Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Audio/Jukebox/MP3 Forum => Topic started by: krick on July 05, 2009, 12:51:10 am
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Does anyone have the ability to manufacture and market a cheap slot-mounted amplifier like this for the BYOAC community?
I particularly like the ArcadeAMP design because it appears to have a jack for a remote volume pot.
Ideally, the board should be low-profile and have an optional low-profile bracket available for those of us who need that.
Quantum3D ArcadeAMP
(http://mame.3feetunder.com/byoac/q3d_arcade_amp.jpg) (http://www.thedodgegarage.com/3dfx/q3d_arcade.htm)
Sonic Impact Tripath TIO
(http://www.si5.com/images/tio_1.jpg) (http://www.si5.com/products.php?pID=4038)
PA2014 Personal Amplifer (the site is in German)
(http://mame.3feetunder.com/byoac/PA2014.jpg) (http://www.prel.de/html/produkte.html)
Ego Systems' PCI Audio Amplifier
(http://mame.3feetunder.com/byoac/pci_amp.jpg) (http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/notag/-20289.php)
Audiotrak Cardamp MK-II
(http://img.alibaba.com/photo/101479942/Audiotrak_Cardamp_Mk_II_Internal_PCI_Speaker_Amplifier.jpg) (http://www.alibaba.com/product/kr100982957-101479942-100633935/Audiotrak_Cardamp_Mk_II_Internal_PCI_Speaker_Amplifier.html)
Marchand PM148
(http://www.marchandelec.com/pm148.jpg) (http://www.marchandelec.com/pm48.html)
ERC PC AUDIO AMPLIFIER PCI CARD
(http://www.erc.ro/bg_img/pc_audio_1.jpg) (http://www.erc.ro/index_e.php?p=pc_audio_e)
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Interesting, i looked at some of those. They appear to be roughly $100 but they are not really that powerful the best one being 40watts a channel. Car amps still seem to have a better price/power ratio.
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For an arcade cabinet, you really don't need to have something with lots of power. For a jukebox, I'm guessing you might need something a little more powerful though.
However, you'd be surprised how good something with low power can sound when designed correctly...
http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/t-amp_e.html
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You can't just compare "power ratings". Power ratings on amplifiers are subject to all sorts of conditions. Make sure you compare RMS ratings at comparable THD. 100W doesn't do you any good if all you're outputting is a square wave: it'll be loud, but it'll sound awful.
That said, being more "mass market", I suspect car amps do offer more power for your buck, even at reasonable distortion ratings.
Even a mere 1W RMS is surprisingly loud. 40W RMS from a decent set of mid-range speakers can get almost unbearably loud at close distances in enclosed spaces.
On a device like this, look for a device with good power supply filtering. Power rails inside a PC are pretty noisy, and you don't want all that noise coupling onto your audio outputs. I'd also avoid ones which are powered from the slot they sit in; instead go for devices with dedicated power connectors. Pulling much more than 30-50W off a PCI bus connector is iffy business, and the power is likely to be even noisier than the lines coming directly from the power supply.
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I used a little T-Amp that was powered off the PC PSU and i had to put a ground loop isolator inline to prevent the PC noise but it seemed to work ok once i had that installed. The sound was good but for a jukebox it just wasn't loud enough. I do run karaoke in a bar off 100watts and that is more than loud enough so i see what you are saying about 40-50watts. I always talk RMS, PMPO is pointless.