Talkbox Question

[mergethis]

I'm building a custom talkbox from scratch and was wondering if a amsll amp made with a tda2003 would be enough power to power a 600 watt compression/horn driver at a level enough to mic?

[olddawg]

I'm building a custom talkbox from scratch and was wondering if a amsll amp made with a tda2003 would be enough power to power a 600 watt compression/horn driver at a level enough to mic?

You are better of finding an old 15w full range University driver. Duct tape a hose to it and put a loop in it so you don't get backwash in it. Be carefull. Bone conduction can really mess up your hearing. I used to use a 35 w University driver driven by a small Gibson Skylark tube amp. It sounded great, but I had to be careful.

[Mark Hammer]

two aspects to your question.

1) Is an 8-watt amp chip enough to provide the requisite sound level that can travel through a hose to a mic and be regulated by your mouth?

2) Is the driver a suitable choice?

8 watts is probably quite sufficient to provide suitable SPL for some driver, but if the horn is rated to be able to handle 600W, then the chances are pretty good it will not be efficient enough at the lower power output of a TDA2003 to work its way up that hose into your mouth and out to the mic, at a level that favourably competes with the sound of you chewing gum.

Although compression drivers are frequently seen as the drivers for talkboxes, you don't have to use one. The old PAiA Pygmy battery-powered amp (seen over to the far right here: http://www.synthmuseum.com/paia/paimodular02.jpg ) could be (and was) used with a sort of funnel placed over it, to connect the hose with the driver.

[olddawg]

There are the proverbial more ways to skin a cat. You can simply put a 4" speaker in a small box and put a funnle over it. Your 8 watt chip should be fine if it is 8 watts RMS, not 8 watts peak instantaneous power or some other bogus car stereo output chip spec. As far a the 600 watt driver goes, what is the nominal input wattage rating. If it is very inefficient (which it probably is to be that much of a power soak) 8 watts may not be enough. If you have the junk laying around try it. What have you got to lose? That's how I built my talk box back in the '70s. Trial and error. Mine was a "magic bag" type rather than a floor box. Personally, I would look around for a much smaller driver or use a small speaker and a funnel.