The First Portable Headphones Amplifier I Constructed

Here is a picture of the first headphones amplifier I constructed, during my third year at university. The amp was built for my own use, since each and every day, I spent two hours getting to school and two more hours returning home on the bus and subway. The amplifier really brightened up this travel time.   Originally, by plugging my headphones into a full sized home receiver, and then back into my portable devices, I noticed a huge difference in sound quality. After learning about opamps during some electronics lectures, I thought why not build an amplifier to boost the power from my portable music devices? The result was very favorable, and after enjoying the amp for a few months, I decided to build more, for other people also interested in higher quality audio.

Here are top, and back views of the amplifier, which was very well enjoyed. The amp was used about 25 hours a week, for a few months without giving any trouble. It still works to this date.   Not a single person I knew had heard of such a device, nor did they understand why it was needed. Although, everyone who received a "before and after" demonstration of the amplifier could clearly hear a difference.

Next is another amplifier I built, which although was smaller, actually sounded better than the amplifier above. This amplifier was also powered by two AA rechargeable batteries which are located inside the amp, below all the wiring.