Which LM386 based amp is the best?

Phorhas · October 23, 2003, 05:27:05 AM

A friend of mine asked me to build him a tiny pocket amp and the first thing that came to mind are those great little LM386 amps... but, which of the desings (and there ARE many of them) is the best sounding, or at least what is your personal favorite?

:shock:

Manolo Dudes · October 23, 2003, 05:49:00 AM

Practiceman?

Jered · October 23, 2003, 06:02:09 AM

I haven't built a practiceman, so I can't compare this to it, but I've built five of these, one for me and four for friends and everybody really likes these with headphones, and you can use them with an external speaker.
http://hammer.ampage.org/files/pocketrockit.PDF
Jered

ExpAnonColin · October 23, 2003, 07:30:33 AM

Theres some site that's totally devoted to practice/headphone amps. Forgot what it was, though.

-Colin

Phorhas · October 23, 2003, 07:31:33 AM

what a bout the smokys and the likes of it?

Oliver · October 23, 2003, 07:43:24 AM

Quote from: PhorhasA friend of mine asked me to build him a tiny pocket amp and the first thing that came to mind are those great little LM386 amps... but, which of the desings (and there ARE many of them) is the best sounding, or at least what is your personal favorite?

:shock:

Hi,

i linke the LittleGem from www.runoffgroove.com
Connected to a real Guitarbox it sounds just like a TubeAmp.

cu
Oliver

jimmy · October 23, 2003, 07:44:41 AM

all the smokeys, little gem etc sound great IF you get a quality speaker for them. i reccomend a computer speaker. cheap, and its an all-range speaker as well. i find they run better on 12 volts. cleaner and louder. ive got a custom 386 amp in a milo tin with a crappy speaker but i t keeps me entertained.

cheers
Jim

Phorhas · October 23, 2003, 09:07:40 AM

Thanx guy!!!

:lol:

petemoore · October 23, 2003, 09:18:31 AM

The one that's setup right and has the best speaker...and comprises only half of the stereo image.
There's choices at RUnoff Groove for this type I think double or so wattage [two chips per ouput as I remem].

Mark Hammer · October 23, 2003, 09:34:36 AM

The best advice I can offer for a small practice amp is to get yourself an 8-AA-cell holder to power it with 12v. It's obviously not going to let you stuff everything into a cigarette-box sized chassis, but you get several advantages. First off, you'll get more power just by upping the V+. Second, the batteries will last longer because there is more current capability from a stack of AA's than from a 9v. Third, you'll get more headroom.

One of those Pocket Rockits with a 12v supply into a decent full-range 5" speaker is a surprising force to be reckoned with. I built one into one of the larger Hammond cast aluminum chassis (the bigger cousin to the 1590BB and C) and it is a very solid amp which is pleasingly rigid as an enclosure for something that size and weight. I would imagine that a bridged-mode version with a pair of 386's would pack quite a punch.

Arn C. · October 23, 2003, 10:08:08 AM

http://www.minidisc.org/headbanger.htmlArn%20C.

Arn C. · October 23, 2003, 10:09:20 AM

[http://www.minidisc.org/headbanger.html]

ooops!
Arn C.[/url]

Arn C. · October 23, 2003, 10:28:27 AM

There was a drawing around for a while how to make a headphone amp out of a portable cassette deck. The little ones that you carry around that have headphones with them. I made one once and it worked okay.
I bought it for $10. I had to install an input jack for the guitar. I used a mini one. If I can remember correctly, there may be 3 wires coming off the head of the cassette player, two positive(for stereo) and one negative(ground). I wired the two positive wires together to make it mono and then wired them to the input jack. Then I think you had to press play to use it. This is from memory. I think I have the diagram somewhere, but don't no where it is right now.
Arn C.

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Which LM386 based amp is the best?