Build A Low TIM Amplifier W. Marshall Leach* ‘OME OF THE causes and cures Of transient intermodulation (TIM) distortion have, been discussed in a previous article [1]. There, TIM distortion was defined asa transient overload phenomenon which results from the use of a very large negative feedback ratio with at- tendant heavy lag compensation. It was stated that TIM distortion can be eliminated by designing power ampli- fiers with a lower overall open-loop gain, by designing each internal stage for maximum bandwidth and linear- ity, and by using lead compensation rather than lag compensation 10 in- sure stability. Stated in more practical terms, the amplifier should have an ‘open-loop gain that is greater than the closed-loop gain by no more than. about 25 dB, and the open-loop band- width should be at least 20,000 Hz, preferably greater. As a final step, the amplifier should have a low-pass filter Fig. 1Phatograph of the authar’s chassis layout. The case on the power transformer has been changed so that it could be mounted vertically without the use of L-brackets. 30 at its input to prevent inaudible uhra- sonic or rf. signals from accidentally overloading the input stages. Since the use of less averall nega tive feedback can result in an in- creased distortion, its important that the circuit be 2 fully complementary symmetry design. In addition, each in- ternal voltage gain stage should utilize local negative current feedback for maximum linearity. In this way, the open-loop distortion will be suf- ficiently low so that 25 dB of overall negative feedback will result in an ac~ ceptably low distortion level in the closed-loop amplifier ‘Although there exist no present standards for the measurement of TIM distortion {in a private communi cation, Prof. Matti Otala of the U versity of Oulu in Finland has told the author that he is presently construct ing a TIM measuring instrument), the susceptability of an amplifier to it can be determined in some cases with an ascillascope and a fast rise time square-wave generator. With a square-wave input signal, the signal at the output of each internal stage in the amplifier should ideally be square wave with little or no over- shoot or ringing. Unfortunately, how- ‘ever, in the majority of amplifiers, the internal stage which is most suscep- table to TIM distortion is almost al- ways a current gain stage rather than a voltage gain stage. Since an os Engineering. Georg iwttote of Technology, ‘ila, Georgi 30322 AUDIO ¢ FEBRUARY, 1976cilloscope is a voltaye measuring in steument, it is almost impossible 10 observe internal transient overshoot problems in such amplifiers without their modification or the use of ex- pensive current probes. In this article, « practical design ex ample is presented which is based al: most entirely on the design philoso- phy presented in the previous article. Since each internal stage in this ampli- fier utilizes local negative current feedback, the impedance levels in the amplifier are sufficiently high and the feedback ratio is sufficiently low so that the transient response of each in ternal stage can be measured easily with an oscilloscope. The circuit has been carefully designed so that tran- sient inter-loop signal overload can- not aceut, even with ultra-fast rise- time square-wave signals applied 10 the amplifier input. Since no internal stage is subject to transient overload problems, the amplifier is theoretical ly free of TIM distortion, and the re sults can be startlingly audible, espe: cially with lullrange electrostatic speakers When used within its power limita- ons, the amplifier can be used with the finest associated equipment. In several subjective listening tests it has audibly equaled or surpassed any am- plitier to which it has been compared. The audible differences are greatest during music which contains loud high-frequency material and per- cussive sounds. These differences are attributed to the controlled inter-loop transient response of the amplifier and the lack of TIM distortion in the reproduced music. These are princi- pally a direct result of the fact that the Open-loop frequency bandwidth is 38,000 Hz or approximately twice that of the audible spectrum. The amplifier is a fully com- plementarysymmetry, direct= coupled design. It has a closed-loop frequency response which extends from approximately 0.5 Hz to 150,000 Hz. The response outside these limits hhas been intentionally rolled off. Oth- ‘erwise, the small-signal frequency re sponse would extend from dic. to ‘over 800,000 Hz, With the specified power supply, the power output is 70 watts per channel, both channels, driven simultaneously, or 84 watts from either channel driven alone. Both the IM distortion (SMPTE Sta dard) and the THD are less than 0.2% aL 70 watts or less, where the THD is measured at any frequency between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. At lower power levels, the distortion is much lower, typically 0.04% of less, However, no ultra-low distortion levels are claimed since an unrealistically low THD speci« fication can indicate the presence of TIM ‘distortion in an amplifier [2]. With the feedback loop d connected, the amplifier will produce 50 watts into an 8-ohm load with a THD of only 0.5% at 1000 Hz. This low distortion is indicative of the inherent linearity of the open-loop amplifier. Thus, the addition of negative feed- back has not been used to "clean up’ problems of the basic design, but to improve it. As the power level is de- creased, both the IM distortion and THD decrease monotonically. This in- dicates the absence of crossover dis tortion, + 50V SHIELDED CABLE, INPUT (PHONO Aci Fig. 2—Complete circuit diagram of one channel, AUDIO e FEBRUARY, 1976 SPEAKER ‘output ©-s0v 31The damping factor is approximate ly 250 from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. Al: though this is only moderately high, it does not change appreciably with fre~ quency in the audio band. In contrast, an amplifier with an inadequate ‘open-loop bandwidth will exhibit a damping factor which can change ap- preciably