Academic Journal of Science and Technology

ISSN: 2771-3032 | Vol. 11, No. 1, 2024

A Low Frequency Power Amplifier Design Based on

Output CapacitorLess Circuit
Xijie Ding1, Juan Huang1, Zuoli Zhang2, *, Yisen Yu2
1 Important Customers Center, China Mobile Group Zhejiang Co., Ltd. Wenzhou Branch, Wenzhou, 325003, China
2 School of Intelligent Manufacturing, Wenzhou Polytechnic, Wenzhou, 325035, China
* Corresponding author: Zuo-li Zhang (Email: [email protected])

Abstract: This low-frequency power amplifier utilizes the AT89S51 microcontroller as the main control chip. The system can
be divided into several modules: power amplification circuit module, pre-amplification module, band-stop filtering module,
protection circuit module, volume control module, power supply voltage, AC voltage, and AC current testing module, A/D
conversion module, power module, and single-chip microcomputer subsystem control module. We chose class AB audio power
amplifiers. To ensure circuit stability and higher fidelity, we selected the TDA2030 integrated chip to build the OCL power
amplifier circuit, preventing efficiency from being too low. Through the control of single-chip microcomputer subsystem, it can
measure and display output power, the supply power of the DC power source, and overall efficiency. This system utilizes
electronic switches connected with band-stop filters, with the band-stop frequency ranging from 40～60Hz.

Keywords: Power; amplification; TDA2030; AT89S51.

In the 1980s, digital amplifiers emerged as the favorite of a

1. Introduction new generation. As we are now in the information age,
Audio power amplifiers constitute a mature field in coupled with technical training and guidance from major
technology, where relentless efforts have been made over brands, the installation technical level in large cities does not
decades, resulting in significant progress in circuit technology, differ much, but there are not many high-level installers. The
components, and conceptual understanding. Reflecting on the vast majority only stay at the basic installation level, merely
developmental journey of power amplifiers can be intriguing learning many superficial decoration techniques, without
for audio enthusiasts[1][2]. focusing on sound quality and sound field, deviating from the
The history of audio technology can be divided into four ultimate goal of audio[4].
stages: tubes, transistors, integrated circuits, and field-effect
transistors. In 1906, American Lee De Forest invented the 2. Comparisons and Selection of Power
vacuum triode, marking the inception of human Amplifiers
electroacoustic technology. In 1927, the Bell Labs introduced
negative feedback technology, propelling audio technology 2.1. Class A Audio Power Amplifiers
into a new era. Representative amplifiers such as the Class A audio power amplifiers operate in a good linear
"Williamson" amplifier successfully employed negative state and do not produce switch distortion or crossover
feedback technology, significantly reducing distortion. By the distortion, as long as biasing and dynamic range control are
1950s, the development of vacuum tube amplifiers had properly managed. From a distortion perspective alone, they
reached its peak, with various tube amplifiers emerging[3]. represent a high-quality amplification circuit[5]. However,
The sweet and mellow sound of vacuum tube amplifiers still Class A amplification circuits have relatively low efficiency,
remains favored by audiophiles. typically around 30% in practical operation. Especially
The advent of transistors in the 1960s opened up a broader noteworthy is the significant heat generated by the output
soundscape for audio enthusiasts. Transistor amplifiers transistors serving as Class A power amplifiers. Moreover,
offered delicate and captivating sound, lower distortion, they have high requirements for stability, circuit design, and
wider frequency response, and dynamic range. In the early operational feasibility.
1960s, the United States introduced a new member in audio
technology—integrated circuits. By the early 1970s, 2.2. Class B Audio Power Amplifiers
integrated circuits gradually gained recognition in the audio Class B audio power amplifier circuits have a static
industry for their high quality, affordability, compact size, and operating current set near zero at the transistor base current.
versatile functions. Till now, thick-film audio integrated When there is an excitation signal, only one branch conducts,
circuits and operational amplifier integrated circuits are resulting in relatively high efficiency. However, these
widely used in audio circuits. amplifiers suffer from high crossover distortion, making it
In the mid-1970s, Japan produced the first field-effect challenging to meet the requirements. Therefore, this
power transistor. Due to its characteristics of pure and sweet approach is abandoned.
sound akin to vacuum tubes, as well as a dynamic range of up
to 90dB and THD<0.01% (at 100kHz), field-effect transistors 2.3. Class AB Audio Power Amplifiers
quickly gained popularity in the audio world. Many Class AB Audio Power Amplifiers can be considered as a
amplifiers today utilizes field-effect transistors as final stage combination of Class A and Class B audio power
outputs. amplifiers[6]. Their static operating current lies between

