Hi
I am hoping for some advice, electronics is not my strong point. Basically, I am working on a handheld retropie project. I purchased some speakers 4ohm 3w and a TPA2012 Class D amp. The speakers are too big at 40x40x24, so I need some that are considerably smaller. I found some 0.5W 8Ohm speakers (ADA1890 by Adafruit). My question is, can i attach those speakers to my TPA2012…will the speakers blow up!?
If this is the amplifier board, https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/adafruit-stereo-2-8w-class-d-audio-amplifier-ts2012 yes it “could” damage your speakers if the volume is turned up high enough. It is capable or 2 watts per channel. If you keep the volume low it should be fine. If you start hearing distortion its too high. You “should” get distortion before it gets to a level that will damage the speakers.
thank you for your reply.
yes thats the board I have. Is there a way to protect the speakers at all other than being careful with the volume? Is there a different more suitable amp i can buy?
I can’t think of an easy way to protect them, right off of the top of my head. Putting a 8 ohm 1/2 watt resistor in parallel with each speaker will give you 4 ohms impendence and allow up to 1 watt per channel. They won’t be any louder and that other 1/2 watt will be wasted as heat in the resistor. The volume can go higher before damage though. Not a real solution IMHO, but all I can think of at the moment.
0.5 Watts is pretty low. It might be hard to find an amplifier that only outputs half a watt per channel?
Honestly, I’d look for small 2 watt (or more) speakers.
thank you for the advice. Ill have another look - worst case scenario is I redesign my hand held case to accommodate the larger speakers i already have :(
Rethinking my above post. If you got two more of those speakers and wired them in parallel, two per channel. You would be good to that same 1 watt per channel, and 4 ohms resistance, but get twice the sound. 0.5 watt per speaker for 1 watt per channel. Still not a real solution but better than the adding a resistor. More expensive also.
Would these fit, https://www.adafruit.com/product/1669
unfortunately not, still too big! I am looking at a redesign but i was trying to keep the casing as slim as possible (handheld game console)
Did this get solved?
Other options:
HI, no. I used a slightly larger speaker that did work ok but I never tried the very thin speakers…its been a while and i put that project on hold!