Wiring And Schematic

A simple stereo audio amplifier is built around two 7905 negative-voltage regulators (IC1 and IC2) and a few discrete components. The circuit will also work with other 79XX regulators if appropriate power supply is used. Regulator IC 7905 works as an amplifier for the voltages applied to common pin2 (Ground or GND). Also check the LM317 audio amplifier, another interesting circuit.

The minimal voltage drop over the standard 7905 is around 2V and it depends on the output current. Feedback resistors in the IC set the gain of the channel internally. The amplifier is a class-A audio amplifier. The minimal applicable value of R3 for the regulator 7905 is 8.2 to 10 ohms per 5W.

If the required output current for LS1 is below 100 mA, the value of resistor R3 can be 33 to 51 ohms per watt. The circuit works with any load resistance (R3 in parallel with LS1 as the load) under the condition that the regulator is not overloaded with current and power dissipation. However, it is preferable to use a loudspeaker with a high resistance (8 ohms, 16 ohms or more). The amplifier works well with low-impedance headphones having a resistance of 24 to 32 ohms. The voltage difference between the ground pin of 7905 and the output pin is fixed internally.

S2 is the on/off switch. Switch S1 is for mono/stereo selection. When switch S1 is closed, the amplifier works as a two-way mono amplifier. If S1 is open, the amplifier works as a stereo amplifier. If no input signal is applied, the DC voltage on the output of the regulator 7905 should be around –5V, which depends to some extent on the value of VR1. The maximum output current of 7905 can be up to 1A and the maximum power dissipation is up to 15W. Mount the regulator IC 7905 on a heat-sink with thermal resistance below 15°C/W.