169
Class A and Class B, with relatively low operating current and simple, making it easy to use and affordably priced. It offers
high efficiency. Even with small signal inputs, they maintain high output power with relatively comprehensive protection
high efficiency. In this type of amplifier, when the output level features. However, due to the high voltage and output current
is below the set value, the output power transistors operate in requirements of high-power integrated blocks, careless
a slightly conducting state, resulting in very low crossover handling during use can often lead to damage. Nevertheless,
distortion. the TDA2030 integrated circuit incorporates a relatively
sophisticated protection circuit. It automatically reduces
2.4. Class D Audio Power Amplifiers current or shuts down in case of excessive output current or
Class D audio power amplifiers are a type of switch-mode overheating, ensuring its own protection.
audio power amplifier where the output power transistors The power supply voltage ranges from±6~±18V. It delivers
operate in a switching state, greatly reducing power high output current with minimal harmonic distortion and
consumption and significantly increasing efficiency. crossover distortion(±14V/4Ω，THD=0.5%).
However, to control distortion rate, the circuit's sampling
It can be connected in either single-supply or dual-supply
frequency needs to be relatively high, which inevitably results
configurations. Here, we have chosen the dual-supply
in some electromagnetic radiation, potentially interfering
configuration. The circuit schematic is illustrated in Figure 1
with other electronic devices. If fidelity is a primary concern,
as shown.
at least four inductors are required in the LC filter, which
increases costs[1].
In comprehensive comparison, considering factors such as
circuit stability, efficiency, distortion rate, and cost, we
choose Solution Three.
Since the input voltage is only 0~5mV, we place the
electronic switch and volume control module after the small
signal amplification. Recognizing the potential interference
between power sources, each module has an independent
power supply. The OCL circuit uses ±15V power supply, the
volume control module uses ±12V power supply, and the
single-chip microcomputer subsystem uses a 5V power
supply. As the speaker is directly connected to the power
amplifier circuit output, a protection circuit is needed to
prevent speaker damage.
Figure 1. OCL circuit
3. Theoretical Analysis and
Calculations Pin 1 of the TDA2030 is the inverting input. Capacitor C1
serves as the coupling capacitor. If the audio signal input from
3.1. Selection and analysis of power the previous stage has no DC component, C1 can be omitted
amplification circuits to improve low-frequency response. R3 is the biasing resistor,
3.1.1. OTL Circuit typically chosen to be several tens of ohms. If the resistance
When the DC operating voltage is relatively high, the OTL value is too small, it will reduce the input resistance value of
circuit can achieve a large output power with high efficiency. the amplifier.
However, since only one power supply is used, a coupling Pins 5 and 3 are respectively the positive and negative
capacitor needs to be connected at the output end of the circuit. power supply terminals. If the power supply leads to the
This limits the bandwidth, making it unsuitable for our amplifier are relatively long, filter capacitors must be
requirements. Therefore, this approach is abandoned. connected near pins 5 and 3 to eliminate self-excitation
caused by coupling due to the resistance of the power supply
3.1.2. Full Symmetrical OCL Circuit
leads. This is known as decoupling. Capacitors C3, C4, C5,
The OCL circuit, without output capacitors, utilizes direct
and C6 in the diagram serve this purpose.
coupling between the amplifier and the speaker, resulting in
Large-capacity capacitors are used for low-frequency
excellent low-frequency characteristics. This form of power
decoupling. However, due to the presence of inherent
amplifier circuit connects the differential input amplification,
inductance in large-capacity capacitors, they are unable to
excitation, and power amplification in a complementary
effectively decouple high frequencies. Therefore, it is
symmetrical manner, fully utilizing the advantages of
common practice to parallel small-capacity capacitors with
complementary transistor operation. It improves the open-
large-capacity ones to decouple high frequencies. Small-
loop performance, has good transient response, makes the
capacity capacitors have minimal inherent inductance,
circuit more stable, better reduces harmonic distortion, and
making them more effective at decoupling high frequencies.
can also prevent high-frequency self-oscillation. However,
Pin 2 serves as the inverting input terminal, forming a
due to the difficulty in sourcing dedicated field-effect
mixed AC-DC negative feedback circuit here. This
transistors for amplification and the challenging debugging
configuration stabilizes the static operating point, ensuring
process, we have also decided to abandon this approach.
that the DC voltage at the output remains stable around 0V.
3.1.3. TDA2030 Integrated Circuit OCL Power Amplifier The output signal is derived from a voltage divider circuit
Circuit consisting of R2 and R1. A small portion of the output signal
The TDA2030 is an excellent power amplification is fed back to pin 2, forming a closed-loop amplifier. The gain
integrated circuit known for its high slew rate and low of the amplifier is determined by the ratio of the resistance
transient intermodulation distortion. Its peripheral circuitry is values of R2 and R1.

