Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
For 50W into 8 ohms the power supply must total 70V (plus AND minus 35V) but you said the power supply is only 33V to 36V.around 50 watts ...
Then we don't have to worry about distortion either. (acid rock?)Don't worry about the heating too much because you will not use the amplifier at full blast all the time (acid rock?).
I thought you are a big fan of (acid rock).Acid rock has only a little distortion. It is mostly noise.
...
Back in my broadcast days, I remember an interview where a guitarist explained that he took the output of his guitar amp and plugged it into the input of a second guitar amp and turned up the volume until the second amp's red clipping light was on 100% of the time.
Engineers spend many hours trying to get the distortion down and then some one pegs the VU meter.
The OP has a 36V supply, not a 70V supply. His amplifier clips when its output exceeds 16W into 8 ohms, not 40W.I heat tested my LM3876 amp running 40W output power into 8 ohms and the amp chip dissipated 34W. That is a pretty big heatsink needed, and either in free air vertically or with adequate fan forced air flow. That is a much more serious heatsink than AudioGuru suggested.
The datasheet for the IC shows a dual polarity supply and a single polarity supply.My apologies AG, the LM3886 is normally used with a dual voltage supply and I assumed when he said 33v he was using +/-33v as would be shown in the datasheet and the schematic he used to build the amp etc.
Maybe the OP can clarify?