PROFESSiONAL GROUP ON AUDIO

A HIGH EFFICIENCY HIGH QUALITY AUDIO FHEQUENCU POVvER AMPLIFIER*

Alexander B. Bereskin
The Baldwin Co.
Cincinnati, Ohio

The development of the power amplifier discussed c o n d i t i o n s i s too great, the circuit is normally used with
i n this paper was undertaken with the objective of provid- only 24 db of feedback. In this circuit the 12AX7 tube i s
i n g large amount of good quality audio power in a small used as a phase inverter amplifier driver stage. It i s
p a c k a g e at relatively low cost. The s i z e of anamplifier direct-coupled to thebeampoweroutputtubes a n d the
package and its cost are dependent largely on the effici-
e n c y of operation and the p o w e r s e n s i t i v i t y of the output
s t a g e . Ream power tubes s a t i s f y t h e s e t w o r e q u i r e m e n t s
more readily than triodes. The quality of t h e a u d i o p o w e r
is improved. by t h e u s e of push-pulloperationandlarge
a m o u n t s of feedback. The u s e of a s u i t a b l e a m o u n t a n d
t y p e of f e e d b a c k with beampowertubeseliminatesthe
a d v a n t a g e of inherent lowoutput impedance obtained
with triodes.
I n Class A or Class AB operationthedynamic
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the two tubes may be matched to obtain
reasonably linear characteristic, and while feedback is
d e s i r a b l e i t s u s e maysometimesbeavoided.In Class B
3.9K
o p e r a t i o ni t is notpossibletomatchdynamiccharacter-
i s t i c s to g elti n e aor p e r a t i o na,n tdh e r e f o r e a large
amount of f e e d b a c k m u s t a l w a y s b e , u s e d . T h e p r o b l e m s
e n c o u n t e r e d i n Class B operation are considerably more
s e v e r et h a nt h o s eo c c u r r i n gi n Class A a n d Class AB Fig. 1 Basic Bereskin power amplifier circuit.
o p e r a t i o n , a n d t h e q u e s t i o n n a t u r a l l y a r i s e s as to whether
t h i s t y p e of operation is worth the extraeffortrequired.
operation is essentiallyClass B , sincethehigh impe-
This q u e s t i o n c a n be r e s o l v e d r a t h e r c o n c l u s i v e l y bythe
dance driver stage is incapable of driving the power tube
following example:
grids positive. An added advantage of thedirect-coupled
T w o 6L6 tubesoperating Class A , push-pullwith
driver is that it eliminates the possibility of blocking due
30% e f f i c i e n c ya,nhda v i naganl l o w a b lteo t apll a t e
to excessive input signal. The two output-tubecathodes
d i s s i p a t i o n of 40 watts, would be capable of developing
30 40 17.1 watts. are returned to ground andthereforeanycombination of
a n o u t p u t p o w e r of screen and plate supply voltage may be used. The values
70
The same two GLG t u b e s o p e r a t i n g Class Push- shown on the diagram will keep both the screen and plate
p u l l w i t h 60% efficiency would be c a p a b l e of developing dissipationbelow the rated values for full signal Class
60 B , operation with either the 1614 or the 807 tubes. The
60 watts. The p o s s i b i l i t y of g e t t i n g w a t t s of
40 biasfortheoutputtubes is supplied by thedirect-
outputpowerin Class B operationfor the s a m ei n v e s t - coupled phase inverter amplifier driver and i s normal-
mentinpowertubeswhichproducedonly 17.1 w a t t si n lyadjustedtoproduce azerosignalplatecurrent of
Class A operation provides a real i n c e n t i v e t o s o l v e t h e about 15 ma pertube.Thehighvalue of cathoderesist-
s e v e r ep r o b l e m se n c o u n t e r e di n Class B operation* The anceemployed makes thedrivercircuitfundamentally
a d v a n t a g e of high e f f i c i e n coyp e r a t i oanl sroe f l e c t s stable. A test with different 1614 tubes and 12 different
a d v a n t a g e o u s l yo nt h es i z e of the powersupplyneces- 12AX7tubes, of differentmanufacturersandchosen at
s a r y to operate the power amplifier. random,produced a zero-signalplatecurrentvariation
The basicpoweramplifiercircuitshownin Fig. 1 ranging from 10 t o 25 m a per tube. The full signal opera-
is c a p a b l e of employing large amounts of feedback with tionwas substantially independentof the choice of 12AX7
g o o d s t a b i l i t y . T h i s c i r c u i t has been operated with 36 db and beam power output tubes. The feedback winding used
of f e e d b a c kw i t h o ust h o w i n ga n yt r a c e ofinstability* is electrostatically shielded from the secondary but very
IIowever,sincethedrivingvoltagerequiredunder these closelyc,oupledto it, Theelimination of theelectro-
static shield'greatly reduces the amount of feedback that
*Manuscript received February 1954- Paper at
Cincinnati IRE Section, November 17, 1953. can be used successfully.