with frequency, often by a factor as high as 100 or more. A damp~ ing factor which is relatively in- sensitive to frequency indicates that the output impedance of the ampli- fier is essentially constant and does not vary with frequency. Whether this ean be audible is not known, how- ever, its felt that a frequency-sensi- tive ‘output impedance can lead to transient problems with certain reac- tive loads, particularly full-range elec trostatic speakers. Description of the Circuit The overall circuit diagram of a single channel of the amplifier is Fig. 3(a)-Circuit side of printed circuit board foil patterns for one channel, 2 shown in Fig. 2. With few exceptions, the basic configuration is rather con- ventional. However, each component hhas been selected specifically 10 pre- vent inter-loop transient problems from occurring. In addition, the ci cuit has been designed for a. co trolled open-loop gain and band- width thar are essentially insensitive to frequency variations of the speaker load impedance. The amplificr as presented in Fig. 2 has no protection devices, such as current limiters or VI limiters, as iti felt that these devices represent a compromise in the ulti- mate sound quality which can be achieved. However, the circuit board hhas been designed to accomodate a Vi limiter which will be described in a later article. For home use, this is not recommended unless the amplifier might be subjected to abuse. The basic amplifier consists of two stages of voltage gain, three stages of current gain, a temperature-sensing bias regulator, and a feedback net work, With the exception of the out pput transistors, all transistors have been selected ftom the manufacturer recommended lists published in the current Motorala Semiconductor Master Selector Guide. Thus, they should be easily obtained by’ those who wish to construct the amplifier from scratch. The output transistors are relatively new units which are ‘manufactured by Texas Instruments They are rated at 200 watts and 30 am- peres, and they have the necessary minimum breakdown voltage [BVCEO) of 100 volts. The input stage is @ conventional double-ended differential amplifier which has a gain of about 10 to 12. The complementary transistors QU through Qi in this stage are specitical~ ly recommended by Motorola for low-level, low-noise audio frequency applications, The bias current in these transistors is set at 0.6 mA by the Ze ner diodes D1 and D2 and the emitter bias resistors RUM and R15, Resistors RB AUDIO @ FEBRUARY, 1976through R17 provide local neyative current feedback to linearize the gain ‘characteristics and improve the band width of the input stage. In addition, these resistors, in conjunction with the collector load resistors R12 and R13, set the gain of the inpur stage. The input signal is coupled to the differential amplifiers through a low= pass filter which has a nominal 3-48 cutoff frequency of about 150 kHz When used with a preamplifier with a 10-kOhm output impedance, the cut aff frequeney of this filter will drop to about 50 kHz The differential amplifiers have 1wo ‘outputs which are electrically in phase but have a d.c. voltage of about 45 volts between them. These two out- puls are connected to the second Stuge of voltage gain consisting of transistors Q6 and Q7. These transis: tors are biased at about 4.3 mA, and they provide a push-pull voltage gain fof about 43. The gain of this stage i set by the two emitter resistors R18 Fig. 3(b)—Ground plane side of printed circuit board foil patterns for one channel This layout containg the Vi limiter ‘circuit which will be described later. AUDIO « FEBRUARY, 1976 and R19 and the «wo collector load re Sistors R20 and R21, In addition, resis- tors R18 and R19 provide heavy local negative current feedback for linear- iay and wide bandwith. The second voltage gain stage has two outputs which are electrically in phase but are separated by a d.c. volt age of about 3.45 volts, This dic. volt age is regulated by transistor QS which is connected as a constant volt age regulator. The purpose of Q5 isto provide a constant quiescent bias cur- Fent in the output transistors so that they operate ima true class-AB mode Since the quiescent base-to-emitter junction voltage in the output transis- tors decreases with temperature, it is necessary for a voltage across Q5 10 decrease by the same amount if the bias current in the output transistors i to remain constant as they warm up. under load. The three diodes in the base bias network for QS provide the necessary thermal feedback. They are mounted on the heat sinks with the 8 ooo ae Ory rd r Ca oe hee output transistors so that they will both be in thermal equilibrium. The ‘nominal voltage across QS is given by the equation v -os( This voltage will drop by about 6 mY per degree Celsius as the output tran- sistors warm up under load. This pro- vides essentially perfect thermal regu lation of the bias current in the output transistors and prevents thermal run- away. From an audible point of view, the bias current is not over- ‘compensated for absolute protection from thermal runaway, for this can lead to the production of crossover distortion in the output stage as the amplifier warms up under load. Transistors Q8 through QT. are connected 3s a complementary Dar lingion driver stage. Although Dar lington transistors are available, they cannot match the bandwidth and B18 35thermal stability of the discrete tran: sistors used in’ the Darlington con- figuration. All four of the driver tran: sistors are forced to operate in a true class-A mode since their emitter out- pputs are not connected directly to the speaker output, Since the driver tran. sitors never cut off under load, the driving point impedances seen by the bases of the output transistors remains constant as the output transistors turn off and on in the class-AB mode. Thus, the driving point impedance remains very low during each half cycle of the ‘output voltage swing. This low imped ance aids in draining out the charge stored in the base region of the out- put transistors when they turn off thus