Audio Amplifier ICs
INTRODUCTION
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Few people realize that one of the world’s first ICs was an audio
power amplifier from Philips. This delivered a mere 25 mW into
a hearing-aid earpiece and incorporated just three transistors and
2 resistors.
Not surprisingly, we’ve made many advances since that initial
introduction. Advances that have led to ICs such as the
TDA8551 incorporating digital volume control with a control
range of more than 80 dB. Or the hi-fi TDA1514A, which can
deliver 50 W – more than two thousand times the power of that
first integrated amplifier.
These are just two of the extensive range of audio ICs we now
supply for a whole host of applications – including portable
radio and recorders, car radios, multimedia systems, hi-fi TV,
radio and music centres, and digital audio systems.
Integrated power
A major feature of our latest range is the high degree of functional power integrated within each package. A functional power
that dramatically reduces the peripheral component count of
finished equipment, leading to:
• lower system development costs
• smaller, more compact circuitry
• far fewer production problems
• significantly lower production costs.
What’s more, advanced internal protection circuitry completely
eliminates danger of damage from thermal runaway, shortcircuits and electrostatic discharge. Providing a level of circuit
reliability formerly the exclusive preserve of professional systems,
and, moreover, providing you with a solid guarantee of quality
and reliability in your own systems.
A valuable aid to designers
In the following pages you’ll find our complete range of audio
amplifiers. Intended principally as a designer’s first selection
guide, the pages give the most important parameters, or at least,
those that feature prominently when design criteria are initially
being considered. Used in conjunction with our Data
Handbook IC01 (which gives more detailed information), this
guide provides audio system designers with a ready means of
selecting the most appropriate components for their designs.
The publication is divided into three application areas: portable
radio/audio, car radio and mains-powered systems. Many products, however, may be suitable for several application areas: car
audio systems and mains-powered multimedia PCs for example.
What’s more, many of today’s applications for audio amplifier
ICs, e.g. musical greeting cards, were unheard of just a few years
ago. This means that any subdivision such as that given in this
guide can be only a preliminary indication of a product’s suitability for a particular application. In using this guide, therefore,
designers should cast their net as wide as possible and should
consider all likely candidates when looking for a suitable audio
IC for their application.
INTEGRATED POWER WITH PHILIPS AUDIO AMPLIFIER ICs