TDA2003 amp

[Marcos - Munky]

I want to build one amp using the TDA2003 IC. Any suggestions?

[Peter Snowberg]

Just watch the heat sink :shock: . Use grease and good surface area. It can get quite hot.

I built one many years back and didn't like the overdrive tone at all, but I was only powering it with 9 volts (reguated supply) and I didn't yet grasp how much a high impedance JFET buffer would help.

I'll bet with a buffer and 14-18 volts it could sound really GOOD!

Good luck!

-Peter

[Vasiliok]

I was playing with TDA2003 some month ago...

You know, the main problem - ICs overloading...
It designed to accept 50mV input signal, but as you know guitar output signal up to 2V.

So I put jfet buffer, than tone control section and still I had too high signal level. Ok. Mayby just put resistor devider? Yes but it cuts highs...

Better make simple tube amp...

or go here:
http://www.runoffgroove.com/littlegem.html

[Peter Snowberg]

Maybe a resistive divider with a bypass cap on the series resistor?

Hmmmmmm........

[Marcos - Munky]

Thanks. What about the LM3886? Any schematics/PCB layouts?

[Robin]

Hey Munky,

 Don’t know if you just have a TDA2003 looking for a home or if you’re looking for a step up from a 386 based amp but did you read the application notes here?:

http://eu.st.com/stonline/books/pdf/docs/1449.pdf

I agree with these guys about the input sensitivity and power supply issues. Anything putting out much more than a watt or so seems to suck a 9V battery dry pretty quickly. I have had some success using preamp and attenuator chips to control the input sensitivity, though.

If you don’t mind rectifying and regulating your supply off the mains I think the TDA2030 is a little better suited for our purposes and can be had (Parts Express) for a couple of bucks. The TDA2030A puts out a little more power I think.

http://eu.st.com/stonline/books/pdf/docs/1458.pdf

I picked up a Gorilla (Pignose) amp at a yard sale for a few bucks and cavalierly walked away not believing the guy’s “yeah, I think it works” but full of confidence at my repair skills. Took me many hours to trace the board, cobble together a schematic (available for $300 for time invested, ha ha!), troubleshoot and replace a couple of fried diodes, TDA2030 and blown speaker. Ok, I learned a lot in the process and this is a kick-ass little amp. It can run off battery power --- the company offered a model with a big rechargeable --- I use a drill power pack.

There’s lots of audio power amp chips out there (hiding in Mom’s clock radio?) with many different, often simple applications. Read yer datasheets and app notes.

[Marcos - Munky]

I want to build a amp with the TDA2003 because I have two here (and one LM3886) and I need something with more power to drive a hornet driver, because I want to build a talkbox. The LM3886 amp I will use for sing. I have a 12v power supply for the TDA2003 amp.

[Nasse]

http://www.kolumbus.fi/mikko.esala/lista.htm#Vahvistin18

http://www.kolumbus.fi/mikko.esala/tda2003.pdf


Text is somewhat exotic language but circuit diagram and pcb pattern is quite universal language. If you surf backwards there is some info bout other power chips too. I have had good success with TDA7370, very nice amp.

TDA2003 is known to have tendency to oscillate so layout must be clean. LM3886 is quite powerful (about 50W depending speaker impedance) and best (?) pcb layout I have seen is in Elektor Elektronics 11/95 or 306 circuits book.

[Mark Hammer]

There was an issue of Practical Electronics last year with some low-end power amp projects in it, using the TDA820, LM386, LM380, and TDA2003.  One of them uses a pair of 2003's in bridge mode for something like 16 clean watts.  Comes with a PC mask.  I can scan it and send it to you later this evening.

FWIW, all the low-end solid state Crate amps use either the TDA2030, 2040, or 2050.  If it ends in "15" (e.g., GX-15, BX-15) it uses a 2030.  If it ends in "25" it uses a TDA2040, and if it ends in 35 it uses a TDA2050.

[Marcos - Munky]

Mark, if you could scan it, will be very useful. Nasse, thanks for the link, I will take a look.

