Dilshan R Jayakody’s Web Log

The LM386 is a low-voltage audio power amplifier designed by National Semiconductor , which is now part of Texas Instruments . Introduced in 1983, it has been widely used in various audio applications, such as amplifying signals in small radios, portable speakers, and other low-power audio equipment. This compact device integrates all the essential components of a basic audio amplifier circuit, including an internal biasing network, an input stage, and an output driver. It operates within a supply voltage range of 4V to 12V, making it ideal for driving small speakers while consuming minimal power. A standout feature of the LM386 is its adjustable gain, which can be varied between 20 (26dB) and 200 (46dB) using external components. Assembled LM386 power amplifier. Although modern Class-D amplifiers offer higher efficiency and greater power output, the LM386 remains a viable solution in certain applications due to its straightforward design, low cost, ease of assembly (thanks to i...

Recently we looked for a replacement class-D power amplifier to replace my old TDA2030 power amplifier build . While searching for a suitable power amplifier IC, we found TPA3001D1 from the local market. This IC is a slightly older 20W Class-D power amplifier manufactured by Texas Instruments . At the time of this writing, it is priced at LKR 180 (0.89 USD) in the local market and is still available at all major electronics stores (including online stores ). Prototype version of TPA3001D1 power amplifier. To minimize assembling difficulties, we used through-hole-type components in this PCB. The only SMD component in this PCB is the TPA3001D1 IC. We installed the power amplifier IC on the bottom of the PCB because then it would receive good airflow. The table below lists all the components required for this project. Designator Quantity Value C1 , C8 , C13 , C14 , C15 , C16  6  1µF/25V C17  1  10µF/25V ...

TDA7052A is an audio power amplifier designed for use in low voltage battery-powered equipment. Compare with the popular LM386, TDA7052A is not so popular among DIY electronic enthusiasts.  Final view of the finished amplifier with speaker.   Using the Bridge Tied Load principal, this IC delivers an output power of 1.2W into an 8Ω load with, 6V power supply.   The most striking feature of this amplifier is the minimum external component count. This IC only needs two external capacitors to build a functional audio amplifier.   The gain of the amplifier is fixed internally at 40dB. The amplifier got, short-circuit protection, requires no external heatsinks, and not producing any switch on/off click sound(s).    Although this is an old amplifier IC, it is still available to purchase in many local and online stores. Compare with the other low-power AF power amplifier ICs, TDA7052 is a little expensive in the local market. Although it is costly, I use this IC ...

TFA9842AJ is quiet old 7.5W audio power amplifier introduced by NXP . This amplifier IC is no longer produced by NXP, but still, it's available to purchase in many places, which including eBay , AliExpress , Amazon , etc. NXP TFA9842AJ Power amplifier IC. I tested a couple of TFA9842AJ based amplifiers in the last couple of years. The main reason I liked TFA9842AJ is its simple, clean design, wide operating voltage, and high-quality bass-rich audio output. Thanks to it's built-in DC volume control circuit this audio amplifier can easily interface with MCU. In this article, we provide a generic TFA9842AJ module which works with most of Arduino boards, MCUs and SOCs. Schematic of the TFA9842AJ module. As illustrated above, this system consists of LM321 operational amplifier and TFA9842AJ IC. To support both 5V and 3.3V logic inputs we introduce logical level selection jumper ( J2 ) into this design. To control the volume PWM input must apply to the J1 . In this...

In this project, we build a simple I 2 S stereo decoder with an amplifier. To decode I 2 S data we use Princeton Technologies PT8211 16bit DAC. KA2206 audio power amplifier is used as the driver stage of this system. The prototype version of I2S stereo decoder Structure of this I 2 S amplifier is self-explanatory from the schematic. We select PT8211 and KA2206 combination due to lower cost and availability. Unfortunately, PT8211 DIP package is not available in the local market and we use SO package in our prototype. We design PCB for the DIP packages, and therefore we solder PT8211 SO package to PCB using " SO8 to DIP8 " converter. We design this system to work with 9V DC power source but at the prototyping stages, we noticed that it works well with lower DC voltage such as 5V. For the output use any 8Ω or 4Ω (5W or higher rated) full range speaker pair. We test this with 8Ω 8W oval speakers which are commonly found on televisions.

