F6 Amplifier

Official Court Jester
Joined 2003
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.... just as example

boyz , stay on topic , please :clown:
 

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Sure, the input stage could be something other than a complementary follower, but I think there are good reasons for that choice. The input stage needs to have a fairly low output impedance, because of the load imposed by the transformer, which is about 100R at 20Hz and 200R at 40Hz. This suggests a complementary follower stage rather than common drain. Sure, an opamp could be used and would provide the benefit of more voltage gain. But that would lead us off of the Pass Path.

in my opinion gain is not needed and the jfet follower the F6 has just passes the signal on in two directions, enough (like 0 dB - 700 mV RMS while the transformer and the input buffer can go up to +20 dB) to saturate the output stages far above the 2,4V max and deliver linear behavior.
So this is the Pure Pass Policy: keep it simple.
The input config (jfet follower or like Jensen shows in its appl notes with an opamp) is trivial.
 
OPA1632 is SUSY chip - diff in , diff out

it demands pretty lowish impedance feedback net, and it's having low output impedance

I was using it connected to sec of Beyerdynamic 1:10 mic xformer ; xformer ditto on outputs of two (diff connected ) PCM1704 , then feedback net defining reflected impedance back to chips , to have linear freq through audio band

driving xformer with small bridge power amp , to drive output of small power amp ........

........ may I laugh ..... just a little ?

:clown:
Absolutely ZM; please do; it'll lower your blood pressure. Did you slip above and call Conceptual F6 a small power amp [bolded]; how big?:). That's the trick. Make ZM laugh and hell reward you with free info.
 
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Official Court Jester
Joined 2003
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well - if you need some gain , you can really put it instead of buffer and make nice integrated , with ball input
you can then connect two primaries in symmetrical manner , with overall FB connected from their CT to gnd (need to check that on paper , but seems logical in this moment :rofl: )

but - do not forget that 1632 (and TSHA cousins ) like lowish impedance NFB net , resulting in lowish input impedance ; you need ball$ to drive it , too
 
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Official Court Jester
Joined 2003
Paid Member
A....... Did you slip above and call Conceptual F6 a small power amp [bolded]; how big?:).......

certainly

with usual FW PSU it can't be big - 25W/8 and 50W/4

Pa mentioned scaling ....... I think at least up to 3 pairs can be driven easily , with good results ; PSU voltage of OS can be at least double

so - 100W/8 is easily obtainable
 
well - if you need some gain , you can really put it instead of buffer and make nice integrated , with ball input
you can then connect two primaries in symmetrical manner , with overall FB connected from their CT to gnd (need to check that on paper , but seems logical in this moment :rofl: )

but - do not forget that 1632 (and TSHA cousins ) like lowish impedance NFB net , resulting in lowish input impedance ; you need ball$ to drive it , too

And, if you float the power supplies you will get 2nd harmonic cancellation.
 
I'm anxious to know what early builders think about it and how it compares to the F5.
Our best source is Mr. Pass [earliest builder] who knows F5 and has been listening to F6. It is best to hear from him because he has the reference amps, loudspeakers and the experimental protocol to do a non-biased A/B comparison. Otherwise we may get conflicting reports!
 
You do not need an opamp for balanced operation. Something this should also work and with floating power supplies will have 2nd harmonic cancellation. See also post #1055.



well - if you need some gain , you can really put it instead of buffer and make nice integrated , with ball input
you can then connect two primaries in symmetrical manner , with overall FB connected from their CT to gnd (need to check that on paper , but seems logical in this moment :rofl: )

but - do not forget that 1632 (and TSHA cousins ) like lowish impedance NFB net , resulting in lowish input impedance ; you need ball$ to drive it , too
 

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PC Board

I intend to order a prototype build of my PC board today. People who respond quickly can get added to the order. The cost will be about $30US per board plus shipping. Be warned that being a prototype board there could be design errors.
 

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You do not need an opamp for balanced operation. Something this should also work and with floating power supplies will have 2nd harmonic cancellation. See also post #1055.
lhquam: You've thought "outside the box" of Conceptual F6. Your attached schematic is solely your design; most probably infused with inspiration by Conceptual F6. You have been free to explore, experiment and thus create a prototype bridge amplifier.
 
Yes, and no. One you float the power supplies, you might as well go all the way to the circlotron. The only difference is the position of the negative rail power supply relative to the lower output JFET (ie. swap the order). Once you have done this, you can avoid the transformer altogether using the "Amazing FET Circlotron" front end.

lhquam: You've thought "outside the box" of Conceptual F6. Your attached schematic is solely your design; most probably infused with inspiration by Conceptual F6. You have been free to explore, experiment and thus create a prototype bridge amplifier.