DIY Amp Kit

solacedagony · Post by **solacedagony** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 7:34 am

I just came across some decent amplifier kits by a company called Velleman. I was just wondering if Glass or someone else with some kind of electrical knowledge could give me an idea of what kind of work was involved with building one of these. I have basic soldering skills and a feeble knowledge of amplifiers.
http://www.vellemanusa.com/us/enu/produ ... ?id=350531
and it's power supply
http://www.vellemanusa.com/us/enu/produ ... id=522509#

solacedagony · Post by **solacedagony** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:34 am

Looked into it a little bit more. It looks like I need the transformer (plugs into the wall?) which attaches to the power supply, which attaches to the amp to give it power.
Is that right?

Post by **GlassWolf** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:32 pm

that amp is 40W x 2 @ 8 ohms for 115VAC use in a home.
it's not a car amp, and it's solid state, not SMT.
it'll run hot.
not the greatest ampp, but ok if its just done as a project build.

solacedagony · Post by **solacedagony** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:15 pm

I would be planning on using it in the home, just to start me off since (based off the prices of their other stuff), it's very cheap in respect to amps of comparable power.
I just wanted to know if someone with limited experience in electronics could pull that project off, I'm not really too worried about the quality of the project. As long as it'll play some music decently (which I'd only be using very little wattage in the house anyway, the rents wouldn't be happy :) ).
So, according to that first link, you need a power supply (link on the bottom of that page) and a transformer.
Now, I looked up transformers on their website and all I got is those coils of wire. Is that what a transformer is? Or is a transformer going to be a box that plugs into the wall and then attaches to that power supply?

solacedagony · Post by **solacedagony** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 6:32 pm

Night bump.

Post by **GlassWolf** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:43 am

if you can solder, you should be able to build the amplifier if it has directions.
a transformer is actually two coils of opposing wire that step up or step down voltage. the ones in the box with the cord etc are just prettier, but they all do the same thing.

geolemon · Post by **geolemon** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 8:16 pm

The transformer is considered part of the power supply, btw.
It's what does the stepping down of power from your 120v to the needed rail voltage of the amp.
The remainder of the power supply includes a rectification circuit and capacitors to create DC electricity, smooth the waves into relatively flat DC electricity, and filter noise.

it's actually pretty cool that they make two kits out of it...
That way, if you decided to build another amplifier (maybe check out the chip-amp / "gainclone" forum on DIYaudio.com), you could possibly use your existing power supply, if the transformer ratio was correct.

I've got a pair of gainclones that I bought ALL the parts for, and simply haven't gotten around to building yet. Started building this kick-ass, twin-transformer, tri-voltage capable with a LED-lit stone-henge of filter/supply capacitors mounted in a 1" base of clear acrylic on a marble base with rubber feet to isolate it...
One of these days I'll finish it. Or years.

anomaly65 · Post by **anomaly65** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:54 pm

heck, go to the philips refurb outlet (you can google it) and get an el-cheapo all in one home entertainment system for $130. Got one for master bedroom, and I didn't believe the specs.

It's got class D amps (5x100w RMS; and reasonable 8 amp @120Vac fuse) and is no bigger than a dvd player. cheap cheap speakers, but EQ'd til they sound good enough for a second home theater system.

Then again, I doubt it's ever seen more than 3-5W RMS (a 10db peak would pop out at 50W RMS) and sounds great watching movies.