Sony STR-AV780 is a combined receiver and audio/video control center. This receiver is manufactured by Sony in around 1986 and it is capable to deliver 2 × 80W audio output power with 8Ω speaker load. The STR-AV780 which I got had two problems. The first problem is in the power amplifier stage and it produces distortion in high frequencies. The second problem is in FM radio receiver and it is completely dead. The power amplifier of STR-AV780 is based on two Sanyo STK4042 XI AF power amplifier ICs. To fix the distortion issue we replace all the electrolytic capacitors in both STK4042 power amplifier boards. After replacing capacitors distortion issue got fixed and the power amplifier starts to produce a clear output waveform. The FM receiver of this AVR is mainly based on 2 ICs. For IF stage it uses LA1235, and to demodulate FM stereo signal it uses LA3401. Apart from that Sony CX7925 is used as PLL frequency synthesizer. The front end of FM tuner is based on a couple of transist...

This is quick (and final) post regarding our Mullard 3-3 audio amplifier project. In the last few months, we got several e-mails regarding this project and most of the people are asking for modified schematic related to this project . The schematic of our amplifier is available to download in here . Please note that this schematic is heavily based on the original Mullard 3-3 amplifier design and the main component which we replace in that original schematic is its tube base power supply unit. As a final step of this project, we construct a wooden enclosure for that amplifier and attached it to 10 inch (8Ω) full range speaker. High-resolution photographs of our amplifier are available in here . Final view of Mullard 3-3 audio power amplifier As a conclusion, this Mullard 3-3 audio power amplifier is a high-quality low power tube amplifier with minimum complexity. We really impressed with its audio quality and overall performance.

Mullard 3-3 is quite popular 3W tube amplifier introduced by Mullard Ltd in 1956. A schematic and design detail of this amplifier is available in " Mullard Circuits for Audio Amplifiers " book and in National Valve Museum article . This amplifier is based on EF86 , EL84 vacuum tubes, and EZ80 full wave rectifier tube. In this project, we decided to construct this original Mullard 3-3 Amplifier with some slight changes and commonly available electronic components. Top view of Mullard 3-3 amplifier with 6P14P and 6J8 tubes. In our prototype, we replace the EZ80 tube with 400V 5A bridge rectifier which is commonly available in many electronic spare parts shops. Also, we replace EL84 with 6P14P pentode and EF86 with a 6J8 pentode. Both of these valves can directly use with this circuit and those values are available for a lesser price than EL84, EF86 tubes.

This is 4-way stereo unbalanced distribution amplifier (DA), which can be used to distribute (or split) input audio signal to 4 isolated audio devices. Distribution amplifier in this article is based on commonly available TL072 and TL074 low noise operational amplifier ICs and 7812/7912 voltage regulator ICs. To drive this system, 12V-0-12V or 15V-0-15V 1000mA center tapped step-down transformer is required. Also note that the operational amplifiers used this circuit can be replaced with identical high-quality versions like OPA4134, OPA2134, etc. In our prototype, we use the TL07x series because of its availability and lower price. PCB design of stereo DA project To avoid any interference it is highly advisable to construct this circuit on PCB and also use double core screened wires for all external audio connections. Schematic, PCB and "EAGLE project files" of this project are available to download at google drive .

SL414 is combined audio preamplifier and power amplifier IC manufactured by National semiconductors in early days. This amplifier is designed to operate in 10V to a 20V range and deliver 3W (R.M.S) audio output power into the 7.5Ω load. The frequency bandwidth of this IC is between 30Hz to 18kHz and with the 8Ω load, it produces 0.5% T.H.D on 3W. The most uncommon feature of this IC is its EP-10 package. This EP-10 package is common to most of the SL4xx series amplifiers and thanks to its inbuilt screw it is really easy to attach heat-sinks to these ICs. EP-10 package of SL414 audio amplifier IC. During our prototyping, we try several SL414 amplifiers and most of them give quite satisfactory results to us. Link to most stable SL414 design is available at the bottom of this article. As per our experiments, to archive best results it is mandatory to build this amplifier on PCB with screened wires. Also to get the good results to make sure to drive this amplifier with a regulat...