[Prive]

Hi, i never think in integrated circuits when i think in power stages for guitar, but.... what i found when i take the cover of my Peavey Rage 158 (the new serie)?

Just a couple of transistors and     a TDA2030, yes, and believe me it sounds really great, both channels, the only bug? when you want to use pedals in front of the clean channel, it sound in the middle of a amp tone and a PA tone, (i hope you understand) the ditortions have that hi end that we want to roll off and the bass is too much extended.

If you use the dist channel with lower gain settings you get a decent tone from your pedals.

The eternal solution? i plugged my ADA MP1 in the CD input and voila!!!!!  great tone ever!!!!!

I mean, the power amp is perfect (TDA2030) for guitar use just think in the preamp section, this amp give you really loud levels, i can play with a heavy drummer and his Zildjian K set and and a bass and still hear me clear.

Saludos, Marcelo.

[Guido Landry]

Hi  

I had a little bench test Amp that used the TDA 2003 and when my son became interested in playing the guitar I used it to build a little practice amp. The TDA 2003 is not bad, but it has its quirks. Layout is critical to avoid oscillation, a good heatsink is required and it is best to use a 12 to 14 volt supply.
The only problem with it is that when overdriven, it clips harshly. So to avoid that I placed two germanuim diodes (OC81) in the input stage of the power amp for soft clipping and adjusted the gain such the TDA 2003 does not distort.

[Mark Hammer]

If you look at the lower-wattage Crate schematics, a number of them use a Vactrol-based limiter at the input of the power-amp chip, driven by the amp's output.

[Nasse]

http://www.kemo-electronic.com/b086_gb.html

http://www.kemo-electronic.com/b125_gb.html

Sorry I continue this topic little off title but because many people mentioned TDA2030 as another option when looking easily available amp chip with other benefits I included two links as example. The first one is TDA2030 beefed with two power transistors, and the second is two 2030s and four power transistors in a bridge giving quite much oomph. Total cost and parts cout is surprisingly low. Component values and semiconductor types are not shown but maybe the basic idea can be seen from circuit. Beefing up TDA2030 with power transistors whose drive is taken from TDA2030 supply lines is nostalgig idea and two examples from Kemo Electronics (Germany) are shown. New chips with better specs come and go, but TDA2030 (and 2003 too) has been available quite well.

[salty_pancake]

Sorry to bring up an old topic here but I need some assistance with a question. 

How do I tell what the input sensitivity of the TDA2003 is?  I may not be reading it correctly but I don't see it on the datasheet. 

My plan as of now is to take the output of a LM 386 and feed it into the TDA2003.  Is this a bad idea?

[El Heisenberg]

Why do that??

When i used tda2003s to practice, i used a fetzer valve with a fender tone stack in front of it. Powered it off 18v. Then made another one using a 12au7 tube preamp off 18v.

I now have a ipod music player i built. Two tda2003 amps for each left/right channel. And high and low eq for both channels. I think i used a 12v 3A transformer for that since i used two amps.

For the guitar amps i used 1.2A.

Anyway i had lm386 guitar and ipod amps before those. I dont like the lm386! Everyone else does tho...

[Gurner]

My plan as of now is to take the output of a LM 386 and feed it into the TDA2003.  Is this a bad idea?

Yes.

Don't be under the illusion that feeding an LM386 into a TDA2003 will yield more power - it won't. It will likely yield more noise though.

Just slap a FET or a low noise opamp in front of your TDA2003 - job done.

[Top Top]

Germanium limiting diodes on the output of a pramp work very well with these amps to prevent overloading the input. I found that silicon still caused very harsh clipping of the power amp from too high of a level going into it.

I built an amp using TDA2005, but I think they are pretty similar, with 2005 just being two channels.

[Johan]

http://www.velleman.eu/distributor/products/view/?id=9181
hard to do it sheaper and nicer looking.
J

[ferguslester]

@Guido Landry. Could you let me know how to add diodes to input stage to soften clipping. Sorry I know that's an old post

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