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Oyvind's Circuit Tips: Easy-to-build audio amplifiers

Is it difficult to make an audio amplifier?

I made my first one when I was around 16.

I placed on my scooter, along with two huge speakers, and drove down to the lake.

Then my friends and I would go out on the lake with our small boat and listen to good old techno songs.

That amplifier was really more of a modification than a build. Because the circuit diagrams I found to build one from scratch were some complicated.

But, it's actually pretty easy to build a music amplifier from scratch.

The trick is to know how to read datasheets.

For example, the LM386 is a component where you only need 4 external components to build your own amplifier from scratch; Two capacitors, a resistor, and a potentiometer.

If you look up its datasheet, you'll find the circuit diagram for building this:

Many other similar chips exist if you for example need more power to your speakers. And the datasheet of the chip will tell you how to connect it.

This isn't hard to build. At least if you've practiced with a few simpler circuits from before.

If you're an Ohmify member, you already have access to a course on how to build an audio amplifier like that. First, you'll build it on a breadboard. Then you solder it onto a prototyping board to make it permanent.

The sound is actually very impressive!


Keep On Soldering!
Oyvind @ build-electronic-circuits.com

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