Low power stereo amplifier

The first one is a class-A amplifier that'll require massive heat sinks and cooling, and a larger power supply. The other two use power ICs and will be easier for you to construct.

The class-A amp in Rod Elliot's site is a very similar design to the (relatively) famous John Linsey Hood design from 1996 - it's a TERRIFIC amp, but it's construction is not trivial, as it requieres massive heatsinking and a very low noise power supply.

As for the IC-based amplifiers, those are quite good, specially considering the price and ease of implementation. I would definitely reccomend those - i think you'll be pretty happy with the final result.

Hi James,

Class D amps are much lower in dissipation if you need it in a small space. TI makes the chips, plus some other major mfgs.

Other Idea: Why not take the amp from an old stereo? Either from a stereo that you need to junk because the players fell apart or from a garage sale. That's what I did. The amp is even black, matching the computer. Cost would be next to nothing, nice clean enclosure, no soldering.

Regards, Joerg

Well, as it shows, english IS my second language ;)

wrote

Why not go to a second-hand junk store/ask around/ebay, and pick up an old stereo receiver/amp in the $5-$10 range?

I posed a similar question here several weeks ago, and was pointed towards the National LM4752 part, which I'm planning on using to build my own.