170
 Pin 4 serves as the signal output after audio amplification, becomes an in-phase proportional operation circuit, and we
which can be directly connected to the speaker for sound can find the resulting output voltage uo2 for:
reproduction. D1 and D2 are output protection diodes used to
eliminate excessive peak voltages. Since the speaker is an Rf
inductive component, it generates momentary peak pulses (1  )  R f  u12
when the current changes abruptly. Rf R1 (2)
uo 2  (1  )u p 
R4 and C7 form a high-frequency RC absorption circuit. R1 R1/  R /f
Due to the high gain of the integrated power amplifier and
potential coupling interference resulting from improper
circuit design, it is easy to generate high-frequency self- The total voltage is:
excitation. When high-frequency self-excitation occurs, it can
lead to electromagnetic radiation interference, exacerbating Rf
the self-excitation and causing the power amplifier IC to (1  )  R /f  u12
 R f  u11 R1 (3)
overheat and burn out. The high-frequency self-excitation u 0  u 01  u 02  
generates ultrasonic waves, which are imperceptible to the R1 R1/  R /f
human ear. C7 is used for high-frequency bypassing, while
R4 serves as a damping resistor to dissipate the energy of the
R1  R1/ , R f  R f
/
high-frequency self-excitation (ideally, capacitors do not When ,then:
dissipate energy in theory), preventing vicious cycles of self-
excitation. (u12  u11 ) R f
If the capacitance of C7 is chosen to be too large, it will u0  (4)
cause the frequency response of the amplifier's high- R1
frequency end to decrease. The capacitance value shown in Therefore, we have:
the diagram is the recommended value.
uo
For the differential input operational amplifier circuit, end io  (5)
current measurement we can find: Suppose u11 acts alone Rl
while u12=0 . In this case, the circuit is equivalent to an
inverting proportional operation circuit. We can obtain the 3.2. Bandstop filter module
output voltage uo1 produced by u11 as: An active bandstop filter circuit is composed of a low-pass
filter, a high-pass filter, and an in-phase proportional circuit.
 R f  u11 This circuit is slightly more complex than the passive
uo1  (1)
bandstop filter circuit, but it is easy to debug and accurate.
R1
Therefore, we choose the active bandstop filter circuit. The
specific circuit schematic is shown in Figure 2.
Let's suppose when acting alone,u11=0, Then, the circuit

