Do you know of a place where I can find a typical schematic of a power amplifier (be it class A, B or AB) with a good explanation of the circuit? Having a decent understanding of how bipolar junction transistors function, I would like to understand, in the form of a detailed walkthrough of the circuit, how the various stages of the amplifier work together.
My still unanswered questions relate to:
I have read the excellent book by Douglas Self on power amplifiers and although I can (half) understand what he describes, his discussion actually considers that the reader is fluent on issues like the question samples above - I think.
If a site is not the correct source, I would love recommendations on a book or two to study.
My still unanswered questions relate to:
- What is the benefit of a differential transistor pair in the input?
- Why add a transistor as a current source or sink instead of a resistor (what are the maladies of the resistor and how do the transistors help to fix them)?
- How does negative feedback gets implemented (locally and globaly)
- Various methods of biasing the output transistor(s) depending on the class of the amplifier
I have read the excellent book by Douglas Self on power amplifiers and although I can (half) understand what he describes, his discussion actually considers that the reader is fluent on issues like the question samples above - I think.
If a site is not the correct source, I would love recommendations on a book or two to study.
Another good book is "Designing Audio Power Amplifiers" (new 2nd edition) by Bob Cordell.
Designing Audio Power Amplifiers by Bob Cordell, Paperback | Barnes & Noble(R)
Or you can still get the first edition, new or used.
Designing Audio Power Amplifiers / Edition 1 by Bob Cordell | 9780071640244 | Paperback | Barnes & Noble(R)
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No need to buy books. Good and simple explanations by Rod Elliot, here:
Elliott Sound Products - The Audio Pages (Main Index)
Elliott Sound Products - The Audio Pages (Main Index)
Thanks for the feedback. I had a sneak peek on Bob Cordell's book. It sure looks interesting and I will wait for the new edition at the end of next month.
I have indeed visited Rod Elliot's site and read through the articles and projects for years.
But, looking around, I stumbled across something that appeared interesting and by spending a day at that site, found an invaluable tool for experimenting and testing things.
everycircuit.com
It's a circuit simulator. Surely, not up to the level of PSpice but orders of magnitude simpler and more straightforward for putting together simple things like a class A stage, a push-pull configuration, with simple transistors, darlingtons or parallel transistors. It really helped me understand the input stage, variations with current mirrors, etc.
Really insightful to be able to simulate things, change values in components without the fear of magic smoke escaping. A bit limited in what can be simulated but ideal for what I had in mind, and most likely, should be great for passive crossovers as well.
I really recommend you spend an hour playing around with it.
I have indeed visited Rod Elliot's site and read through the articles and projects for years.
But, looking around, I stumbled across something that appeared interesting and by spending a day at that site, found an invaluable tool for experimenting and testing things.
everycircuit.com
It's a circuit simulator. Surely, not up to the level of PSpice but orders of magnitude simpler and more straightforward for putting together simple things like a class A stage, a push-pull configuration, with simple transistors, darlingtons or parallel transistors. It really helped me understand the input stage, variations with current mirrors, etc.
Really insightful to be able to simulate things, change values in components without the fear of magic smoke escaping. A bit limited in what can be simulated but ideal for what I had in mind, and most likely, should be great for passive crossovers as well.
I really recommend you spend an hour playing around with it.
A typical Audio Power Amplifier is just an Op-Amp with a really fat output stage.
I think you want to review Op-Amps.
It is possible that you have "decent understanding of how bipolar junction transistors function" but are unclear how to build an amplifier with them. You can build an audio amplifier with one BJT, two R two C; more elaborate forms allow different tradeoffs.
Very good, indeed. But I am skeptic whether the OP or any other newbee would spend the time to actually read and study it - seems a lost art in this time of instant gratification.
Jan
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