DIY Amp with a TA8216H amp IC

[Lapin911]

Good evening all, new member here.
I am self taught and have been playing for about 10 years now. I had a cheaply made solid state amp that unfortunately melted... (No joke, it caught fire ergo none of the parts were salvageable)

Being a DIY oriented person I decided to go about building my own.
Having dabbled in electronics for a while now, I have a good collection of components and I decided to have a look at what I had in terms of amp ICs. Turns out I had a scavenged TA8216H. DATASHEET -> (see next post - ed.)

This amp is dual channel at 13w per channel.

I am by no means an expert and so have a few questions for you masters:

#1 - Do I have to use both channels? (The amp cabinet will only have 2 speakers in it)

#2 - This chip has 2 inputs, can I use only one? I heard I could use one of the channels for gain, is this correct?

#3 - I have looked all over for an amp schematic using this chip, but I have found some basic stuff but nothing great. Any one know of where to find a good one?

Thanks.

[AttachMan]

A local copy of the data sheet:

[loudthud]

A lot depends on what you have for speakers and what you have for a power supply. Is the power transformer from the amp that burned usable ? The chip wants a transformer of 16VAC or less for reliable operation, or it would be possible to use one of those laptop brick power supplies rated at 24V at two or so Amps.

What impedance are the speakers ? Any idea what the power rating might be ?