This might not be a new idea, but has anyone tried it?
Many people (including me) like the simplicity of SE construction, & also admire the sound quality.
However the AC current in the power supply brings some problems. I think the most significant one is the rising impedance by the decreasing frequency (according to the frequency response of the last cap). This makes the amp work badly in that region. Unless we use a regulated supply.
OTOH, class A PP has the most stable supply current, both DC & AC. This not only makes the power supply design very easy, but it actually work very well, too. There is no more severely fluctuated current on the last cap. So the influences of rising impedance toward the low end would reduce significantly. (Also, a complex regulated high voltage supply is no longer needed.)
So, how about bridging 2 stereo SE amp into 2 mono blocks? (Especially those come with single supply.) We would need a pre amp with balanced output, or a coupling transformer in front of the SE amp for the phase splitting. Of course, and another same amp for the other channel.
What's the differece between class A PP & this bridged SE?
The OPT.
Contrary to the difficalty in engineering, the SE OPT in opperation does has its strong point -- linearity. The DC current flowing through the coil actually avoid the hysteresis in the conventional PP OPT.
So a bridged SE should outperform class A PP in low level & overall linearity.
Any thoughts?
Or anyone already tried this?
Many people (including me) like the simplicity of SE construction, & also admire the sound quality.
However the AC current in the power supply brings some problems. I think the most significant one is the rising impedance by the decreasing frequency (according to the frequency response of the last cap). This makes the amp work badly in that region. Unless we use a regulated supply.
OTOH, class A PP has the most stable supply current, both DC & AC. This not only makes the power supply design very easy, but it actually work very well, too. There is no more severely fluctuated current on the last cap. So the influences of rising impedance toward the low end would reduce significantly. (Also, a complex regulated high voltage supply is no longer needed.)
So, how about bridging 2 stereo SE amp into 2 mono blocks? (Especially those come with single supply.) We would need a pre amp with balanced output, or a coupling transformer in front of the SE amp for the phase splitting. Of course, and another same amp for the other channel.
What's the differece between class A PP & this bridged SE?
The OPT.
Contrary to the difficalty in engineering, the SE OPT in opperation does has its strong point -- linearity. The DC current flowing through the coil actually avoid the hysteresis in the conventional PP OPT.
So a bridged SE should outperform class A PP in low level & overall linearity.
Any thoughts?
Or anyone already tried this?