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50 T R A N S A C T I O N S OF T H E I.R.E.
One of the major problems associated with Class B shown by thevertical it is observedthatthis
operation i s due totheenergystoredintheleakagere-. will give rise to a peak signal voltage of 500 v between
actancebetween the twoprimarywindings. A, P. Sah‘ all adjacentpointsonthebifilarwindingasshownby
showed how this stored energy gave rise to a conduction thehorizontalarrows. The undesirablefeaturehere is
transfernotchwhichmust be eliminatedbefore Class B thatbefore this
voltage canappear
betweenthe two
operationcanbeusedsuccessfully.Severaldifferent primarywindingstheinterwindingcapacitancemustbe
winding schemes will reduce the leakage reactance below suitably charged, andthecharging
current
mustflow
the critical value but the most successful one is that of through one of thetwotubes. An experimentaltrans-
using a bifilar winding for the two primary sections. former of this type, wound with adjacent-wire layer bifilar
Theuse of bifilarwindingsintroducesnew prob- winding, using No. 28 Ileavy Formvar wire, was found to
lems whichwerenotpreviouslyimportant,One of t h e s e , have a Capacitance of 0.045 microfarads between the two
problems isthatappreciablevoltage may existbetween primary windings. A peak charging current of 1.5 a m p e r e s
the adjacent wires of a bifilar winding and sufficient in- i s requiredtochargethiscapacitanceat 1OKC with a
sulation must
beprovidedtowithstandthis
voltage. sine wave voltage of 500 v o l t s p e a k a c r o s s the primaries,
Adequatelyinsulatedwiresarenowavailablecommerci- An ordinarytubeusedin a circuit of thistypewould
ally s o this problem is seldom a serious ohe. A second normally supply only about 0.30 amperes peak S O that at
and more significantproblem is that appreciable capaci- 2 Ekcthe peak currentcapacity of t h et u b ew o u l db e
tanceexistsbetween the adjacentwires in a bifilar required to furnishthechargingcurrentfor the inter-
windingandthatchargingcurrentmustbesuppliedto winding capacitance, The amplifier’s power-delivering
thiscapacitancebeforeanyvoltagecanbedeveloped capacity to a resistanceloadwouldthereforebedown
between the wires, This charging current must usually be 3 db a t 2 Xkc.
suppliedthroughtheoutputstagetubesandisoneof A naturalstepatthispointis to c o n s i d e rt h e
themajorfactorslimiting
thehigh
frequency power- possibility of using a differentinterconnectionofthe
delivering capacity of an amplifier. primary s e c t i o n s to reducetheinterwinding voltages,
Thisproblemcanbeunderstoodmorereadily by therebyreducingthechargingcurrentrequiredforthe
examiningthecircuit of Fig. 2A. In thiscircuitthebi- interwinding capacitance. Fig. 2B s h o w s a d i f f e r e n t
filar primary has been separated into.two sections and the connection of the primary sections. The v o l t a g e b e t w e e n
thelowersections of thebifilarwinding has b e e nr e -

I ducedto 250 v, but the voltage between the upper

tions has beencorrespondinglyincreasedto
total interwinding charging current is
but the insulation burden on the upper section
thanitwasbefore.
750 V. The
the s a m e as before
sec-

is g r e a t e r
a matterof fact, f u r t h e r s e c t i o n -
alization and
reconnection of theprimary does not
reducethechargingcurrentproblemandwill, in most
cases, increase the burden on the insulation.
A differenttype of interconnection is s h o w ni n
F i g , 3. Inthiscase half of t h es e c t i o n a l i z e db i f i l a r

A B

Fig. 2

secondary has been sandwiched between them to keep the

leakagereactancebetweentheprimariesandsecondary
a t a lowvalue.Thefourprimarysectionshavebeen
Primary interwinding voltage relations.

E
symmetricallyinterconnectedandthereisnegligibledc
voltage between these windings. If a peak signal voltage
of 250 v is assumed on each of the primary sections, as

‘A. Pen-TungSah, “Quasi-transients in Class B audio-fre-

push-pull a m p l i f i e r s , ” Proc. I.R.E., vol. 24, no, 11,
pp. 1522-1541; November, 1936. Fig. 3 Basic McIntosh power amplifier.

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 PROFESSIONAL GROUP ON AUDPO 51
primary windingisconnectedintheplatecircuit, as course of one cycle.’ Suitable points are qvailable in’Fig.
before, andtheother half, withproperconsiderationfor 4B for gupplying the screen voltages of the beam power
the signal polarities, is c o n n e c t e d i n t h e c a t h o d e c i r c u i t . tubes. A d i s a d v a n t a g e of this connection is that the p l a t e
Now pointsb, c, f , and g a r e all at zero ac s i g n a l po- and screen supply voltages are forced t o be e q u a l u n l e s s
tential. For signalconditionsthesame as thosecon- special additional circuitry is used. The basic Sinclair-
sideredbefore,when a is instantaneouslypositive by P e t e r s o nc i r c u i t has beenincorporatedintwocomplete
250 v with respect to b, e is positive by the same amount poweramplifiercircuitswhichhavebeendescribed in
withrespectto f. T h i sm e a n st h e r ew i l bl ez e r oa c theliteratuce4s5.Inthesecircuits the s c r e e n sa r e fed
signal voltage between points e and a. T h e s a m e is s e e n through suitable voltage dropping VR t u b e s t o i n s u r e t h a t
to be trueforpoints h and d andfor all otheradjacent t h es c r e e nv o l t a g ew i l l be less than the a v e r a g ep l a t e
points on the two bifilarwindings.Venowrequirezero supplyvoltage. The publisheddataon these amplifiers
charging current for the primary interwinding capacitance indicate that their performance is s u b s t a n t i a l l y t h e s a m e
regardless of the value of this capacitance. Since point h a s t h a t of theMcIntoshamplifiermentionedpreviously.
i sa tt h es a m ea cs i g n a lp o t e n t i a l as d, but at a much NeithertheMcIntosh nor theSinclair-Petersoncircuits
higherdcpotential,itcould be c o n n e c t e d t o t h e s c r e e n use feedback around the output transformer.
of theuppertubetosupply a constantscreen-cathode The d e s i g n of the transformer used in t h e c i r c u i t o f
voltageforthistube.In a like mannerpoint e couldbe Fig. 1 representsanothersolution the pCoblemintro-
connected to the screen of the lower tube.The screen and d u c e db y the primaryinterwindingcapacitance. In the
plate supply voltages in this circuit will be e q u a l u n l e s s g e n e r a lc a s e of twoisolatedparallelcircularwiresan
special circuitry is provided to make them different. This i n c r e a s e of the spacing between the s u r f a c e s from 10% to
circuit also requires a grid drive voltage greater than 50% 20% of thediameter of the wire will reduce the capaci-
of the output transformer primary voltage. When this circuit tancebetweenthesewiresbyapproximately 30%.
is combined with a suitable driving circuit and feedback i n c r e a s e of t h i s s p a c i n g from 10%t o 100% of t h e diameter
networks it becomes the McIntosh Power Amplifier’ and is of the wire will reduce the capacitance by approximately
capable of delivering 50 w of high quality power over a n 70%.
exceptionally large frequency range. I n the transformer winding even though we are not
A differentsolutionto the problem is provided by dealingwithtwoisolatedparallelwiresbutwithmany
the basic Sin~lair-Peterson~ circuit shown in Fig. and wires in a small space, the same genera1 principles apply.
itstransformercoupledequivalent,usingbeampower Each wire will have capacitance to the two wires on e a c h
tubes,in Fig. 4B. In the transformercoupIed case both s i d e of i t i n t h e s a m e l a y e r a n d a l s o to the w i r e s i n t h e
layers above andbelow it. The c a p a c i t a n c be e t w e e n
w i r e s i n the s a m e l a y e r c a n b e c u t in half by transposing
thetwowires of t h e bifilarwire a te v e r yt u r n .T h e ca-
pacitancebetweenwiresinadjacentlayerswillnotbe
modified by t h i s process. In the non-transposed winding,
a s s u m i n g the samespacingbetweenlayercentersthat
existsbetweenadjacentwirecentersin a layer,and
uniformdielectricmaterial,thecapacitancebetween the
wires in the layers accounts for approximately two thirds
of thetotalcapacitance,whilethecapacitancebetween
wiresinadjacentlayersaccountsforonethird of the
dd-?
totalcapacitance.Sincetransposition of t h ew i r e sc a n
b e e x p e c t e d to c u t in half the capacitance between wires
Fig. 4 Basic Sinclair Peterson power amplifier. i n a layerwithoutdisturbingthecapacitancebetween
wires inadjacent layers, it
should reducethetotal
primary s e c t i o n s of thetransformerwork’at a n times s o capacitancetotwothirds of itsoriginalvalue. The u s e
they need not be bifilar wound. These circuits present an of insulating materials such as cotton, varnish, and wax,
appreciableburdentothephaseinverter-driver for, if a andtheaccumulation of moisturewill all t e n d to in-
peakprimary or load voltage of 450 v o l t s is assumed, it c r e a s et h ec a p a c i t a n c e , A mechanism has b e e nd e v e l -
i s s e e n t h a t t h e phase inverter-driver plate supply voltage opedwhichautomaticallytransposesthebifilarwinding
fluctuatesbetween 1100 voltsand 200 voltsduringthe a te v e r y t u r n s o thatthistype of windingisnomore

‘F. H. McIntosh G. J. Gow, “Descriptionandanalysis of a ‘A. P. Peterson, new push-pull amplifiercircuit,”

new 50 wattamplifiercircuit,” Audio Eng., vol. 33, no. 12, TheGeneralRadio Experimenter,”vol.26,no. 5, pp. 1-7;
pp. 9-11, 35-40; December, 1949. October,
Petersonand D. R. Sinclair, singleendedpush-pull H. W. Larnson, high power toroidaloutputtransformer,”
audio
amplifier,” Proc. I.H.E., vol. no. pp. 7-11, The General R a d i o Experimenter, vol. 26, no. 6, pp.
January,1952. November, 1951.

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52 TRANSACTIONS OF T H E I.R.E.
difficult to make than any ordinary bifilar winding.
An alternative to the transposed bifilar winding is
a randomwoundbifilarwinding.Therandomwinding is
not as consistent as the transposed winding but appears
onanaverage to produce an increase in the capacitance
of approximately Otherthanthisthetwowindings
are equivalent.
The introduction of spacebetweentheadjacent
primary wires will tend t o increase the leakage reactance
between the
twoprimarysections.
Thesafety
factor
provided by thebifilartype of winding has s o farbeen
sufficientlylargeto avoid theappearance of thecon- 1
duction transfer notch.
Fig. is a schematicdiagram of theoutputtrans-
former u s e d to make the tests discussed i n the remainder
of this paper, and Fig. 6 shows the coil buildup that w a s
used. Fig. 6 is drawn inproperverticalscalebutthe
horizontal scale has beenmodifiedtoshowtherelative
positions of thewindingswithoutshowingthetruecoil
width. This transformer winding was designed to be used
with two grain-oriented IIipersil C Cores (Moloney ME-31
Hipercores equivalent). The nominal impedance
levels were intended to be 4, 8, a n d 16 ohms but the opti-
mum levelsobtainedwiththistransformerwere 4.63, Fig. 5 Output transformer winding arrangement.

0000 a000
o@@a I I

@@@a 1

1000

PROPER

Fig. 6 Output transformer coil buildup for Bereskin 50 watt

1614 tube power amplifier.

