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I've been tinkering around with this for a week or so, finally finished buttoning it up. It's a 2-channel amp board built into one of PE's terminal cup's.
It's running a set of Neo Nano's that I never got around to finishing.
The center plug in the middle is the power input jack. The switch is on the left side, and the 3.5mm stereo input is on the right side. The potentiometer mounted on the amp board just mounts to the middle of the terminal cup and basically supports the board. It's like 1.5" square and weighs next to nothing.
The pic below shows things a bit clearer.
Wiring is pretty straightforward, I have big hands, so it took some fiddling to get things just so.
I super-glued a zip-tie to the back of the cup to tie the inside speaker connection to for some extra strength. That lead would connect to the crossover in the speaker that this amp would be installed in. The banana plug terminals on the amp/cup would be run to and connect to the other speaker (the slave speaker if you will)
The idea is that this little amp/terminal cup would be mounted in the back of a single Overnight Sensation, Neo Nano, or something similar allowing for zero desktop space being taken up for a computer desk. I ran the amp/neo nano combo as loud as I could tolerate for 20 minutes or so yesterday while I showered/shaved, and when I got back the chip on the amp was only 2 degrees warmer than everything else. It's about 1/4" square and doesn't seem to have a problem with 4 ohm loads and being played loudly.
The source was an iPod classic with the EQ set to "bass booster" and the volume on the headphone output at about 90 percent of max volume. The bass boost made this combo sound very full and pleasing with the jazz music I prefer. With bass-type test tones, the bass boost did some weird modulating, could have been the iPod or the amp, don't know, but it sounded strange. Music only though, and it was pretty nice sounding.
This combo sounds pretty nice and really has a sound comparable to the T-amp that PE sells, (the black one with the arched top) It distorts when cranked up very high, but it never really gets too ugly. I've been powering it with a 12V, 5 amp switching power brick. I didn't hear any hum or other bad noises while I was testing it.
I did roast the first switch I tried soldering to... it melted like butter. I'd get a few extra if anyone decides to duplicate this project. Use a fine point tip on the wand and move quickly.
I plan on fitting a piece of tubing to the shaft of the pot with a wooden dowel/knob on the end of it to adjust the volume. I didn't bother with a LED, since this will probably live it's life on the rear of a small speaker system.
As far as sealing this against air leakage, I'm guessing your caulk of choice would be fine. I tried to pick bits that were pretty much air-tight looking, but that's not to say that any of them may not leak. I'd just put some caulk on a toothpick and seal up the mounting points and probably be done with it as long as nothing whistles. The terminal cup itself has a gasket pre-attached.
As the pic above shows I had to grind some material away from the back of the cup to get the clearance to thread on the mounting nuts. I used a dremel type tool with a sanding drum for this. Also, the pot on the board has a little retaining pin which I needed to make a small notch for in the cup.
Nothing too exciting I know but it was a fun project, and I think it would do the job of powering a set of computer speakers while taking up basically no room or interior volume whatsoever.
Now I need to build a speaker set to put this thing into.
TomZ
It's running a set of Neo Nano's that I never got around to finishing.
The center plug in the middle is the power input jack. The switch is on the left side, and the 3.5mm stereo input is on the right side. The potentiometer mounted on the amp board just mounts to the middle of the terminal cup and basically supports the board. It's like 1.5" square and weighs next to nothing.
The pic below shows things a bit clearer.
Wiring is pretty straightforward, I have big hands, so it took some fiddling to get things just so.
I super-glued a zip-tie to the back of the cup to tie the inside speaker connection to for some extra strength. That lead would connect to the crossover in the speaker that this amp would be installed in. The banana plug terminals on the amp/cup would be run to and connect to the other speaker (the slave speaker if you will)
The idea is that this little amp/terminal cup would be mounted in the back of a single Overnight Sensation, Neo Nano, or something similar allowing for zero desktop space being taken up for a computer desk. I ran the amp/neo nano combo as loud as I could tolerate for 20 minutes or so yesterday while I showered/shaved, and when I got back the chip on the amp was only 2 degrees warmer than everything else. It's about 1/4" square and doesn't seem to have a problem with 4 ohm loads and being played loudly.
The source was an iPod classic with the EQ set to "bass booster" and the volume on the headphone output at about 90 percent of max volume. The bass boost made this combo sound very full and pleasing with the jazz music I prefer. With bass-type test tones, the bass boost did some weird modulating, could have been the iPod or the amp, don't know, but it sounded strange. Music only though, and it was pretty nice sounding.
This combo sounds pretty nice and really has a sound comparable to the T-amp that PE sells, (the black one with the arched top) It distorts when cranked up very high, but it never really gets too ugly. I've been powering it with a 12V, 5 amp switching power brick. I didn't hear any hum or other bad noises while I was testing it.
I did roast the first switch I tried soldering to... it melted like butter. I'd get a few extra if anyone decides to duplicate this project. Use a fine point tip on the wand and move quickly.
I plan on fitting a piece of tubing to the shaft of the pot with a wooden dowel/knob on the end of it to adjust the volume. I didn't bother with a LED, since this will probably live it's life on the rear of a small speaker system.
As far as sealing this against air leakage, I'm guessing your caulk of choice would be fine. I tried to pick bits that were pretty much air-tight looking, but that's not to say that any of them may not leak. I'd just put some caulk on a toothpick and seal up the mounting points and probably be done with it as long as nothing whistles. The terminal cup itself has a gasket pre-attached.
As the pic above shows I had to grind some material away from the back of the cup to get the clearance to thread on the mounting nuts. I used a dremel type tool with a sanding drum for this. Also, the pot on the board has a little retaining pin which I needed to make a small notch for in the cup.
Nothing too exciting I know but it was a fun project, and I think it would do the job of powering a set of computer speakers while taking up basically no room or interior volume whatsoever.
Now I need to build a speaker set to put this thing into.
TomZ
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