Home-made amplifier

[Mig21]

Hi

Some time ago I started having weird problems with the sound system - the volume would fluctuate intermitently for no good reason. I traced it down to the amplifier in my Cambridge SoundWorks FPS2000.

I wanted to fix it, since the speakers were perfectly fine, and it seemed a shame to basically through them away. Plus a replacement of equal quality would (and did) cost me 150$.

Well, I had trouble signing up to this forum and I couldn't wait so I bought new speakers, but I still want to ask what you think - is it reasonable to build my own amplifier for 5.1 channels?

I used to build them a long time ago, from the most primitive parts, though I moved to ICs at one point, but I looked around and these days it seems there isn't much interest for this kind of thing anymore (i.e. I couldn't find schematics). Did any of you build your own in recent years?

Thanks,

Mig21

 

[Ampdog]

Mig21,

To answer your question, yes, it is quite feasible to build your own amplifier setup. But the first question is whether it would really be a saving. Although I am not into HT amplifiers, they can be quite cost-effectice (depending on where you are). And power ICs are still quite extensively used.

But my main reason for replying is that something is confusing. You mention that you traced the problem to the amplifier while the speakers were fine, but the next paragraph you changed the speakers, not the amplifier?

 

[highfihoney]

I think you misread his post ampdog,it reads to me as if he replaced the amplifier & was only commenting that the speakers were still good.

 

[Mig21]

I replaced the speakers and the amplifier at once - computer speakers come with the amplifier built into the subwoofer.

So I still have my old set of speakers (with the broken amplifier) and right now they're just gathering dust. Would be nice if I could make them useful again.

Since tese speakers are 10W/piece it would make no sense to buy an amplifier - the premade ones are either too powerful (and too expensive), or can't handle 5 separate channels.

 

[skizzerflake]

Factor in your labor. My bet is that if you pay yourself a little more than minimum wage, it will be cheaper to buy an amp. Unless you are an expert in design, you probably can't do better than a manufactured product.

 

[Mig21]

Factor in your labor. My bet is that if you pay yourself a little more than minimum wage, it will be cheaper to buy an amp. Unless you are an expert in design, you probably can't do better than a manufactured product.

You're absolutely right, but for me the labor is free (I'm even willing to pay a little extra ) because I love doing that kind of stuff.