speeding up their turn-off time and improving the open-loop band- width of the amplitier 10. PHONO sack. To PwONO scx ShounD FERMINAL Fig. ¢—Circuit board parts lay- out for one channel. View Is from component side of board, 36 The class-A driver stage is similar to fone described by Locanthi [3] in what the author considers one of the true classic transistor amplifier de- signs. This is the JBL "T circuit” which was introduced in 1965, To the aux thor’s knowledge, this amplifier is no longer being manufactured. sim, plified two-transistor version of the “T Circuit” driver is used in certain ampli fiers currently marked by SAE and the Great American Sound Co. The complementary output transis: tors are connected it the emitter fol lower of common collector cone figuration for maximum bandwidth. They operate in a class-AB mode for minimum distortion and minimum power dissipation, In the class-AB mode, both transistors are conducting x ° ‘current during, no oF very small signal inputs, However, as the input signal level increases, one transistor will pro: aressively conduct more and the oth- fr progressively less during. any halt cycle of the signal until the fatter tran. sistor turns off. Thermal stability has traditionally been a problem associ ated with class-AB output stages. However, this problem is completely eliminated in this circuit by the ther mally compensated bias regulator. The regulator will maintain a constant bias current in the output transistors as the heat sinks warm up irom no load to their maximum temperature. This occurs at approximately 40% of the maximum output power. The 0,22-ohm resistors in series with the cmitters of the output transistors serve two purposes, First, they prom OQ - 0 vours Os courecton ais ase 9 oF 9 ewiTTER we a be. ro sreaxen Fuse wouoer MI — R83 AND Clow semies We = 03, 04, AND DS CONNECTIONS me 6 ob- ‘aie emitter Qe aie se ate corcccron QO +50 vorrs AUDIO « FEBRUARY, 1976vide local negative current feedback for linearity. Second, they protect the output transistors from an accidental short ciecuit across the speaker output terminals, For short circuit protection, these resistars must be fused resistors such as those manufactured by Work- The feedback network consists of resistors R33, R34, and R35, and con Lr 4 pacitors C10 and C11. For all audible Frequencies, C11 is a short circuit and C10 is an open circuit. Thus, the am- plier gain is given by oa ® a R35 (9r 26 dB, Below 1 Hz, C11 becomes an open circuit. This reduces the de. gain of the amplifier to unity 10 insure de. stability, Between 150 kHz and 800, WRAP JOINTS (4) WITH SINGLE ‘STRAND FROM NO 20 STRANDED WIRE, SOLDER, AND INSULATE WITH HEAT SHRINK’ TUBING ) 05 03, Z.70 Base oF TRANSISTOR 05 To RESISTOR R24 Fig. 5—Diagram showing proper mounting of the temperature compensating bias diodes on the main heat sinks. HEAT SINK, 4-40 NUT with NOL TRANSISTOR SOCKET Cinsioey POWER TRANSISTOR 4-40 BY 3/% INCH MACHINE SCREW WITH NO-4 WASHER (INSIDE) MICA WASHER COATED WITH HEAT SINK COMPOUND (BOTH SIDES) EXTRUDED TEFLON WASHER MUST fC USED IF SOCKET IS NOT MOULDED TYPE LOCKWASHER Fig. 6—Diagram showing proper mounting for transistors Q12 and Qi3on the main heatsinks. 38 kHz, C10 becomes a short circuit, thus increasing the high-frequency feed- back ratio, This lead compensates the amplifier by increasing the high-fre quency loop gain. By performing the lead compensation in the feedback network, optimum inter-loop tran- sient response is obtained and, simul- taneously, the closed-loop frequency response is rolled off Construction Althrough straightforward, con- struction of the amplifier requires care if itis to be done properly. The Cconstcuction details are broken into two parts, In this section, the circuit board/heat sink assembly is dis cussed; in the following section, the chassis construction details are: presented, Before consteuction Is begun, all parts should be assembled so that the layout can be modified to accommodate any parts which may have different dimensions from those used by the author. The printed cir- uit board is a double-clad board, one side of which Is used as a ground plane for the circuit. Ground-plane construction is standard practice in amplifiers, and it is highly recom= mended for this amplifier. The front and back printed circuit board layouts are shown in Fig. 3. The parts locations ‘on the boards are shown in Fig. 4 Care must be taken when laying out the board to insure that the layouts on both sides align. This is relatively simple since the only areas which ‘must be etched on the ground plane side are circular pads through which the component mounting holes are drilled. Fiest, prepare a negative for the circuit side of the board using standard PC layout techniques. Sec fond, tape a clear sheet of mylar over the component side of this negative. Then place 0.125-inch adhesive cir- cular PC layout pads on the mylar, carefully aligning one over each of the solder pad locations on the nega- tive, There are 12 solder pad locations ‘on each board which should not be covered with the circular pads, Six are Used for connections fram the circuit side of the board to the graund-plane side. The athers locate the mounting. screws for transistors Q10 and QT and the four mounting screws for at- taching the PC board to the heat sink. Alter the mylar sheet is prepared, it an be used “as is" for exposure of the ground plane side of the board. However, it is preferable to make 4 photographic positive (Le. double negative) of the layout to expose the board with To expose the board, first tape the two negatives together along two op- AUDIO « FEBRUARY, 1976posite edges after the two-sided lay ‘out has been carefully aligned. Be sure that the circuit side of each lay- ‘out is on the outside. Otherwise, a mirror image circuit will result. Under dim yellow light, insert a doubie-clad, photosensitized blank board berween the negatives, Next tape the negatives to the board along two opposite edges on both sides of the board. The negatives should now be properly aligned on the board, and it can be ‘exposed one side at a time under ule traviolet light, Ifthe board is develop. ced in a flat pan, care should be taken rot to scratch the fragile photoresist ‘on the bottom surface of the board. The best rule to follow is not to rock the developing tray enough to cause the board to slide, otherwise. the photo-resist wll be scratched. A spray developer or vertical developing tank will eliminate these problems. After the board has been developed, it can (ui a fs Rect 1 chassis GROUND Power Puus Fig. 7—Photograph of the underside of the chassis be etched and cut to size along the crossed lines which locate its tour cor- ners. All. component mounting holes should next be drilled to the proper diameter, Too larye a deill bit will lit the copper solder pads from the board, so care should be exercised, The four mounting serew holes tor the board and the two mounting screw holes for transistors Q10 and QT should be deilled for a 4-40 screw. The next step is to solder the six ‘ground connections on each board. To do this, bend a 5/8-inch length of No. 20 solid wire into a 1/8 by 1 inch Lshape. Insert the wire through a ground hole with the 1/8-inch side against the ground plane. Solder the wire to the ground plane with « 100- watt soldering gun. To prevent the solder from running, do not touch the ground plane with ‘the gun tip, but Fold it against the wire and paraliel 10 the ground plane. While applying ++ 50. (CHANNEL A) +50V (CHANNEL 8) cre I cs Fa 80 V (CHANNEL A 50 V (CHANNEL, 8) FS Fig. B—Circuit diagram of the power supply 40 heat, feed solder to the tip until it fills the gap benween the tip and ground plane, then lit the gun from the board. The resulting solder joint should then be in the form of a cir ccular pad which firmly bonds the wire to the ground plane. The ground wires on the reverse side of the board can now be soldered and clipped. After the ground wires are sol- dered, the boards should be thor ‘oughly cleaned and the ground-plane side sprayed with a good brand of clear laguer (0 prevent corrosion. Be. fore spray painting the boards, cover the four serew mounting holes which are used to attach the boards to the heat sinks with 3/8-inch circular ad- hesive pads to prevent the paint from insulating the areas where the mount- ing screw heads make electrical contact to the ground plane. After the paint is dry, the circuit side of the boards can be plated to prevent cor rosion if desired. If a water-soluble tin-plate solution is used, the temper ature of the solution should not be so high as to cause the painted ground plane surface to peel. The next step is to mount and sol der all components to the boards us- ing Fig. 4 as a reference. Care should be taken to insure that all transistors, diodes, and electrolytic capacitors are mounted exactly as shown in the fig- ure and that no component leads come in contact with the ground plane. It is necessary (0 use mica ‘washers and heat sink compound be- tween transistors Q10 and QT and their heat sinks. These transistors should be secured to the board with 4-40 by 1/2-inch screws, lockwashers, and nuts. The screws should be tight” ened only enough to engage the lock- washers, otherwise the transistors may be damaged. The parallel com- bination of R31 and L1 i formed by tightly winding a length of insulated No. 20solid copper wire around a 27~ ‘ohm, 2-watt resistor and soldering it to the resistor leads. All components should be mounted flush with the board except transistors Q1 through Q9, R29, and R30. These should be mounted 1/4 inch above the board. A TO.5 heat sink should be installed on each of transistors Q6 through Q3. The next step isto prepare the tem- perature compensating diode assem. bilies. These must be mounted in holes drilled in the heat sinks between the power transistors as shown in Fig. 5. The holes should be just large enough for the diodes to fit as snugly as pos- sibte. The diodes can be any generat purpose silicon rectifier diodes with an epoxy (not glass or metal) case. Be- AUDIO « FEBRUARY, 1976fore soldering the diode bias assem- blies toyether, install the diodes in the hholes in the heat sinks, as shown in Fig. 5, and wrap a single strand of wire from No. 20 siranded wire around the leads to hold them together. The diode bias assembly can now be sol- dered together in place. Its very im- portant to insulate all spider junctions with heat shrink tubing 10 prevent them from coming in contact with the grounded heat sinks, The leads from the diodes to the circuit board should be 6 inches long, and they should be twisted tightly together before they are soldered to the board from is cir ‘uitside. These leads should be No. 22, stranded wire, and they should be color coded to indicate the cathode and anode sides of the diode assem. bly, Each power transistor should be in= stalled on the heat sinks using a TO-3 insulating heat sink washer, a TO-3 transistor socket, and two firmly tight ened 4-40 by 3/4.inch screws with lock washers and nuts, If mica insula- tng washers are used, both sides should be liberally coated with heat sink compound, The newer and more efficient silicon rubber washers do. not require a heat sink compound, and they are recommended. If the transistor sockets are not of the mold- ed type, itis very important to insulate the 440 screws fram the heat sinks with extruded Teflon washers. Re- member that the case of the output transistors and their mounting, screws are at the full power supply voltage Therefore, extreme care should be taken to insulate them properly from the heat sinks, The proper mounting, of the output transistors is illustrated in Fig. 6 After the sockets are in- stalled, solder a 6-inch length of No. 20 stranded wire to cach of the three terminals on each socket. These can now be soldered to the correct points fon the circuit side of the board. Be- fore mounting the circuit boards to aw-an Fig. §—Transistor lead connections. 