Figure 2. Active bandstop filter circuit

3.3. Protection Circuit Module signal. After amplification, the relay is activated to disconnect
the speaker circuit.
Since the speaker is directly connected to the output
terminal of the power amplifier circuit, the output transistors 3.4. Preamplifier Circuit
can be damaged due to high current flow in case of strong Since the output signal amplitude of general signal sources
signal input or output load short-circuit. Moreover, the is small, typically with gains of only a few tens of dB, it is
speaker may not withstand the impact of high currents during difficult to achieve significant power output from power
strong signal input, power on, or power off. Therefore, a amplifiers. Therefore, it is necessary to add one or even
short-circuit protection circuit must be set up. The circuit multiple stages of voltage amplification circuits before the
consists of two parts: overload detection and amplification power amplifier to amplify the small signal from the signal
circuit, as well as relay. When the amplifier output is source to the level required by the power amplifier. These
overloaded or the midpoint potential deviates significantly types of amplifiers are called preamplifiers.
from zero, the overload detection circuit outputs an overload

171
3.4.1. Using OP07 Operational Amplifier electronic switches and volume, and to perform parameter
This circuit has a simple structure, high input impedance, testing and various displays. Compared with similar graphic
and adjustable gain. However, its common-mode rejection dot matrix LCD display modules, the LCD display composed
ratio is relatively small, reaching only 104 in actual testing. of ST7920 is much simpler in both hardware circuit structure
Therefore, we are abandoning this option. and display program. Moreover, the price of this module is
3.4.2. Using OPA227 Operational Amplifier slightly lower than that of the same dot matrix graphic LCD
The circuit schematic is shown in Figure 3. The advantages module. Therefore, we choose to use ST7920 as the display
of this circuit are high input impedance, large common-mode module.
rejection ratio, low total harmonic distortion (THD), very fast
slew rate, and low noise. It can meet the requirements of the 4. System Testing and Analysis
task, hence this option is chosen. 4.1. Testing Equipment and Models
Dual Channel AC Millivoltmeter (Model: AS2294B)
Digital Multimeter (Model: DT9205M)
Oscilloscope (Model: GPS-620)
Signal Generator (Model: ZQ1630)
4.2. Testing Method and Test Data
Testing was conducted using a 1 kHz sine wave signal and
a sampling resistor of 0.44Ω. The measurement results are
shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Parameter test display table

Sampling Total Power supply
Number
voltage/V voltage/V power/W
1 0.05 20.5 2.10
Figure 3. Preamplifier circuit 2 0.08 19.8 3.65
3 0.10 20.1 4.7
3.5. Volume Control Circuit 4 0.15 29.8 11.2
Volume control refers to controlling the size of the signal
transmitted from the pre-amplifier circuit to the power 4.3. System Debugging
amplifier circuit, thereby controlling the volume of the The hardware debugging mainly focuses on the pre-
reproduced sound. Generally, there are two main types of amplification module, volume control module, and OCL
volume control circuits: attenuator volume control circuits power amplifier circuit module, while the power supply
and electronic volume control circuits. Since we have created circuit is relatively simple. The power supply can be divided
an electronic switch module, we choose the electronic volume into three parts: providing 5V power supply for the single-
control circuit here. The characteristics of this circuit are low chip microcomputer, providing ±15V power supply for the
power consumption, low distortion, volume control via OCL power amplifier circuit, and providing ±12V power
buttons, overcoming the shortcomings of traditional supply for other modules. We can directly judge the status of
potentiometers such as short lifespan and high noise. the power supply circuit by the LED lights. If the LED lights
are emitting light normally, it indicates that the power supply
3.6. A/D conversion module
circuit is working properly.
3.6.1. Using AD0809 as the A/D Converter The OCL power amplifier circuit is the core part of this
The ADC0809 is a CMOS integrated circuit and belongs to system. After soldering the circuit board according to the
the successive approximation type of converter with an 8-bit schematic diagram and fixing the heat sink on the TDA2030
resolution. It has tri-state output latches at the data output integrated chip, connect it to the ±15V power supply. Firstly,
terminal, enabling direct connection to the single-chip test the output terminal voltage. If it is 0V, the circuit is
microcomputer's data bus. With 8 channels, it directly normal; otherwise, the circuit needs to be checked again. Then,
connects to 8 analog signals for conversion. However, the we input a sine wave signal into the circuit and measure the
wiring between the ADC0809 and the single-chip waveform at the output terminal with an oscilloscope. If it is
microcomputer is relatively complex, and its precision in an amplified sine wave, the circuit is normal. Next, we use an
collecting various signals is not sufficiently high. MP3 player to input a signal and listen to its sound quality to
3.6.2. Using TLC2543 as the A/D Converter further refine the circuit.
The TLC2543 has the advantages of the ADC0809, and it Connect the pre-amplification circuit and perform the
has 11 channels, allowing conversion of 11 analog signals. It above operation again. If the same result is obtained, it
has a higher precision in collecting various signals and its indicates that the circuit is also normal. During this operation,
connection to the single-chip microcomputer is relatively we accidentally connected the signal line to the ground wire,
simple. Therefore, we choose the TLC2543 as the A/D resulting in no signal output in the end. The reason was found
conversion module. after careful inspection.
After the above circuit tests are completed without any
3.7. Microcontroller Small System Modules abnormalities, we connect the volume control circuit and the
Using AT89S51 as the main control chip, with 5 electronic switch module to the circuit for testing. We also use
independent buttons and a liquid crystal display module the waveform changes to judge whether the circuit is normal.
connected externally, the main function is to control After inputting a sine wave, connect the oscilloscope to the

