Hi,
I have been playing with LM386 audio amplifier IC and I was wondering how much output power it can give me. For example, I have tried using it with 8ohm 0.5W speaker and it seems to work. But I don't suppose I can drive 100+W speakers with it ( -- to be honest, I think that because chip looks so tiny and fragile --)
I am trying to figure out how big a speaker I can make it work with this chip.
I have also another question about gain. http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm386.pdf says that I can set the chip to give me 26dB to 46dB gain compared to input voltage. I assume that computer or phone jack gives me around -/+ 5V signal (I approximated this from couple of things that I saw on the internet). 5V signal with 8ohm resistance uses 3W of power. This makes me think that standard phone or computer output is more than enough for my speaker.
On the other hand, when I connect this speaker to my phone, I get very little volume. I guess I am making a mistake somewhere. How should I be calculating the gain I need for a specific speaker?
I have been playing with LM386 audio amplifier IC and I was wondering how much output power it can give me. For example, I have tried using it with 8ohm 0.5W speaker and it seems to work. But I don't suppose I can drive 100+W speakers with it ( -- to be honest, I think that because chip looks so tiny and fragile --)
I am trying to figure out how big a speaker I can make it work with this chip.
I have also another question about gain. http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm386.pdf says that I can set the chip to give me 26dB to 46dB gain compared to input voltage. I assume that computer or phone jack gives me around -/+ 5V signal (I approximated this from couple of things that I saw on the internet). 5V signal with 8ohm resistance uses 3W of power. This makes me think that standard phone or computer output is more than enough for my speaker.
On the other hand, when I connect this speaker to my phone, I get very little volume. I guess I am making a mistake somewhere. How should I be calculating the gain I need for a specific speaker?