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 PROFESSIONAL GROUP ON AUDIO 53
9.25, and 18.5 ohms, An optimumvalueresistorwas 3000 c s . The power levels of the higher frequency funda-
u s e d on t h e 9.25 ohm t a p i n a l l of the s u c c e e d i n g t e s t s . mental tones and of the harmonics of the lower frequency
The transformer of F i g . 6 had a primaryinter- fundamentalsdrop off a t a greaterratethanthepower-
windingcapacitance of 0.010 microfaradswhenitwas deliveringcapacity of thisamplifier. It willbeshown
vacuumimpregnatedwith GE Type9700clearbaking in the appendix that the power-delivering capacity of t h i s
varnish and baked for the prescribed amount of time. T h i s amplifier i s f u l l y a d e q u a t e for all audio frequency signals.
transformer was
potted and has maintainedthe same
v a l u e of capacitancesincethattime.Anothertrans-
former winding differing from this one only in the fact it 80
had an ordinary layer bifilar winding had a primary inter- IO
windingcapacitance of 0.015 rnf. A thirdtransformer
winding inwhich 28 quadruple Formvar wire was used
with thesamespacingbetweenwirecentersandan
ordinary layer bifilar winding had a primaryinterwinding !i LO

c a p a c i t a n c e of 0.012 microfarads.Additionalpaperwas 30
u s e db e t w e e nl a y e r si nt h i sc a s et oa c h i e v et h es a m e 20
spacingbetweenwirecentersinadjacentlayers.This
10
l a s tw i n d i n g has beenfoundtohave less tendencyto
p i c k up moisture from the atmosphere than theother
twowindingsalthoughpottingeliminatesthistroublein
all c a s e s , Fig. 7 Two per cent distortion power relations.
Inordertoobtainthesamelowfrequencypower
The amplifier develops its full power output of 60 w a t t s
deliveringcapacitywithanordinarynongrain-oriented
over most of the middle .frequency range with total plate
c o r iet is necessarytoincrease both t h ce o r ce r o s s
circuit losses, including transformer losses, considerably
section and thenumber of turns byabout 25%. T h e
combinedeffect of t h e s ei n c r e a s e si st h a t h e primary
lower than the rated CCS v a l u e s . T h e s c r e e n d i s s i p a t i o n
interwinding capacitance increases by
approximately
e x c e e d st h er a t e d CCS value by about 7%, b u tt h i si s
only because the amplifier is being over driven to obtain
50%.
the required 2% distortion. A reduction of 3 w in the out-
T h e c i r c u i t of F i g . 1 was used with the transformer
putpower,overmost of therange,bringstheharmonic
oFf i g . 6 with, transformer coupled input. The input
distortionbelow 1% a n dt h es c r e e nd i s s i p a t i o ns a f e l y
transformer had anelectrostaticshieldandthisshield
was connectedtoground.Allfilamentswereoperated
belowtherated CCS value.Themaximumplatecircuit
efficiencyoccurredinthe500-1000cs.rangeandwas
from a commonfilamentsupply,oneend of whichwas
65.2%. This value includes the output transformer losses,
connected to ground. R'ith well regulated screen and plate
andisramarkablyclosetotheidealvalue of 78.5% for
upp ply voltages,theresidual hum i nt h eo u t p u tw a s 96
db below 50 w. For this particular amplifier, without any Class B operation,whichdoesnotinclude the trans-
specialattempttoobtaingoodbalance, a ripple voltage former losses.
of 42 volts inserted in series with the plate supply, 9 Since transformer coupled input is not usually
v insertedinserieswiththescreensupply,wasneces- available for amplifiers of this type a circuit including
s a r yt ob r i n gt h er e s i d u a l hum levelintheoutputto preamplifier and powersupply
wasdeveloped and is
db below 50 w. shown in Fig. 8. T h i s c i r c u i t w a s d e s i p e d t o d e l i v e r 50 w
The power delivering capacity of this amplifier was of high quality power over most of the middle frequency
t e s t e d by s e t t i n gt h ei n p u t a' t h ev a l u en e c e s s a r yt o range. Since the output stage is very insensitive to ril'ple
produce 2% distortionintheoutput. Fig.' 7 s h o w st h e in the screen and plate supply circuits, very simple power
r e s u l t s of t h i s t e s t . Intherangebelow 30 c s t h e o u t p u t supplyfiltercircuitswereadequate.Filterchokeswere
was limited by the inability of t h e 1614 tubes to Supply notnecessaryineithertheplate or s c r e e ns u p p l yc i r -
adequate magnetizing current to the transformer. Hetween cuits. A single 5U4-G rectifiertube,operatingwithin
30 and 3000 cstheoutputwaslimitedbypeakclipping themanufacturer'sratings,wasadequatetosupplythe
d u e t o t h e i n a b i l i t y of t h e 12AX7 tubes to drive the 1614 powerrequiredbytheplatecircuits of the1614tubes.
tube grids positive. Above 3000 c s t h e o u t p u t w a s l i m i t e d . One 6 x 4 t u b e i s u s e d to supply the power required by the
by the inability of the 1614 tubes to supply.the charging preamplifierandthescreens of the1614tubes,while
current required by the primary interwinding capacitance. another6x4tubeisusedtosupplythenegativevoltage
Atthelowendtheamplifierhas a drop-off rate of 9db/ required by the 12AX7 tube. The two 6 x 4 t u b e s c o u l d be
octavewhile at thehighenditapproaches a drop-off replaced by a single rectifier tube with separate cathodes
r a t e of 6 db/octave. a n d p l a t e s , u s e d as two single phase half-wave rectifiers,
Most of the power in speech, song, and music is con- but the tubes available cost more than the two 6x4 tubes
tainedin the fundarnentaltoneswithfrequenciesbelow puttogetherand,inaddition,full-waverectificationin

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54 TRANSACTIONS O F THE I.R.E.