172
output terminal, and then control the buttons to observe Province Industry University Cooperation Collaborative
whether there is a change in the waveform amplitude. If there Education Project (Grant No. 323), in part by Wenzhou
is a normal change, then this circuit is also normal. Science and Technology Commissioner Project(Grant No.
X2023012), in part by the first batch of teaching innovation
5. Conclusion teams for teachers in higher vocational colleges in Wenzhou
(Grant No. 1).
This system has successfully completed all the contents
included in the project, with a relatively simple design and References
good overall performance. In this design, we have also gained
a lot, such as the importance of combining software and [1] S. M. Mei, Y. H. Hu, H. Xu, and H. Q. Wen, "The Class D
hardware. Simple theoretical knowledge is far from enough Audio Power Amplifier: A Review," Electronics, 11 no. 19:
for us. We must connect it with practice in order to better 3244, 2022.
consolidate our professional knowledge and cultivate [2] N. Utomo et al., "An 85.1% Peak Efficiency, Low Power Class
independence in solving various problems encountered in H Audio Amplifier With Full Class H Operation," in IEEE
practice. This design has a lot of content and is somewhat Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers, vol.
difficult, but my gains have also been richer. For example, it 70, no. 12, pp. 4692-4704, Dec. 2023.
has made me more familiar with the working environment of [3] G. Homayouni, M. Khoshsaligheh, Masood,"Audio
AD16 and more proficient in wiring and layout operations; Description Technology: Enhancing Communication of
There has been a certain improvement in the theoretical Culture-Bound Elements in Films," Journal of Business,
analysis and design of circuits; I have gained a deeper Communication & Technology, 66-84, 2024.
understanding of the application of instruments such as [4] N. Sowa, X. M. Zeng, "Factors Associated with Reliance on
oscilloscopes and signal generators as I design them, and I am Audio-Only Technology (Telephone) for Completion of
proficient in operating them. Of course, we also encountered Telepsychiatry Visits," Telemedicine and e-Health, vol.30, no.
many difficulties in this process, such as the circuit not 4, 2023.
achieving the expected results during debugging, and [5] T. Yesufu, "Development of an Audio Power Amplifier for the
sometimes even not working properly. However, after team Management of Speaking Activities," International Journal of
discussions and our own continuous thinking and inspection, Scientific and Engineering Research, 8, pp. 1516 -1521, 2017.
we can always find a solution and the design will not be [6] V. Puidokas, A. J. Marcinkevičius, "Analysis of Digital audio
interrupted. D-class Power Amplifiers Characteristics," Elektronika ir
Elektrotechnika, 41-44, 2010.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported in part by 2023 Zhejiang

173