2 the heat sinks, solder a Tésinch length of No. 20stranded wire 10 the speaker output lead and an 8-inch length of No. 20 stranded wire to the +50 volt power supply input and the -50 volt ower supply input on each circuit board. These wires should all connect from the circuit side of the board, 35, do the leads from the diode bias as- semblies and output transistors The circuit boards can now be mounted to the flanged edges of the heat sinks with four 4440 by 3/4-inch screws, four nuts, and eight lock washers (one under each screw head and one under each nut). A 1/2-inch insulating sleeve must be placed on each mounting screw between the circuit board and the heat sink to pro- vide the necessary clearance between the two. The mounting serews should be tightened sufficiently to firmly en- gage the lock washers, for it is through them that the ground con- nection for the circuit boards is made. The Chassis Figure 1 shows the amplifier con- siructed on a7 x 11x 2-inch chassis, The top of the chassis contains the qwo citcuit board heat sink assem. blies, the power transformer, and the two filter capacitors. The rear panel contains the four speaker output ter minals, the phono input jacks, and the feedthrough hole for the a.c. power cord. Although not visible in the fi ure, the front panel contains the 3. power switch and the two speaker fuse holders. The underside of the chassis contains the bridge rectifier, a five-lug terminal strip, he ac. power line fuse clip, and four fuse clips for fusing the d.c. power supply leads to each circuit board. The layout of these components is shown in Fig 7 The first step in assembling the chassis is t0 drill all chassis mounting, holes and mount all components with the exception of the circuit board/heatsink assembles As shown , ee ("slo LON cas cottectoR in Fig. 1, the two heat sinks are mounted 1/2 inch above the chassis fon L-brackets which can be fabricated from 1/té-inch sheet aluminum. The heat sink fins are interleaved 10 con- serve space. In addition, this creates a chimney effect to aid in the cr ulation of air through the heat sink assemblies. For adequate cooling, the heat sinks should not be mounted closer than 1/2 inch to the chassis. In addition, the outer two edges of the heat sinks should not be closer than 1-1/4 inches from the edge of the chassis. This will allow sufficient room to mount the circuit boards on the heat sinks without their components ‘overhanging the edge of the chassis A total of four 3/inch holes should be drilled in the top of the chassis, and rubber grommets in- stalled in them. One hole adjacent 10 the filter capacitors carries the four leads from the power supply to these capacitors. One hole directly above the phono input jacks carries the two signal input leads from the jacks to the circuit boards. One hole centered 1 inch behind each circuit board carries the two power supply leads and speaker output lead for that respec: tive channel, The power supply circuit shown in Fig. uses a single ground point for al high current leads to minimize hum and ground-loop problems. The round point used in Fig. 8 isthe cen, ter ground lug of the terminal strip. To this point are connected the power ransformer secondary center-iap lead, the two filter capacitor ground leads, and the two speaker ground leads. To further minimize ground loop problems, the ground terminal ‘of each phono input jack is isolated from chassis ground by a 2.7-ohm re- sistor. Although insulated phono jacks are available, the phono jacks and 27- ‘ohm resistors for the unit in Fig, Tare mounted on a small printed circuit board behind the rear panel of the chassis. Ground connection to the cir cuit board is made through two of the 4-40 by 1/4inch mounting. screws, fockwashers, and nuts. After driling all mounting, holes in the chassis and installing grommets in the appropriate ones, the power transformer, filter capacitors, phono jacks, speaker output connectors, a power switch, speaker fuse holders, ower supply fuse clips, bridge rectifi- er, and terminal strip should be ‘mounted on the chassis. Lack washers, should be used under all nuts, and the mounting screws should be tightened securely. The chassis is wired with No. 18 and No. 20 stranded wire, Red and AUDIO ¢ FEBRUARY, 1976black color-coded leads are recom- mended to distinguish between the ground and different polarity leads No. 18 wire should be used for all leads to and from the filter capacitors ‘and bridge rectifier. No, 20 wire Should be used for all power supply leads from the fuse clips to the circuit boards and for all speaker leads After the power supply has been wired, the circuit board/heat sink as- semblies can be mounted on the chassis and wired to the power supply fuse clips and the speaker fuse hold ers, The No. 20 wires for these con nections should have already been soldered to the circuit boards. After this is done, the speaker output con- rectors can be wired to the speaker fuse holders and the chassis ground connection an the terminal strip, No. 20 stranded wire should be used for these connections. To make the wire ing neater, the (wo power supply leads to each cireuit board should be twisted together before soldering them in place, as should the two wires to and from each speaker {use holder and the two speaker ground wires ‘Across the speaker output terminals of each channel, a 10-ahm, 2-watt re itor in series with a 0.1 microfarad capacitor should be soldered. These: should be connected and insulated so that It is impossible for the solder junction between the resistor and ¢3- acitor to accidentally come in con- act with @ hot terminal under the chassis, Cable ties are recommended 10 bind the transformer and filter capa citor leads as shown in Fig. 7_In addi- tion, an insulated strain-reliet feed through or a grommet and insulated sirain-relief clamp should be used 10 prevent the ac. power cord from being accidentally’ pulled from the amplifier. This will also insulate the power cord jacket trom the sharp ‘meatal edges of is feedthrough hole, The final step is to connect the Fig, 10—Circuit diagram of the alter nate feedback network “ shielded phono cables from the fied with an ohmmeter, otherwise the phono input jacks to the circuit power transistors