:z, ,+e

16n

8 ) 3
I

Fig. 8 Bereskin watt 1614 tube power amplifier.

thescreen'supplypermitstheuse of a lowervalue of thebesthighfrequencysquarewaveresponsebutthat

filtercapacitance. The voltagesindicatedatvarious the square wave response was perfectly adequate when
locations on the diagramarethemeasured no-load and simple 15 ppf capacitorwassubstitutedin the overall'
full-1 oad values. feedback circuit. This capacitor has no effect on the low
Thepreamplifierconsists of a two stageresist- frequencyresponse
butreduces the t e n d e n c y of t h e
ance-capacitancecoupledamplifierwithfeedbackbe- amplifier to ringslightlywithsharprisetime'square
tween the second plate and the first cathode. This feed- wave inputs. The photographs of F i g , 9 s h o w the manner
back provides good wave shape and low output impedance
onthepreamplifier.Thepreamplifier i s coupledtothe
12AX7 grid with a 1.25 p f capacitorand a modified
ThordarsonT20C51choke.Themodificationconsistsin
interleavingthelaminations of thischoke. A lowdc
r e s i s t a n cinese c e s s a riytnh icsi r c u ibte c a u steh e
12AX7 has appreciable grid current when the grid voltage
becomes more positive than -1 volt and this grid current
mustnot be allowedtochangethebiasrelations of the
phaseinverter.Thiscouplingcircuithas a low Q reso-
nance between and 15 cs.
F e e d b a c k fromthesecondary thetransformer is
incorporated in a manner similar to that used before, but
additionaloverallfeedbackhasbeenincorporated from
the 4.63 ohm tap to the first cathode in the preamplifier.
It was found that complex Bridged T networkproduced Fig. 9 Leading edge analysis of KC 10 watt square

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 PROFESSIONAL GROUP ON AUDIO 55

Fig. 10A Amplifier square wave response. Fig. 10B Enlarged view of amplifier response toa 40 watt
5 kc square wave.
inwhichtheringing,followingtheleadingedge of a
w 5 kc square wave,,is modified by varying the value
of t h i s capacitor.Therisetime of theleadingedgeis
approximately7.5 betweenthe 10% and 90% points
andtheringingfrequencyisapproximately 100 kc. The
complete square wave response at and cs.
andpowerlevels of 10 and w is shownon Fig. 10A
togetherwiththeoutput of thesquarewavegenerator
c o n n e c t e d d i r e c t l y to the CRO. A greatly expanded view
of the 40 w 5000 c s c a s e is shown on Fig.10B.The
gain control settings were not
changed duringthese
tests.
T h er e s u l t s of testsmadetodeterminethebest
balance between the various types of feedback are shown
i n F i g . 11. In this figure curves 1 and 2 have inadequate
feedbackturnstocorrect for Class B operationatlow
powerlevels. The Bridged T overallfeedbacknetwork Wl’€WT Parw WAATIS
p r o d u c e d 6 db feedback at operating frequencies s o that
c u r v e 1 is lower than curve 2 at high power leveIs. Curve Fig. Feedba, distortion characteristics.
3 has much less low level distortion than curve 2 b e c a u s e
of theadditionalfeedbackturnsbut it requiresmore
d r i v e from the
preamplifier and
therefore has higher
distortionthancurve 2 athighpowerlevels.Curve 4
u s e s a p p r o x i m a t e l y 6 dbadditionalfeedback in thepre-
amplifieranditsdistortion is q u i t e s a t i s f a c t o r y - a t b o t h
low and high power levels. The 15 ppf overall feedback
has noeffectatthesefrequencies. The values of feed-
back turns and preamplifier feedback resistance used here
r e p r e s e n t a practical compromise between lowinput
signalandlowoutputdistortion.AdditionaIreductionin
distortion couId be obtained by increasing the number of
turns on’the feedback winding and reducing the value of
t h ef e e d b a c kr e s i s t o r in thepreamplifier.Both of these
changeswouldincreasetheinputvoltagerequired
producefulloutputpower. The conditionsspecifiedfor
c u r v e 4 a r e the onesshowninthecircuitdiagram of
Fig. 8 andarethe ones usedinallsucceedingtests.
Fig. 1 2s h o w st h ec u r v e s of platecircuitlosses(in- Fig, 12 Power loss characteristics.

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56 T R A N S A C T I O N S OF THE I.R.E.
cludingtransformerlosses)andscreendissipation as curverepresentsthepowerdeliveringcapacityof the
theoutputpower is varied. The plate circuit losses are amplifier and not the linearity of response with frequency
less thantherated CCS values for all operatingcondi- variations, The frequency response
characteristics,
tions. The screen dissipation becomes equal to the rated together with the power delivering capacity curve, plotted
CCS value at the highest power levels shown but is less t o a db scale, are shown in Fig. 15. It c a n b e s e e n from
than the rated value at lower levels.
It can be seen from Fig. 11 that once the amplifier u)

starts over-loading, the distortion increases very rapidly.

For comparison purposes a 2% distortion level
was
considered a satisfactory standard value for determining
the power delivering capacity of the amplifier. 1%distor-
tionwouldhavebeenadequate at 400 cs,wherethe
oscillatordistortionwasonly butnotat and
20,000 cs wheretheoscillatordistortionwas 0.8% and
0.6% tespectively. Fig. 13 showstypical 2% distortion
wave shapes at 500, and 10,000 cs, for this amplifier.

Fig. 15 Frequency response characteristics.

