 5V do not operate efficiently.
These days we have so many USB power bank options that it would only make sense to try and get a small and capable little amp that can run happily from a 5V usb source or else even a 4 x 1.2V AA rechargeable battery pack.
I have searched high and low on Ebay and found this little guy that suited all of my perceived requirements:
1) Optimised for around 4.8v - 5V
2) Maximum output for said input
3) Volume pot that includes on/off switch
4) Easy to implement
5) Reasonably good sound
6) run cool (very efficient)
7) will lend itself to be built into a little enclosure that resembles a classic amp design with all connections at the back.
8) Accepts standard connectors.
This is the one I bought:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141860897981?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
It cost me less than R70 landed cost and I received it within 2.5 weeks. I see it is currently listed for R62!
In the next post/s I will show pics and expand on my experience with it.
I hope this may help others that have also been wondering what options will work best in these situations. I do have other little amps on its way as well and will cover them possibly in this thread as well.
