LM380-8...ok, now what?

[roach969]

So, I acquired a LM380-8 amplifier IC and have no idea what to do with it(I guess I lost A LOT of what I had learned).  I've recently built a couple of LM386 amplifiers but those are only 1/2 watt.  So I found this one in the hopes of building something a little louder but can't seem to find any good schematics.  On that note, if this can be used for anything other than audio amplification it would be nice to know.  If anyone could point me in the right direction with this little IC I'd greatly appreciate it.  Thanks and I look forward to any and all replies.

[david77]

Your first stop should be the datasheet.
http://pdf.datasheetcatalog.com/datasheet2/a/0aor7xsk92te983lieo67ewd8eky.pdf

[rsjsouza]

A more modern datasheet (possibly) is here
The LM380N-8 is the 8-pin PDIP version of the traditional LM380, and it not able to dissipate as much (you need to be more careful not to melt it).