this diagram that-as long as the operating level is below

the 2% distortioncurvetheresponse is p e r f e c t l y flat
between 100 and cs. Below 100 cs t h e r e s p o n s e
risesslightlydue to the s e r i e sr e s o n a n c ei n the impe-
dancecoupledcircuit.Theamount of t h i sr i s e c a n be
Fig. 13 Two per cent distortion wave shapes. controlled by modifying the
values of the c o u p l i n g
capacitorandchoke. At lowlevels the r e s p o n s ea b o v e
20,000 c s d e p e n d s on the amount of f e e d b a c k c a p a c i t a n c e
The 2:, distortion power handling capacity together used. The curve for C f b is s e e n to’ r i s e t o a maximum
withthecorrespondingplatecircuitlossesandscreen at about 85 kc, andthentodrop off very rapidly. The
dissipationareshownin Fig. 14. Thehighestplate curvefor cfb 15 micromicrofarads is s e e n t o b e a l m o s t
perfectly flat to 95 kc, after which it also drops off very
rapidly. c u r v e f o r z a u s s i a n r e s p o n s e w i t h a -3 db p o i n t
at 75 kc has also been shown for comparison purposes.
Gaussian response would
produce
minimum risetime
consistent with zero overshoot. It i s s e e n t h a t t h e r i n g i n g
frequency of approximately 100 k cc o r r e s p o n d sc l o s e l y
to the region of maximum deviation of t h e a c t u a l r e s p o n s e
characteristic from theGaussianresponse. This also
shows why the use of C f b 15 micromicrofarads reduced
the ringingamplitudeobtainedwith a square wave input
signal.
Fig. 16 shows the r e s u l t s of a ni n t e r m o d u l a t i o n
distortion test using a 4:l combination of 60 a n d
AS is customary,theresultingdistortion is p l o t t e d as a
Fig. 14 Two per cent distortion power relations. per cent of the smaller of the two signals, The d i s t o r t i o n
values shown here should be divided by 5 if t h e y are to
circuit efficiency, including transformer losses; occurred becomparedwiththeharmonicdistortionvaluesdis-
at 1000 c sa n dw a s 69%. The platecircuitlossesare cussedpreviously.Thevaluesshown are a c c e p t a b l e u p
below the rated CCS valuefor the tubesaloneandthe to at l e a s t 112%peak-to-peak equivalent input. inter-
screen dissipation is equal to the rated CCS valueover modulationdistortiontestwasalsoperformedfor a 4:1
most of therange.Itshouldbeemphasizedthatthis combination of 60and cs. and the r e s u l t s ape

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 PROFESSlONAL GROUP ON AUDIO 57
shown inFig. 17. Thepurpose of t h i s t e s t w a s to f i n d damage.Theresults of thistestareshownin Fig. 19.
out if thehighfrequencyroll off of the powerhandling Thescreendissipation of the tube r e a c h e s w at
capacityhad any appreciableeffect on theintermodula- relatively low signal l e y e l s butremainsbelow 5 w even

Fig. 18 Output impedance characteristic.

Fig. 16 Intermodulation distortion characteristics. with 120% of normal full load signal. With t_he s a m e s i g n a l
theplatecircuitinputapproaches 120 w. This i s con-
tiondistortion.Thevaluesobtained i n thistestwere
siderably greater than the rated value but the plate struc-
slightlyhigherthanthoseshowninFig. 22 but the per-
ture is quite rugged and capable of handling these powers
formance is a c c e p t a b l e up t o a t l e a s t 105% peak-to-peak
for short periods of time. The screen grid of the tube is
equivalent input.
quite fragile compared to theplatestructure s o i t is
Good transient response of a loudspeaker requires
fortunate i n thissituationthatitonly has tohandle
a low output impedance source. The manner in which the
about 70% of its rateddissipation.Thisamplifierwas
output impedance of t h i s amplifier varies with frequency
operated for 10 minutesat the highestsignalcondition
i s shown in
Fig. 18. The output impedance remains
shown on t h e graph. A t the end of the ten minute period
relatively constant with frequency and is about 10% of the
the short circuit was removed a n d the amplifier operated
nominalimpedance of thetap. This outputimpedance
normally. No damagecouldbedetectedinanypart of
w a sr e l a t i v e l yi n d e p e n d e n t of thecurrentused t o make
the amplifier or its tube complement.
the t e s t .
Theamplifiercanalsooperatewithfullsignal
A short circuited secondary test was performed on
applied
under
open
secondary
conditions. The
only
t h e amplifier to determine its susceptibility to accidental
noticeablechangeisthattheoutputvoltagerisesby
abouttenper cent whenthe load is d i s c o n n e c t e d . T h i s

Fig. 17 I n t e r m o d u l a t i o n distortion characteristics. Fig. 19 Short circuited output -power relations.

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58 T R A N S A C T I O N S OF THE I.R.E.
control is dueto ‘the closecouplingusedbetweenthe the peakinstantaneouspowerrequiredin each of the
secondary and the feedback winding. four musical selections and calling this value 0 db, AH
The residual hum in the
complete
amplifier is four musical selections produced 0 db i n the 250-500 cs
slightly greater than that measured in the basic amplifier band. The valueplottedinany of the otherbandswas
with transformer coupled input. For the complete amplifier chosen from the musical selection in which this band had
the residual 120 cycle hum is about 80 db below 50 w. the minimum deviation from i t s own dblevel.This
The residual 60 cyclehum is about db below 50 w. curve is believed to be a close approximation to the most
Due to its lower frequency, the 60 cycle hum i s nomore severe requirements for an audio frequency power system
serious than the 120 cycle’hum and both have been found and has therefore been called the “MAXIMUM SEVERITY’
t o be completely negligible in most cases. The 60 cycle composite. Curve E h a s been obtained by converting the
hum i s p i c k e d up inductively by the unshielded modified
T20C51choke from thepowertransformer. If furtherre-
duction of the 60 cycle hum i s d e s i r a b l e and the amplifier
is operatedremotely from otherequipment,thischoke
can be, orientedfor minimum 60 cyclepickup.Approxi-
mately 20 db. reduction has been obtained by this means
but a clumsymountingpositionwasrequiredforthe
choke. If the equipment is operated in proximity to other
equipment whose relative position may change from time
to time, a better solution would be to use a fully shielded
choke. It should be emphasized,however,thatinmost
c a s e s f u r t h e r hum reduction is not necessary..
Fig. 22 i s a photograph of a developmental model
of theBereskin50watt 1614TubePowerAmplifier.
The output transformer is shown mounted on the chassis ClCur/rtC.

in its normal position but not potted.

Fig. 20.

