JLH 10 Watt class A amplifier

Hi abstractjuz. Not the simplest way my any means but one in keeping with spirit of this thread is to build JLH's own headphone amp. It is a split rail version of the 10watter. It can be found in an article on Rod Elliot's ESP site (Elliot Sound Products. Sydney Aust') In the articles section Rod has done the diy community a great service by hosting Geoff Moss's original work which everyone here references. Go to articles and information of ESP. Select Class-A Amp Site. Main TCAAS index. Other JLH amplifier designs. Then JLH Headphone amp.....as the little Russian Meercat on the Australian advert says: "Simples".
Cheers Jonathan
 
I've been experimenting with a build of this amp for guitar practice which is currently outputting about a 1/2 Watt into 8 ohms.

What advice could anyone offer for the simplest way to add a headphone output to this?

I was hoping for something along the lines of very simple attenuation to reduce the output signal and a switching socket to swap from 'speaker out' to 'headphones out'.

Any advice? Thanks in advance!

In the spirit of DIY I would say go and try a resistive divider as an experiment and see how it sounds, find out if it is to your liking.

Headphones work with mW of power and speakers with W of power so a 1,000x difference which in the voltage domain is a factor of approximately 30. I'm guessing you'll want a divider with a ratio of around that much.

Maybe try a 5W 10R resistor in series with a 5W 0.33R resistor as this will provide a reasonably low output impedance.
 
You may need to be clearer about a "voltage divider" as not everyone on this thread will be familiar with what is implied. For guitarists using valve (tube) amplifiers in particular, there are also gadgets called attenuators out there for use in practice sessions or at quiet venues and these are similar in principle but use higher rated resistors - as you do when driving loudspeakers directly.

This is a useful intro. and the "get help..." page shows the simple circuit identifying the resistors: LPad Driver Attenuation Circuit Designer Calculator
 
Last edited:
Hi Guru's, just trying to make my first JLH 1969 version amp, almost all the amp components are in place, was now planning for its PSU. I have built Amp Camp Amp before and ran it using Laptop PSU rated @ 19.5V 3.4A...just wondering if I could leverage the same PSU's for JLH test build....has anyone tried before.
 
The brand of the laptop SMPS matters. I just struggled with a noise issue on my amp because a low cost $7 19v SMPS that was injecting noise. Finally switched to a good HP ($30 unit) and totally quiet. All the noise spikes that looked like a forest of trees in an FFT went away. Big name computer company supplies tend to be quieter.
 
I am running two JLH, one with SMPS and one linear non-regulated. The SMPS has far less noise because the HV is rectified and whatever ripple is on it wont pass through the high frequency transformer. It make for a far cleaner sound overall. With the SMPS you do get ocassional clicks and pops when the fridge turns on but this can easily be treated with some HF filtering.
 
Last edited:
The brand of the laptop SMPS matters. I just struggled with a noise issue on my amp because a low cost $7 19v SMPS that was injecting noise. Finally switched to a good HP ($30 unit) and totally quiet. All the noise spikes that looked like a forest of trees in an FFT went away. Big name computer company supplies tend to be quieter.



Yes this makes a difference, mines is Acer, totally quiet, had bought cheaper one, messed the sound


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
I am running two JLH, one with SMPS and one linear non-regulated. The SMPS has far less noise because the HV is rectified and whatever ripple is on it wont pass through the high frequency transformer. It make for a far cleaner sound overall. With the SMPS you do get ocassional clicks and pops when the fridge turns on but this can easily be treated with some HF filtering.



Yes, on top of that you can focus on the circuit, rather than power supply


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro