LU1014D Small Amplifier 6 Watt with low distortion

Here is the version that Nelson Pass likes.
I have added a resistor Rx that will be used to set the bias in output. 1.40A.
The distortion is around 0.001% THD. Mostly 2nd harmonic.
 

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I don't know about the thermal of LU1014D.
I have to ask Nelson Pass about this 🙂

The bigger the heatsink is - the better. Of course.

Here is an example 😀
 

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From the data sheet the thermal resistance of the LU1014D is 1.8 ºC/W (junction to case).
According to my measurements the LU1014D has a positive tempo of around 15mA/ºC.
Assuming you have a heatsink big enough to limit the temperature rise to say 30ºC above ambient this would mean a rise in die temperature equal to roughly 60ºC (30ºC + 12V*1.4A*1.8ºC).
Now 60ºC * 15mA/ºC = 0.9A so the amp should be biased at around 0.5A at ambient temperature for this to work.
I think the amp would be very, very slow to reach desired bias (safe heatsink size), or in serious risk of thermal runaway (borderline heatsink size).
Maybe some more circuitry is needed?
 
Not quite.

The bottom LU1014 (U1) has a large source resistor (1.2R)
As Id increases with temperature, the voltage across the source resistor also increases with current.
This reduces the effective Vgs applied to the JFET, thus reducing Id in turn.
So if the source resistor is large enough, the bias can sort of self stabilise.

In this circuit, the bias of the top LU1014 is controlled by the negative feedback loop.
So it will largely follow the bottom JFET, if there is enough NFB.

You can also add an extra bias-stabilising circuit similar to that in the EB602 (around Q4,5) :
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/the-borbely-eb602-200-revisited.325163/


Borbely EB602.jpg



Patrick
 
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You will lose some voltage headroom.
So you probably need to raise rail voltage to cover the extra voltage needed for the cascode.
(i.e. not possible with 12V rails)
Other than that, nothing really wrong, IMHO. Actually improves linearity.
Just a bit more complex. And complexity does not cost anything in Spice.

🤓


Patrick
 
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