APPENDIX
data represented by curve D to a cycle level. Sound is i n
general an integrated composite of m a n y f r e q u e n c i e s a n d
On the basis of the characteristics shown inFig,
thesetwocurvesshowtherelativecontributions to be
15, the distortionpower-deliveringcapacityof this
expected, undervery
severeconditions, from various
amplifieris down approximately 6 db at 20,000 cycles
frequency bands and ranges.
whilethelowlevelresponse Is flattoapproximately
T h e SO Watt 1614 Tube P o w e r A m p l i f i e r l e n d s
100,000 cycles.Theoreticalandexperimentalinvestiga-
itself
readily to thecontrol of its power-delivering
tions on both a qualitativeandquantitativebasis Were
capacity withoutappreciably affecting its ]OW l e v e l
made to determine the adequacy of this power-delivering
frequencyresponse or its middlefrequencydistortion
capacity. It isthepurpose of theappendixtodiscuss
characteristic.Curve A, in Fig. 20 i s t h e 2% d i s t o r t i o n
these investigations.
power-delivering capacity of the amplifier. Curves and
Sivian, Dunn,and White‘ andothershaveshown 6 , areexperimental2%
distortion
power-delivering
that mostofthepowerinspeech,song,andmusic is capacitycurves for t h i s a m ea m p l i f i ewr h e niw
t as
contained in
the
fundamental tones
with
frequencies loadedwith .005 microfarad and microfarad capaci-
below 3000 The power levels of the higher frequency torsrespectivelybetweeneach of the 1614 t u b e p l a t e s
fundamentaltonesand of theharmonics of t h e lower aad B+. For curve A the totalprimary interwinding
frequency fundamentals decrease rapidly as thefrequen- capacitance is ,010microfarads,forCurve I3 it is
cies become greater than 3000 cs.Curve D i n Fig. 20 is microfarads,andforCurveC it is microfarads.
anadaptation of datapresented by Sivian, Dunn, and Curves A,, E,, and C, arethecorrespondinglow level
Whitewith regardsto a 75pieceorchestraplaying frequency response
characteristics obtained with a
different types of musical selections. In the original data constantinputvoltage.The400csharmonicdistortion
theaudiofrequenciesweredividedintosuitablebutnot forailthreecaseswasidenticallythe same as t h a t of
equal bands, and for each of these bands the instantane- Curve in Fig. 11. T h e l o a d i n g c a p a c i t o r s w e r e c o n n e c t -
ous peak power was recorded, This was done for each of ed with a rotary s w i t c h w h i c h m a d e i t p o s s i b l e t o s w i t c h
thefourmusicalselectionsand formanyother sources from any one conditiontoanyotherconditionwithout
of sound. The adaptation of this data consisted in taking going through the remaining condition.

6Sivian, Dunn, and White, “Absolute amplitudes and spectra of Several full orchestra passages were recorded from
certain musical instruments and orchestras,” ]OW. ACOUS.SOC. Lp recordstotapewith a M a g n e c o r dT a p eR e c o r d e r
Arner., vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 330-371; January, 1931. operatingat 15 inches/second. The t a p e s w e r e c u t i n t o

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 PROFESSIONAL GROUP ON AUDIO 59
fourfootlengthswhichweresplicedintorings SO that mately 3 db below Curve A. T h i s s a m e r e g i o n i s s e e n to
theycouldbeplayedoverandoverwith a onesecond correspond to humpsinbothCurves D and E. These
deadintervalinbetweentopermitswitchingofthe humpsareprobablyexaggerated by themannerinwhich
amplifiercapacitanceload. The Magnecordoutputwas the
“Maximum Severity’’ data was adapted from the
used a sa ni n p u t to thepoweramplifierandwasalso original data but there is ample evidence that the 2000 to
connected the
tohorizontaI deflectionsystem of a 2800 cycle/secondband makes anappreciablecontribu-
cathode-ray oscilloscope. The vertical deflection system tion to the power content of the composite signal. Beyond
of thecrowasconnected to the poweramplifier output this band Curves A, a n d B, safely override the band level
andthe variousgaincontrolswereadjustedfor a 45Q
66
hlaximumSeverity”compositecurves. A11 three of the
traceon the face of thecro.Distortionlessoperation Curves A,, B,, a n d C, a r e s e e n t o d r o p off at a lower rate
wascharacterized by a straight diagonal trace with thanthecyclelevel “Maximum Severity”compositein
slighttendencytowardsanellipsedue to the higher the high frequency range.
audiofrequencies. Middlefrequency
distortion was
characterized by horizontal extensions at the tips of the
diagonallines.Highfrequencydistortionwascharacter-
ized by small loops, similar to musical half note marks,
a t t h e t i p s of the diagonal lines.
Foreachsection of tapetheinputleveltothe
poweramplifier w a s a d j u s t e d thattheamplifierjust
failed to clip peaks at t h e h i g h e s t l e v e l p a s s a g e o f t h i s
section when the condition of Curve A was used. Switch-
ingtheamplifier to theconditions of Curves B a n d C
produced correspondingly larger
indications of high
frequencydistortion.Reductionsininputlevelranging
between x a n d 1 dbwerenecessary to eliminatethe Fig. 2 2
distortionfor the condition of Curve B. R e d u c t i o n s in
input level ranging between and 3 db were necessary to This amplifierwasusedinlisteningtestswith
severalcombinations of fullfrequencyrangeequipment
and LP recordscontainingfullorchestrapassages.In
some of t h e s e t e s t s t h e i n p u t l e v e l w a s a d j u s t e d t o j u s t
fail to produce peak clipping during the most severe full
orchestra passages with the condition of Curve A. In t h e
remainder of the t e s t s a highlevel was maintainedbut
this level
was
belowthe peak clipping region. The
transition between conditions B, and C w a s n o i s e l e s s
andinno case wastheaudienceable to d e t e c ta n y
difference between the three conditions.
The spectrum of a cs square wave, having a
total power of O’db, is shown up to the 11th harmonic by
the arrowsmarked F inFig. 20. Thecomponentsabove
kchavebeenleftout toavoidconfusioninthe
diagram but their effect can be understood by recognizing
that only odd harmonics are present and that the spectrum
level of a squarewavedrops off a t a 6 &/octave rate.
Fig. 21 Effect of capacitanceloading on square wave re- Several of the harmonics of this wave are in the audible
sponse of amplifier. frequencyrangeandthedrop-offrate of theharmonics
doesnotdiffer much from thebandlevelandcycle
eliminate the ‘distortion for the condition of Curve C. In level ‘(Maximum Severity’’ composite characteristics.
all c a s e s the distortion shown by the condition of Curve The behaviour of the amplifier conditions to. a full level
A w a s of themiddlefrequencypeakclippingvariety. squarewaveinputsignalcouldbeusedforcomp’arison
Listeningtestsmadeatfulllevelfortheseconditions purposes to interpret the high frequency power delivering
showed in
general that a slight difference could be capacity of other power amplifiers.
detectedbetweentheconditions of Curves A and C but The oscillograms in Fig. 21 were obtained by the
there w a s noconclusiveagreement as to whichrepre- application of a 2.5 kcsquarewave to theamplifiers
sentedthebetteroperatingcondition. In theregion of correspondingtoCurves B, a n d C in Fig. 20. T h e
2500 cycles/second Curve B is s e e n to be approximately input signal used in the upper 4 waves was equal to t h a t
1 db below Curve and Curve C is s e e n to be approxi- required t o produce 50 w outputat250cs.Thepower

