Upgrading Transistors for Low Power Amp

PTL60 · 4th February 2002, 09:47 PM

I have a low power amp that uses BD140 (PNP) transistors. I recently replaced them with NTE185's which is the NTE equivalent to the BD140's.

Does anyone know if there are some better transistors that I can use in place of the BD140's? The NTE185's are the same,so there wasn't any improvement.

It would be interesting to swap out different transistors to see if I can get better performance from the amp. The BD140 has a TO-126 case. Thanks for any help.

PTL60 · 5th February 2002, 04:52 PM

I guess this question was a waste of my time.

Geoff · 5th February 2002, 05:13 PM

PTL60

I don't know whether you expect there to be people sitting around waiting to answer your questions, but to post this sort of comment only 19 hours after your initial query is just not on.

Geoff

jam · 5th February 2002, 05:49 PM

Geoff,

Sorry I took a while to get to your question but you could try a 2SA1261. It has a slightly larger case style but should work. If space is not a premium there are a bunch of TO-220 case style devices that could work.
In what part of the circuit is the device uesd in? Maybe a schematic would help.

Jam

Geoff · 5th February 2002, 07:49 PM

Jam

Thanks for the reply, but it wasn't my query. I think I can sort out my own substitutes by now :-)

Geoff

jam · 6th February 2002, 02:22 AM

Geoff,

Sorry. I ment to say PTL60.

Jam

P.S. How is the Hiraga 'Monster' translation coming along?

Geoff · 6th February 2002, 02:41 AM

Jam

This is very 'off topic' but what the hell. I'm sorry to say that the remaining translations are on hold at the moment. I have had very little interest shown in the Hiraga articles, much to my surprise, and at present my priorities must be to find some gainful employment and to answer the many emails I receive about other designs on my website. I do have some rough, machine generated, translations of the outstanding Hiraga articles and I have sent these out to the couple of people who have contacted me about them.

Geoff

PassFan · 6th February 2002, 05:21 AM

Ptl60:
It's not as simple as dropping a new transistor in. There are many variables and plenty of math involved. Perhaps some research through many cross reference manuals. If you have a little patience these guys will get around to it. I have seen them engineer whole projects for people. Just realize it takes time, there is no instant gratification with diy audio.

hugobross · 6th February 2002, 09:18 AM

PTL60,

indeed it's not that simple to improve the results of an amp. What do you expect your amp will do better after some improvement? Less distortion? More power??
Maybe you can post the schematic of your amp here, then some people are able to help you.

Best regards,

HB

PTL60 · 6th February 2002, 09:05 PM

To all DIYAUDIO Members,

I have to apologize for being rude and not having enough patience for someone to answer my question. I guess I'm used to other kinds of boards where people answer more quickly. I realize now that this is a more serious message board/forum and it can take longer to answer technical questions. Man,I must have been in a nasty mood the last couple of days; so again,I'm sorry for being a jerk.

Anyway; The circuit in question is actually inside the Creek OBH-11SE Headphone Amp. I'm always curious what's inside these amps,so I took a look,and they use 4 BD140 transistors for the ouput stage. So,since I had to take off one of the heatsinks to see the number on the transistor,I accidently broke 2 of the transistor legs. I just figured then that I would just replace all 4 and found the NTE185(PNP) which were equivalents to the BD140's.

Suprisingly to my ears these replacements actually sounded somewhat better,or maybe not much at all.

I have basic electronics knowledge and have built a few kits over the years,but I don't have the technical knowledge to design circuits. So,I figured you guys might be able to help,and you have so far. I don't have a schematic for this and I don't think one is available,since it is not a DIY kit.

I thought maybe there were other transistors that could be used in this amp that would possibly give me more output gain or overall sound quality.

Thanks again for any help.

4th February 2002, 09:47 PM	#1
PTL60 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2002	Upgrading Transistors for Low Power Amp I have a low power amp that uses BD140 (PNP) transistors. I recently replaced them with NTE185's which is the NTE equivalent to the BD140's. Does anyone know if there are some better transistors that I can use in place of the BD140's? The NTE185's are the same,so there wasn't any improvement. It would be interesting to swap out different transistors to see if I can get better performance from the amp. The BD140 has a TO-126 case. Thanks for any help.

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5th February 2002, 04:52 PM	#2
PTL60 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2002	I guess this question was a waste of my time.

5th February 2002, 05:13 PM	#3
Geoff diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: UK	PTL60 I don't know whether you expect there to be people sitting around waiting to answer your questions, but to post this sort of comment only 19 hours after your initial query is just not on. Geoff

5th February 2002, 05:49 PM	#4
jam diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: Charlotte,NC,USA	Geoff, Sorry I took a while to get to your question but you could try a 2SA1261. It has a slightly larger case style but should work. If space is not a premium there are a bunch of TO-220 case style devices that could work. In what part of the circuit is the device uesd in? Maybe a schematic would help. Jam

5th February 2002, 07:49 PM	#5
Geoff diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: UK	Jam Thanks for the reply, but it wasn't my query. I think I can sort out my own substitutes by now :-) Geoff

6th February 2002, 02:22 AM	#6
jam diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: Charlotte,NC,USA	Geoff, Sorry. I ment to say PTL60. Jam P.S. How is the Hiraga 'Monster' translation coming along?

6th February 2002, 02:41 AM	#7
Geoff diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: UK	Jam This is very 'off topic' but what the hell. I'm sorry to say that the remaining translations are on hold at the moment. I have had very little interest shown in the Hiraga articles, much to my surprise, and at present my priorities must be to find some gainful employment and to answer the many emails I receive about other designs on my website. I do have some rough, machine generated, translations of the outstanding Hiraga articles and I have sent these out to the couple of people who have contacted me about them. Geoff

6th February 2002, 05:21 AM	#8
PassFan diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Central FL	Ptl60: It's not as simple as dropping a new transistor in. There are many variables and plenty of math involved. Perhaps some research through many cross reference manuals. If you have a little patience these guys will get around to it. I have seen them engineer whole projects for people. Just realize it takes time, there is no instant gratification with diy audio.

6th February 2002, 09:18 AM	#9
hugobross diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Flanders, Belgium	PTL60, indeed it's not that simple to improve the results of an amp. What do you expect your amp will do better after some improvement? Less distortion? More power?? Maybe you can post the schematic of your amp here, then some people are able to help you. Best regards, HB

6th February 2002, 09:05 PM	#10
PTL60 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2002	To all DIYAUDIO Members, I have to apologize for being rude and not having enough patience for someone to answer my question. I guess I'm used to other kinds of boards where people answer more quickly. I realize now that this is a more serious message board/forum and it can take longer to answer technical questions. Man,I must have been in a nasty mood the last couple of days; so again,I'm sorry for being a jerk. Anyway; The circuit in question is actually inside the Creek OBH-11SE Headphone Amp. I'm always curious what's inside these amps,so I took a look,and they use 4 BD140 transistors for the ouput stage. So,since I had to take off one of the heatsinks to see the number on the transistor,I accidently broke 2 of the transistor legs. I just figured then that I would just replace all 4 and found the NTE185(PNP) which were equivalents to the BD140's. Suprisingly to my ears these replacements actually sounded somewhat better,or maybe not much at all. I have basic electronics knowledge and have built a few kits over the years,but I don't have the technical knowledge to design circuits. So,I figured you guys might be able to help,and you have so far. I don't have a schematic for this and I don't think one is available,since it is not a DIY kit. I thought maybe there were other transistors that could be used in this amp that would possibly give me more output gain or overall sound quality. Thanks again for any help.