TDA2050 DIY computer audio amplifier test & review

[@TheTrueVoiceOfReason]

Vegematic1966! Have to say, John, that is one clean amp enclosure design. Minimal, i.e., only the essentials for that amp. Clean construction, attention to separation of signal and power, plus twisting associated wire for noise reduction. Well done. I do think I remember this amp from back then. Hi Snickers!!! Have a great Memorial Day!

[@resistorsarefutile3233]

I love that oak case. I made a CNC mill to make cases like that. I'm working with oak now before I move on to aluminum. My results are great so far. Oak looks beautiful with clear anodized aluminum.

[@Elnufo]

Efficiency is more important than Wattage rating, especially when it comes to Subwoofers. Your Demo proves that once again.

[@8bit-meiko]

wooooo, new vid from one of my fave diy creators!

[@thomaslockwood2950]

Glad to see your bench is as cluttered as mine, it’s a sign of genius

[@markbuxton2368]

wow 8 years and it works fine! It'll never be a commercial success John :)

[@jeffm2787]

Difference between a passive and an active sub is the length of the speaker wires.

[@listerine-pr5lt]

Add to smoothing capacitors can slightly increase the power too

[@SianaGearz]

This is weird, the hardware seems perfectly fine for Windows 10. Ivy Bridge came out during support era for Windows 8.0 or 8.1 and there really isn't much between them and Windows 10 technically. I'm running Windows 10 currently on an Ivy Bridge laptop, same exact generation and similar hardware to your PC, on a Bay Trail Atom tablet, from slightly later in the same era, and on a much older Phenom II x6 monstrosity, though i guess last BIOS firmware update for that came also around that late 2012 era to support newly available processors. Two of these got the 64-bit build of Windows, the tablet got 32-bit due to its RAM shortage. Ivy Bridge is still remarkably fast and highly compatible (all necessary instruction sets present) and i don't see much pressure to upgrade, would be a waste of money. If it's just for Windows 10, it stands to reason that you should be able to accomplish that still. Especially since you might find Windows 10 mildly infuriating (i still do, but i need it for various reasons and am willing to live with the bad for the benefit of the good), and it would be a double disappointment if you found that you had to drop a whole mainboard+CPU+RAM worth of money to get to something that you don't like. You can usually run Windows 10 just fine on most older machines starting with Vista era, 2006 or so, just as long as they have ample RAM - about as much as you needed for Vista if not less, about 1GB for 32-bit version and starting from 4GB for 64-bit. What exactly was happening? If it was failing somehow in early boot stages, perhaps it's an UEFI/GPT thing. on PC and laptop, i decided against GPT, and use the MBR partition table and classic boot instead. Secure boot was too scary for me, because troubleshooting UEFI issues didn't make me comfortable, AT ALL, i simply lack a proper in depth understanding of what's going on there. Sometimes, upgrade troubles are a thing and a clean install of Windows may be advised. Let me know if i can advise somehow.

[@JohnAudioTech]

It would install and run perfect for a few days. It would eventually slow down and become unusable. System file check said files were damaged and system file repair wouldn't fix it. I reformatted and put 7 back on. Six months later I walked into the room and 10 was installing itself (forced upgrade MS was pushing). I was going to try again anyway so I continued. Same thing again after a few days so I reformatted and put 7 back on for good. I put 10 on my parents computer which is as old as mine but with "weaker" hardware and it has been fine for years. I couldn't find a solution at the time searching the tech databases so I never tried 10 again. I'm happy with the computer as it is, however, MS drops updates for 7 next year and rendering H.265 videos is slow.

[@mojoblues66]

You got too much spare time, and are looking for trouble? Get a shitty PC and put Windows on it. I'm using a Mac since forever, never had any trouble with it. What you get is what you pay for...

[@gn_electronics]

@@JohnAudioTech Hey John! Windows 10 seems to have issues with hdds. Many times disk usage is always at 100% so the pc becomes extremely slow, especially if there is an update available and windows tries to install it. I used to have the same issues, so i bought a new ssd and now my pc runs smoothly.

[@JohnAudioTech]

@@gn_electronics In my case it was damaged system files for some reason. It would eventually completely die even with a clean restart. The start menu would not even show anymore. It was hosed. Windows 7 runs without a hitch.

[@amitghosh6966]

Please publish a video on how to select proper heatsink for audio amplifier chips like Tda2030A, 2050, lm1875 etc

[@mikebond6328]

I remember when I learned that there could be power on the heatsink in an atx psu. Fried a cheap meter and tripped a 15 amp breaker.

[@edifierbass7821]

Nice amp, you can also try TDA1554- 12vdc to 18vdc- single supply, a stereo- bridged 22w per channel only 5 components so easy to build, it's widely used in audio car stereos before the Mosfet ic-chip came along with 50w

[@ADRIANNORMANNINA]

I'd love to see the schematic

[@nitescuvalentin6872]

i'm running a dual Tda7294 board from Jim's audio shop, with a uPC1237 for speaker protection and a 150 VA 26-0-26 transformer. works fine so far..