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 60 TRANSACTIONS OF THE I.R.E.
present in the output was slightly less than SO w because a transition range where it is p o s s i b l e to detect incipient
of the sloping sides of the output waves. The input signal loss of high frequency program material with instruments
u s e d for the lowest wave was 6 dbbelow that used for but the loss involved is still insufficient to be detected
theothercurves. The topcurveisused for reference from listening tests. Although further investigations will
and represents the application of the output of the square bemade, it a p p e a r s r e a s o n a b l e at thispointtoassume
wavegeneratordirectlytothecro with thesamegain that
an
amplifier will have adequate high frequency
control settings that were used in all of the other tests. power-deliveringcapacityif it canreproduce a2.5 k c
The risetimesbetweenthe 10% and 90% points square wave at full signal level with a rise time of less
are tabulated below: than 40 microseconds between the 10% and 90% points of
the wave. T o a v o i d t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of audible interrnodula-
SignalRise Time (10%to 90%)
tioncomponentsdue to thecombination of ringing a d
CP -P’ Level
(microseconds) 4% of period) high audiofrequencies, the ringingamplitudeshould be
(microfarads) relativelysmalland the ringingfrequencyshould be
.Dl0 db 22 5.5 relatively high.
20 0 db 44 11.0
0 db 92 23.0
It has beenshown that the amplifier discussed in
db 36 9
this paper has adequate high frequency power-delivering
(direct from sq. wv.
capacityfor all normallyencounteredaudiofrequency
to gen. CRO) db 2.5 .63
signals. The middleandlowfrequencypower-delivering
The wave for condition ( C p - p mfd) shows a capacity and the transientresponseare all excellent.
relatively large amount of rise time for full signal opera- The harmonic and
intermodulation distortion are uni-
tionbutthisrisetime is reducedto less than half its formlylowandcould be furtherreduced at t h e e x p e n s e
original value when the signal level is reduced by 6 db. o f requiring additional input signal. All of these perform-
All of the waves are characterized by extremely small ance features have been achieved with a structure which
amount of ringingwhich is an indication of goodlow i s compactandrelativelyinexpensive and capable of
level frequency response, withstandingunusualabnormalconditions,such as f u l l
It appears from the tests discussed previously that signal input with short circuited load, without damage to
the condition of Curves B ( C p - p ,020mfd)represents the amplifier itself,

THE CASCODE AS LOW NOISE AUDIO AMPLIFIER*

H. Lee P r i c e
Magnecord, Incorporated
Chicago 10, Illinois

The improvement of signal-to-noise ratio has noiseratiogreaterthan dbwith an a m p l i f i e rw h o s e

always been a major problem to engineers engaged in the equivalent input noise level is -115 dbrn.
development and design of highqualityaudioequipment. Noiselevel is a particularlyseriousproblemin
F a c e d w i t h the limitations of the maximum signallevel recording.
The
development of m o d e pr nr o f e s s i o n a l
obtainablefromtransducerstogetherwiththe minimum quality tape recording has greatly increased the signal-
accompanying amplifier
noise
level,
improvements
in to-noiseratiowhich i sg e n e r a l l ya v a i l a b l ei nr e c o r d e d
signal-to-noiseratiosovertheyearshavebeenmade form.
slowly by improvementsintransducersandamplifiers. Even here noise is s t i l l a problem, even when it
For example, a microphone with a maximum output signal i s 50 to 60 db belowthesignal, a c a r e f u ll i s t e n e rc a n
level of -55 dbm obviouslycannotachieve a signal-to- detect it. The output from multi-channel and narrow track
t
headsisrestricted by theavailabletrackwidthand the
*Manuscript received February 9, 1954; See also Ii. J. N’oll and resultingsignal to n o i s er a t i oi st h e nu s u a l l yl i m i t e d
F. L. Putzrath, note on noise in a u d i o amplifiers” in t h i s by theamplifierinputstagenoiselevel.Most of the
issue. These two papers are being publishedsimultaneously
s o that readers may have the benefit of both points of view. recent work on theimprovement of signal-to-noise r a t i o
Editorial Committee. has beeninthedirection of i n c r e a s e ds i g n a lo u t p u t by

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