Radio Shack Mini Audio Amplifier

"I've got a pair of these that I've used in our business for 22 years straight! They work as a preamp for a sound system input. They also work great for troubleshooting an audio system. They can drive speakers with a 25V or 70V transformer too! They are useful for Science Fair projects to boost the audio from your crystal radio headphone to a level that everybody can hear. 9 Volt battery last a reasonable amount of time - not forever, but good enough for me. This is one item every ham should have in their tool box to test microphones, etc. This is truly one item that Radio Shack has done perfect, and I hope that they will continue to sell it another 25 years! A+ rating from this engineer."

"You might not believe this, but I work at an AM broadcast station and use this amp in the audio chain of our streaming audio system. It provides a stable signal without having to constantly adjust the volume. I screwed it to an equipment rack, set the volume and have not had to go back and touch it. I feed audio into the input jack, take audio out of the convenient output jack, and power it off a wall wart. Sound quality for feeding audio to our streaming PC is excellent on voice and very good on music (again, we ARE an AM station so our bar is a bit low...). Good enough for AM radio work. I also use another one for signal tracing and troubleshooting throughout the station."

"I've been using this amp for years. It was top knotch in my years as a commercial fire alarm technician. I used it to connect to 25 and 70 volt speaker systems, per floor, using the speakers as microphones that feed into the amp, and find out where the break was in the speaker line.



I'm currently using it to fine tune my crystal radio set, and it makes for a nice way to share the sound of a crystal radio with others in the room, as opposed to just using headphones."

"This unit can be used to set audio levels in stereo systems, can use to find audio circuits for Rear Seat Entertainment systems, with headphones can be used to search and destroy noise in A/V systems, Yeah you replace a 9V battery here and there or if you are good you use an IC circuit and put in a board and add a 12v source to power it from your cig lighter or a drill battery for remote applications. I have been using this unit or its predecessor for over 20 years in the car audio and home theater markets. No failures of any kind only a few areas it was unable to help with. Awesome product...."

"We use this tiny speaker in conjunction with the Hands Free Tie Clip Omni-Directional Microphone to amplify our daughter's voice. She has a disease that makes her breath support very weak, and therefore she is very quiet. It is very portable and we take it everywhere. It works great so we can hear her in noisy situations!"

"This thing is GREAT!!! I bought it for my PSP (Playstation Portable) cause the PSP is not very loud when I watch movies on it. This is a almost perfect solution for that or any problems of tiny sound cause this thing is LOUD!!! The sound quality is as to be expected from a mono speaker but... it's got input and output, so that means plug a mic into it for a PA or use it as a amplifier for external speaker system. This this is simply brilliant! A GREAT BUY AT A GREAT VALUE!"

"Great little amplifier! I have used these in many physics demonstrations when I need to boost an audio signal for a later stage in a demonstration, or so students can hear the signal at some point in a demonstration.



The amplifier seems quite forgiving; I have used it well where the input or output impedances do not match well. I also like that it can be used as am amplified speaker, or the signal can continue on through an output jack.



I wouldn't recommend this as an MP3 speaker; you can do better for sound quality (and stereo) from other devices. But this is just the ticket for a small, lightweight, portable audio amplifier and speaker."

"I use my iPhone as a source and a blowhorn to put the sound out. Two key reasons - 1) i downloaded game calls and use it for hunting coyotes, and 2) i downloaded bugle calls and use it for Scouting to call the boys to dinner, wake them up, and to play Taps. With the blowhorn, this thing seriously puts out some sound! It's small and has great battery life. The power button broke after a few years, but I got my use out of the first one. Buying my second now..."

"This is a tool not a HI FI speaker. Can be used to isolate problems in audio digital and RF equipment. Have used one for over 20 years on paging, telephone and data systems. Find out where the signal stops. Great emergency speaker when nothing else will do. Tremendous gain makes things easy. If you need it for Music only go elsewhere."

"Makes a great predator call. Hook it up to 40-1440 speaker and your MP3 player, download you predator calls and start bringing the varmints in for the kill!"