[@sanjoy2521]

Please publish a video on TEA2025 ic

[@isoguy.]

Awsome vid, clearly explained test routine, thanks for sharing. Could not find the link to the test file you mentioned in the video, only the Patreon link. 👍👍👍

[@JohnAudioTech]

My bad. I added the link. Let me know if you can't access. It should allow downloads.

[@sanjoy2521]

What's the maximum safe operating voltage for an unauthentic Tda2050 chip ? I want to make an amp with this chip but can't get an original chip

[@headfonic7750]

Wow cuz this is really helpful work! Congrats and keep it up.

[@cac2244]

I love this amp... You have the diagram anywhere? I have a test bench and I am a woodworker with a plexiglass bending machine... This is perfect for me.

[@JohnAudioTech]

I should have included a schematic. I might make a quick video of the amp's schematic.

[@gillanland]

How is this stereo amp connected to subwoofer and speakers?

[@eggshellskullrule7971]

John, were those subwoofers two 12" in vented enclosure(s)?

[@jayroldtabuzo9479]

I hope someday you do a transient test/dynamic test,, i have prob with my amp tried to put 3300uf-20mf per rail, that prob is when i try to push to 25+ watts, but 32watts rms is clean

[@zodak9999b]

I wonder if Snickers thought "My human's learned how to purr"

[@victimovtalent6036]

John,how to boosting output power tda2050 with additional mosfets on output line?

[@SianaGearz]

Are you driving 2 Ohm loads with it or something? Because for 4Ohm and up, the chip is voltage-limited (and thermally limited if you don't cool it well enough, but you'll have that issue with MOSFETs too - plus the risk of MOSFETs dying short and killing a bunch more things including the TDA), so it doesn't make sense to add more current drive to its output anyhow. If you did, then i'm not sure what the point of keeping TDA2050 around would be at all, i mean it would just about only be present as a voltage gain stage, which a small opamp will accomplish much cleaner and neater.

[@victimovtalent6036]

@@SianaGearz i mean tda2050 driving a pair or more output stage to increase power output at 8ohms load

[@SianaGearz]

@@victimovtalent6036 To get more out of an 8 Ohm load than TDA2050 delivers, you need to up the system voltage beyond what the TDA2050 is compatible with. The complexity of the project is pretty high, you'd be basically building a hybrid (discrete output, opamp-driven) amplifier which for some inexplicable reason still has a TDA2050 hanging around in it doing not much useful whatsoever except injecting its noise and distortion, where a low-power opamp would likely perform much better instead. If you get a bunch of cheap TDA2050, you can bridge them (BTL) to drive 8-Ohm loads (4 Ohm apparent load), that might just be the most sensible way to go about your task. You get 4 times the power by doubling up the TDA ICs. And i mean TDA2050, you won't get the original European STM/Philips parts, except bad fakes or old salvage, but UTC, a Taiwanese manufacturer, is making them in license, they're about $1.20 a piece from a reputable distributor, item TDA2050L-TB5-T.

[@victimovtalent6036]

@@SianaGearz that is the problem,an authentic tda 2050 is rare on the local markets especially in my country😞

[@johnyang799]

use lm3886

[@Radfordperson]

At zero volume, your amplifier consumes about 12.4 Watts, that's almost the same as my classic Quad 303 amp that has a max output of around 45 Watts per channel.

[@crankjazz]

Volts give you the jolt, mills kills. What's the current on the heatsink?

[@gengiskhanalegria3948]

Holà Una pregunta, se puede conectar unos parlantes y guitarra eléctrica en este tipo de amplificador jvc rx-6010r

[@amitghosh6966]

Is it a 4 Ampere transformer you used here ?

[@anindyamitra5091]

I like that!

[@amitghosh6966]

Do you mean to say that a 2 Ampere transformer can actually deliver only 1 Ampere current maximum ?

[@johncoops6897]

Would have been better to have the larger "storage" caps inside the amplifier enclosure, rather than in the PSU. There'll be a lot of sag and droop on the peaks of sinewaves due to the long run of fairly thin cable to the XLR connector. Also I didn't see any shielded cables in the inputs - just twisted - which is a bit dodgy..

[@JohnAudioTech]

Under worst case load conditions, both channels driven into reactive 4 ohm speakers, I would lose a few hundred millivolts in the power leads which translates to about a watt of lost output per channel. I can live with that. The amp is dead silent with the volume full open so the chassis / lead shielding is more than adequate.

[@twotone3070]

You weren't the cause of the Roswell Incident with that base waveform were you?

[@iceberg789]

nice. but, why the 8 watt is being consumed when the amplifier is off ?

[@JohnAudioTech]

Mostly iron losses in the transformers.

[@iceberg789]

@@JohnAudioTech thanks. 8 watt sounds quite huge for doing nothing though.

[@johnsenchakinternetsecurit8935]

Does the volume go up to 11? SNICKERS ROCKS

[@encryptor256]

Have you tried Linux?

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Has anyone build 5W Class A amplifier around 2xBD131 transistors and 1x BC212L just google for 5W Class A amplifier if you are interested in building it.

[@HDXFH]

Cute cat