This article introduces high quality digitally controlled 2.1 channel analog audio power amplifier system. This project is mainly based on TDA7377 AF power amplifier and PIC18F452 8bit microcontroller. Basic features of this receiver are 2 × 6W + 20W audio output power, ±14dB bass and treble controls, fully configurable +35dB bass booster for sub-woofer and satellite speakers and loudness switch. This system use commonly available electronic components and all the integrated circuits are in DIL packages. This amplifier consists with few UI elements such as 2 push buttons and 1 rotary encoder. All the menu navigation can perform through rotary encoder. Prototype version of 2.1 channel audio power amplifier project Entire amplifier can build on 147mm × 80mm PCB and all the PCB design files are available to download at google drive . This is an open hardware project and all the firmware source codes, design files are covered with Mozilla Public License version 2.0 . All the ab...

Panasonic RX-5090T is quiet old combo box from Matsushita Electric and its most notable feature is powerful three band SW tuner. Recently I got some RX-5090T unit and its problem is distorted audio output. PCB and mechanical component distribution of Panasonic RX-5090T combo box After careful examination we identify C128 (100 µ F / 10V) and C224 (3.3 µ F 25V) as defective components. In this unit, VR103/203 (20K Ω ) potentiometer is also defective and because of that we got some random distortions when we try to change the volume of the receiver. To fix this issue we disassemble the potentiometer and clean it using isopropyl-alcohol (this potentiometer is not available in local market and only option is to clean it and use it again). After these two fixes receiver starts to work again. Mainboard of Panasonic RX-5090T combo box Schematic diagram of Panasonic RX-5090T is quiet difficult to find in the web and we share copy of it in here .

This is our first vacuum tube base amplifier project and this project is based on 6AS5 pentode and 6N2P dual triode. Schematic of this project is not designed by us and we got it from web. We got this schematic sometimes ago and now we can't find original site where this schematic appeared first, because of that we host copy of that schematic in here . Prototype version of 6AS5 and 6N2P guitar amplifier In original schematic, initial stage of the amplifier is based on 12AX7 high gain tube. During the construction we can't find 12AX7 in local market and because of that we replace 12AX7 with 6N2P. Both 12AX7 and 6N2P had identical characteristics and only major difference is heater configuration. After replacing 12AX7 with 6N2P, both the tubes can drive through single 6.3V filament supply. 6N2P tubes are now commonly available and we use Russian version of 6N2P (6Н2П) for our testing. We test this amplifier with 4K audio output transformer and it produces excellent ...

This is high quality audio power amplifier which we constructed for our audio related experiments. This amplifier is based on NXP’s TDA1521A integrated circuit and it is capable to deliver 2 × 6W audio output power with 20V - 25V asymmetrical power source. The design of this power amplifier is heavily based on the schematic provided in the TDA1521A datasheet. As an addition we incorporate headphone output option to this design. Connection diagram for TDA1521A Amplifier PCB PCB which we designed for this amplifier is 55mm × 65mm and it need separate power supply to drive. For optimal results use this AF amplifier with 12V – 20V regulated DC supply and with 4 Ω full range speaker pair. PCB, schematic and wiring diagram of this project is available to download at google drive .

Smart Audio Box (SAB) is microprocessor controlled audio switch and amplifier system, which is specifically design for audio composers and for audio engineers. SAB consist of 4 high impedance stereo inputs and two output modes. One output mode can drive stereo headphone/earphone and other output mode can drive pair of 8W speakers. In prototyping stages we identify those modes as " Personal Mode " (headphone output) and " Audience Mode " (power amplifier output). Another main feature of this system is its programmable 16 step attenuation controller. This attenuation controller helps to control the audio output level of each output-mode. Prototyping version of Smart Audio Box The main component of SAB system is ATmega8 MCU, other than that headphone amplifier is design around NJM4556 high current operational amplifier and power amplifier is based on TDA1521A. To operate, this system requires 2 power sources. Microcontroller, ADC interfaces and CMOS logic-s...