may be damaged in boards. These cables should not be the next test Install the two fuses for routed near any speaker oF power the dic, power to one channel, Con- supply lead, otherwise oscillations nectaTekHz signal of amplitude 1 volt ould occur due to mutual coupling rms to the input of that channel and between the leads. The input cables an oscilloscope to its speaker termi should be routed through the chassis nals. Do not connect any other load to hole above the phono jacks, up the the amplifier. With the a.c. power ‘outer edge of the circuit board/heat switch’ "oa, slowly increase: the 3.0 Sink assemblies as shown in Fi 1, and voltage with the Variac until the oute soldered to the rear of the circuit put signal & observed. The signal wil boards. Alter this step i completed, —_niially appear a8 a clipped sine wave all wires connecting tothe rear of the There should be no d.c. voltage on boards should be checked to see tht the speaker terminals, The ac voltage they do not make contact with any should not be increased by more than component on the ground plane side about 10 volts at a time without feel- Of the board. If any ofthese wires pro- ing each transistor in that channel in rude through the boards to the cluding the output transistors. for round plane side, they should be overheating. W any transistor becomes lipped flush withthe board hot to the touch, immediately remove the sc power, forthe circuit contains Initial Turn-On and Adjustments a wiring error or has a defective com- Before any attempr is madeto apply ponent. power to the amplifier, it strongly" It-no transistor overheats, the ac. Fecommiended thatthe entire unit be voltage can be increased to 120 volts checked very catetully for ervars. All. The sine wave output should no long solder joints, ransistor and diode leader appear clipped, and its amplitude Connections, and polarity of elec should be 20 volts rms or about 56 Trolytie capacitors should be checked volts peak-to-peak. The a.c. voltage Specially. Heverything sppearsto be can be reduced to Zera snd the other correct, the init tests can be per channel tested similarly after First dise formed, First, instal the auc. power charging the filler capacitors with a fuse. Do not install the four dic fuses -kOhm reshtor. tothe circut boards a this point Plug _ I the preceeding tests are success- the ac. power card infos Variac autor ful, the Bias potentiometers (R25) can transformer, turn the amplifier on, be adjusted next. With no input signal and slowly inerease the a.c. vohage oF load on either channel, turn the with the Varige while monitoring the amplifier on and decrease R25 until ‘band d.c. outputs ofthe bridge rec- the voltage across QS 345 volts oh Uiier, The two voltayes should have exch channel, A dc, voltmeter with « equal magnitudes, and the polarities floating ground should be used for Should be correct. I both filter ca this adjustment. The voltmeter leads pacitors are polarized correctly, the can be clipped to the heatsinks on Ne, voltage can be increased 10 120 transistors Q6 and Q7, forthe collec Volts. (90 not increase the Variac tors of these transistors are connected hove that value} The positive and across QS. While adjusting R25 for a negative d.c. power supplies should 3.45 volt reading, alternately feel each then read within one of two volts of Output transistor in that channel for 50 volts The ac, power can now be overheating. If either output transis- emoved and the fier capacitors di: tot begins to warm up, that channel Charged by holdinga-KOhm resistor defective or the dic. voltmeter is not tcros the terminals of each until the calibrated correctly. When 825 is, voltage falls zero, properly adjusted, the heat sinks on in the neat test, de. power is ap- which the output transistors are plied to each circuit board individ- mounted will be barely warm to the tally, Before proceeding, adjust po- touch after the amplifier has idled for tentiometer R25 for maximum resit- approximately 30 minutes. ance,ive-5kOhim, Thisshould beverr___An_ alternative adjustment of R25 Table Pants List for power supply and one channel All resistors are 1/4 watt, 5% unless otherwise specified 1-27 ohm R227 KOhm R333 kOhm 4, RS, R6, R7—7 KOM RB, RO, R10, RTI—100 ohm. R12, R13, RI2A, RIA, R16, R17—3.9 KOhm (Continued On Next Page) AUDIO « FEBRUARY, 1976can be made if an intermodulation distortion analyzer is available. (A har~ monic distortion analyzer will not work for this adjustment.) Connect an B-ohm, nonsinductive load to the speaker terminals of one channel. Ad- just the IM test signal level for a 20 volt peak-to-peak output signal across the 8-ohm load as abserved on an a. cilloscope. Slowly decrease R25 while observing the IM level until the per= centage of distortion dips to 2 min. imum. A further decrease in R25 will cause the percentage of distortion to Increase slightly and then dip aysin. The amplifier will be over biased in this condition, and the output transis- tors could be damaged. Therefore, extreme care should be exercised while: making this adjustment. With the IM test signal reduced ta zero, the power transistors should coal aff until the heat sinks are just barely warm. If they stay hot after this adjustment, 2S is not adjusted correctly Alternate Feedback Network ‘The power amplifier as described in the article has been designed under the assumption that the input signal is bandlimited to 40 kHz, 46. it has no. frequency components gutside the open-loop bandwidth. Signal fre- quencies above 40 KH? can lead 10. transient overload of the input stages, and it would be desirable if the ampli- fier did not respond to them. For those who can psychologically accept an amplifier which is 3 di down at 50 kz, an alternate feedback network is presented in Fig. 10. This network converts the amplifier into an active filter above 50 kHz. With it, the input stages are absolutely protected from transient overload and there is no au: ible degradation of the frequency response. This alternate feedback net- work is strongly recommended, The additional components it uses can easily be soldered to the reat of the circuit board. When doing this, care should be taken to prevent them from coming too close to the wiring leads which connect to the collectors. of transistors Q6 and Q7, o References 1. W. M. Leach, “Transient IM Dis- tortion in Power Amplifiers,” Audio, Vol. 59, No. 2, pp. 34-41, February. 