VAS and driver Transistor?

[maxpou]

Hi Guys,
i have this power amp and i want change my VAS transistor 2N3440, 2N5416 because the FT is 15Mhz. For Driver in my new schematic the MJE15030 and 31 is a good driver or somebody has a other choice? Thank you! Maxpou
for look my schematic: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=117011

 

[Andy L. Francis]

Generally speaking for VAS I'd recommend the 2SC3505/2SA1381 or the 2SC3423/2SA1360 pair.
Search for devices with high Vce0 (150V min.), high beta (100 min) and good beta linearity, low Cob (<10pF), and high Ft (min. 100MHz).
As driver my favourite is the 2SC4793/2SA1837 pair.
For low-power stages, say LTP I prefer the 2SC2240/2SA970 devices, and for any other low-power stage (reference, protection, etc...) I use the 2SC1815/2SA1015 pair.

 

[maxpou]

Thank you for reply Andy,
but i have a other question. If i change the VAS and driver transistor for more speed transistor is it possible to burn my amp? Thank You! Maxpou

 

[Andy L. Francis]

Thank you for reply Andy,
but i have a other question. If i change the VAS and driver transistor for more speed transistor is it possible to burn my amp? Thank You! Maxpou

Of course! You'll need to redesign your compensation circuit (oops I cannot find any compensation capacitor in your schematic).
Have you got any pic related to the square-wave response of your amplifier? I'm interested how does your amplifier works with 10...20kHz squarewave input without any lag- or lead compenastion.

Is your design stable now? Any oscillation(s)?

 

[maxpou]

Thank you Andy,
yes i have some pics go to this thread: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100669
I want try a cdom in my VAS soon.
thank you! Maxpou

 

[Leolabs]

Personal favourite:2SB647/2SD667

 

[djk]

Just bump the Vas current to 40mA and put a clip-on heatsink on the 2N3440/5415 and skip the driver stage.

The Ft on the Vas transistors is over 30Mhz at 40mA, and 40mA is enough to drive those outputs. You can do the resistor pair for feedback right off the bias network (like Nelson Pass did on the Nakamichi stasis receivers).

 

[maxpou]

Hi DJK,
i have a difficulty to found a good heatsink for TO-5 case. If i want to replace my VAS it's for have a low Cob also. I want to put a emetter follower driver for check if my circuit have a better linearity. Maxpou

 

[linuxguru]

For a VAS: 2sc2705, 2sc3423 and 2sc3953 (and siblings) are hard to beat. I
also like obsolete NEC 2sc639 (TO-18) with fT=750MHz and Cob=1.5pF - but no Spice models or datasheets are readily available, and Vceo=40V only.

Also repeating my request for a decent 2sc3953/ksc3953 Spice model. It sounds great in actual listening, but I want to get some simulated numbers for H2/H3 etc.

 

[maxpou]

Hi Guys,
somebody can help me because i don't want burn my amp. See post 3 and 5. Thank you! Maxpou

 

[linuxguru]

Depending on the stability of your feedback loop, it is conceivable that you can cause it to become unstable after substituting a different VAS transistor. Usually this happens because the new transistor has higher *gain*, not higher fT.

If the instability shows up as a high-amplitude self-oscillation, it is possible that you can burn up the Zobel resistor, output transistors and/or emitter ballast resistor(s). As always, it pays to have a quick-blow fuse protecting the output stage if you want to try these kinds of experiments.

 

[AKSA]

To test for stability,

Simply power up the amp through a 60W light bulb on the mains side, or better yet, a variac.

Amp stability is intimately affected by rail voltage. Reduce rail voltage to about half (making any adjustments to ensure output offset is within a volt or two) and keep an eye/finger on the Zobel resistor (typically 10R 1W) as you raise the rail voltage.

With an 8R//100nF load connected to roughly simulate a speaker, this test is never destructive, and will point you in the right direction as far as compensation is concerned.

Hugh

 

[maxpou]

Thank you for reply guys!
you can see a many picture of the stability of my amp at this thread in post 5. Any comment would be appreciated. Maxpou

 

[maxpou]

Hi Guys,
somebody can tell me if my amp is stable or not with my pics on thread in post 5. thank you! Maxpou

 

[fab]

Hi Guys,
somebody can tell me if my amp is stable or not with my pics on thread in post 5. thank you! Maxpou

Max

With 8R and 2.2uf at 1 KHz, it should be damped a lot more quickly...

Anyway, you can test only at 10 KHz for that purpose. Your waveform at 10 KHz could be more damped ...my opinion...

Good luck

 

[Bonsai]

Maxpou, 2uH in parallel with 2.2 Ohms 2W between th e amp and th e speaker load (8 Ohm // with capaacity) - have you done this?

 

[fab]

Max

With 8R and 2.2uf at 1 KHz, it should be damped a lot more quickly...

Anyway, you can test only at 10 KHz for that purpose. Your waveform at 10 KHz could be more damped ...my opinion...

Good luck

Also, if you re-adjust compensation caps do not forget to verify other caps value like explained in http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1192841#post1192841

Maybe you could consider a Zobel...

Good luck

 

[maxpou]

Hi Fab and Bonsai,
thank you for reply! I will try to put a cdom on my VAS stage and after I will see if I have been an improvement of stability. Maxpou