TDA2003 Suggestions

[polo16mi]

...
It seems my lm386 builds might actually be louder. Both are equally clean I'd say.....

May ask you: are you using the same speaker for compare LM386 vs TDA2003?

[J M Fahey]

I think your TDA2003 is oscillating wildly, and has terrible grounding problems.
That's why you have no headroom, low and dirty power, etc.
I still use TDA2003 with good results.
Just last week I delivered a small battery powered one with two of them bridged.
I also bought a ton of TDA2003 for peanuts and *have* to use them somehow.