1, 2M, Otala and E, Leinonen, “Ex tension of the Theory of Transient In- termodulation Distortion," to be pub: lished, 3. B. N. Locanthi, “Operational Am- plifier Circuit for Hi-Fi,” Electronics World, pp. 39-41, January, 1967, 46 RM, R15, R20, R21—18 KOhm R16, RI9—390 ohm R22, R23—100 ohm, 1/2 watt R243. kOhm R25—5 kOhm trimmer potentiometer, linear taper R26, R27—150 ohm, 1/2 watt R26-—68 ohm, 1/2 watt R29, R30~-0.22 ohm, 5 wat fused R31—27 ohm, 2 watt R32—10 ohm, 2 watt R33—100 Ohm R34—33 kOhm R35—1.6 kOhm C1—390 pF, 100 volt, ceramic capacitor 2,4, Cb, CO—0.1 4, ION valt ceramic capacitor (4, C5100 Jf, 50 vol, electrolytic capacitor C7, CB=10 £, 50 vol, electrolytic capacitor C105 pF, 100 volt, ceramic capacitor C1200 fo 250 #F, 10 volt, electrolytic capacitor C12, C13—9000 1f,'50 vor, electrolytic capacitor Lisee text D1, D2—1NS70A Zener diode, 24 volt 3, D4, D5—1N4002 diode Rett 1—MDA&O2 bridge rectifier (Motorala} Q1, Q2, Q5—2NS210 transistor (Motorola) Q3, Q4—2N5087 transistor (Motorola) 6, Q9—2N5679 transistor (Motorola) QP, Qu—2N5BH1 transistor (Motoroly) Q10=MIE23 transistor (Motorola) QU MIEIS3 transistor (Motorola) Q12—2N6329 transistor (Texas [nstrurments) oF MIBQ2 (Motorola) Q13—2N6331 transistor (Texas Instruments} or MJ4502 (Motorola) Ti=Triad transformer R-828, 70 volts CT, 3.5 amperes (Newark No. 4F451) Fi—Littlefuse 361-3.00 Instrument Fuse (Case BAG) F2, F3, Fé, F5—3 ampere fuse, fast Blow (Case 3AG) F6—3 ampere fuse, slow blow (Case 3AG) ST—SPST 6 ampere switch Miscellaneous (Includes parts for chassis and two channels) 2-4.3/4" 5" double clad circuit beards ‘power cord and power cord strain relief IPN 1" x2” chassis 2—phono jacks with insulated grounds 4—tubber grommets for 3/8” hole (1/419 x 1/2" OD) 2-ted banana-plug speaker binding posts 2—black banana-plug speaker binding posts —No. 6 soldering lugs for speaker binding posts C12 and C13 1—S-lug terminal crip (center lug, ground) 1=No. 6 lockwasher soldering lug for ground on terminal strip 5—chassis-mount fuse clips for 3AG fuses 2—panel-mount fuse clips far BAG fuses, 8-1/2" insulated standoff spacer tor No. 4 screw 4—TO-3 transistor sockets (moulded type preferable) 4—TO-3 transistor insulating wafers (Silicon rubber prelerable) 8=TO-5 transistor finned heat sink coolers 4—Thermalloy 61058 heat sinks for Q10 and QUI 2—Therrmalloy 6423B or Wakeficld 423K heat sinks (each must be drilled for Q12, 913, D3, D4, and Ds) 41x 1/2" x 1-172" L-brackets for mounting heat sinks above chassis Length of shielded phono cable Cable ties Screws: 6-32 x 1/4” machine screws, nuts, and lockwashers 4-40 x 1/4" machine serews, nuts, and lockwashers 4:40 x 1/2" machine screws, nuts, and lockwashers 4-40 x 3/4” machine screws, nuts, and lockwashers Two etched, drilled, and plated printed circuit boards are available for $25 plus $1,00 postage and handling from Flectronics One, P.O. Box 13671, At- lanta, Georgia 30324. These boards have the layout for the VI limiter AUDIO « FEBRUARY, 1976Low TIM Amplifier PART II The low transient IMD (or TIM) am- plifier which has been described [1] did not contain a protection cireuit in order to minimize the complexity as a construction article. A voltage-cur- rent sensing (or VI) limiter has been developed for the protection of the furput stage of this amplifier from overload conditions for load imped- ances less than 4 ohms. in addition, a second protection circuit has been developed which protects the voltage gain stages of the amplifier in the event of a failure in the output stages. The printed circuit foil patterns for this protection circuit were included 6n the circuit board layouts given [1]. The two-stage protection circuit will bbe described in this second part ar- ticle on the amplifier. n addition, sev- eral minor modifications to the circuit will be described which improve its TIM rejection characteristics and which correct some minor errors which appeared in the fist article. Corrections to ‘The Published Circuit ‘The complete circuit diagram of the amplifier with all corrections and the addition of the VI limiter is shown in AUDIO e February 1977Fig. 1. All changes in component val ues are indicated by an asterisk inthe supplemental parts lis. The NPN driver transistor is properly labeled Q10 rather than QUT as was originally published. A change which. should Answer some questions which have arisen is shown in the bias cicuit. The positions of R24, D3, Dé, and 05 in Fig. Tnow correspond to those on the circuit board layout. This change has required 3 modification in the figure for the diode bias mounting diagram. This is given in Fig. 2. Tt has been previously published in a Letter to the Editor that use of the Specified anodized heat sinks could result in an ungrounded circuit board To prevent this, the anodization should be thoroughly scraped or filed away beneath all lockwashers. and ruts used both to attach the circu boards to the heat sinks and those used to attach the mounting L-brack- sto the heat sinks. For proper hum elimination, it necessary to ground the circuit boards to the heat sinks through each of the four mounting screws and to ground the heat sinks through both “mounting L-brackets The use of non-anodized heat sinks will elnate this problem. Modifications to The Published Circuit ‘The modifications to the circuit in- volve the time constants used in the 1—Complete circui input low-pass filter and in the TIM suppressing alternate feedback net- ‘work. R2 should be changed from a 27 kilohm resistor to a 47 kilohm re- ‘istor. This change moves the 3-dB cutoff frequency of the input low-pass filter to 100 kHz from 150 kHz. This helps prevent the application of audible, high-frequency overload sig- rrals which could aggravate charge storage effects in the output stages. ‘The most important modifications which have been made involve the TIM suppressing feedback network. ‘As shown in Fig. 2, the 10 pF lead- compensation capacitor C10 now conneets to the einitter of Q5 rather than to R34, This change was necessi- tated when an amplifier was en- countered which exhibited a marginal stability problem due to mutual cou- pling effects and mutual inductance in the leads which attach the output transistors to. the circuit board. By connecting C10 to the emitter of Q5, the lead compensation is taken from ‘output of the second voltage gain stage, thus bypassing any phase shifts which are encountered by the signal in traversing through the driver and output transistors and their con- necting leads, The second change in the feedback network is in the value ff R-36. This has been changed from 10kilohm to 33 kilohm. The purpose of C4 and R36 is to extend the loop bandwidth of the am- plifer from approximately 38 kHz to approximately 100 kHz. This frequen- {y coincides with the 100 kHz cutoft frequeney of the input low-pas tite. The loop bandwidth of an amplifier that bandwidth experienced by a sig- nal when it propagates from input lo utput-and then back through the feedback network. Without C14 and 36, this would be equal to the open- loop bandwidth which is appro mately 38 kHz. In addition to the im- provement in the loop bandwidth, C14 and R36 serve the function of causing the amplifier to reject in audible high-frequency input signals Which lie above 50 kHz. Itis important to note that the high-frequency over- load rejection is not accomplished by slowing down the amplifier loop re sponse, but by speeding it up. It can be shown by feedback control theory that this is an elegant solution to the transient overload problem in the in- put stages, for ituses the feedback sig- nal sel to cancel out ultrasonic over load signals which lie outside the open-loop bandwidth of the ampli fer. ‘One question which has not been addressed isthe effect ofthe TIM sup- pressing feedback network on the Phase response of the amplifier. The Phase shift is approximately 30° at 50,000 Hz. However, below 20,000 Hz, the phase decreases linearly with fre" ‘quency. This means that the amplifier jagram of one channel showing the modifications to the feedback network and the voltage-current sensing protection circuit. sagt oe “ eae AUDIO e February 197752 exhibits no group delay distortion, for its phase response corresponds (0 a constant time delay of about 4 micro- seconds, That is, all audible fre- ‘quencies propagate through the am- plitier with the same time delay, add- ing in thei proper phase relationships atthe output Itcan be shown that the output im- pedance of any negative feedback amplifier is inductive above its loop bandwidth. This has caused oscillation problems in many amplifiers with ca- pacitive loads, for the inductive out- ut impedance tunes with the capaci- tive load to form a resonant circuit. At best, an amplifier with insufficient loop bandwidth will exhibit severe Finging when driven by @ square wave into a capacitive load, This problem is eH load is a good indicator of how well it is capable of driving dynamic speakers in the frequency range directly above their resonant frequency, electrostatic speakers, and piezoelecttic speakers. Protection Circuit In Fig. 1, transistors Q'4 through Q17 and their associated components form the protection circuit. Protec tion of the output stages is provided by Q14 and Q15, These two transistors are connected so that they sense both the current supplied by the output transistors, Le. the voltage across R29 and R30," and the voltage on the Speaker line. Speaker load imped- ances above 4 ohms will not cause ac- tivation of Q14 or Q15, However, for WRAP JOINTS (4) WITH SINGLE ‘STRAND FROM NO.20 STRANDED WIRE, SOLDER AND INSULATE WITH HEAT SHRINK TUBING. ps VA. To COLLECTOR OF TO RESISTOR R24 TRANSISTOR 05. Fig. 2—Diagram showing mounting of the temperature compensating bias diodes on the main heat sit eliminated in the circuit of Fig. 1 by the combination of an open-loop bandwidth of approximately twice that of the audible spectrum, the in- put low-pass filter, and the TIM-sup- pressing feedback’ network. The am- plitier will drive a2 microfarad capaci- tor for a load with essentially no ring- ing with square-wave signals. This makes L1 and R31 unnecessary in their usual function of preventing os- 360. oha Wicewund teceanguiee resistors son, f24 = U1 kobe ‘Digickey 00336-3) RSD, ASE = 3.3 ohm 2 fle (apiceey 3.362) petal oxide wiscetTancous tie #22 sola insulated vite wound tishtly around 850 and soldered 0 tht esas SESS CEST they emerge fron the resistor body, vse 10 turns oF nove teat stoke for O16 and C17 are Aavid S741B (DlgieKey WSITI). Meat sink for ‘Sle teeough @21 te Uokefseld 423K, drilled on drSit press fros sade on Se rae Sioce moune. Use 1/4 grtii bie for 4 poles per teonssstor, SHELSES"eNoagn bs nowe in & notes eriited in center of heat siok: Los 2H A ADOLIFTER POuER SUPPLY a st Poser Th ~ HEP Torotdal Transformer TAOLB for oc $2 vale and epproxtnately 100 tatesfchannel or SAD26 for Uoc~ $9 Volts sod approximately 120 wtte/ (hishels These cranatorsers sve available from active Eleccrenics, bor fox $100, Vereboroush, Mase O1S81, teleptone [-800-343-0876 oot~ Slee Mavs. only, Thess trancforners have two Hecondary windings for f tocel number of secondary output lead vires sf four. Ivo of cheve Connect 20 the SeLége rectifier (RECT 1) an8 the other evo connect te ith the vindings comnested correzcly, the AC sige recedfler utowt Leads vill be about 34 voles ‘Shout £3 volts roe for the 84026, Math the wind= tae for the TACLE Ehge conneceee Snecerecely, che voleages will spprosinately cencel. RECT 1 = 200 Yolk 25 hnp Beidee Rectstter (Digi-Key BA252-N0) 2 - Haltoy cEsL20075EF, 12,000 EAD 25 Vols Ehactosiytke Creator oF Fyutvalent ‘Ac eviten rated at 15 amperes or greater {6 anpere slow blow fuse (use 8 ampere £f fust blows on turn-ond) #2, #3, 4, FS = 5 anpere fase blow fuses C5P — 0.1 ues 250 volt eapaciter (Digi-Key E2104)