Circulation:

41365
This Issue

Since 3/23/99

This month's issue tackles ultra-linear mode,

but without an output transformer. The design
principle is applied to line stages, headphone
amplifiers, and OTL power amplifiers.
In November, 1951 issue of Audio
Engineering, by David Hafler and Herbert
Keroes outlined a new way of using tetrodes
and pentodes, which they labeled "ultra-linear."
This article is out of copyright and is
reproduced in our new section Classic
Magazine Articles. Expect to see new (old)
articles with up coming issues of the Tube CAD
Journal.
Remember, if you have a request or
suggestion of your own for either an article
topic or circuit, please e-mail:
Editor

In This Issue
1 Ultra-Linear Output Stages
3 Line Stage Amplifier
4 The Ultra-Linear Cascode
4 OTL Power Amplifiers
6 Headphone Amplifier
9 Differential Input HP Amplifier
13 Extracting Extra PS Voltages
16 Ultra-Linear OTL Power Amplifiers
17 Heater Concerns
17 Output Stage Design
19 The Feedback Loop
E-mail
Publishing Information
611676 Glossary of Audio Terms
Glass-Ware.com Articles
Classic Magazine articles

Ultra-Linear Output Stages

Ultra-linear output stage of an amplifier

Devised in 1951 by David Hafler and Herbert

Keroes, the ultra-linear mode was created to
cure the ills of both triode and pentode
amplifiers. Each amplifier type had its
adherents. The triode amplifier boasted a
smooth, low distortion sound and a low output
impedance, but yielded only limited watts. The
pentode amplifier produced many more watts
and a more aggressive, exciting sound, but at
the cost of greater distortion and much higher
output impedance. A middle ground was
sought. If a new tube could be designed, it
would have to yield the average of the pentode
and the triode sound, argued Hafler and
Keroes. But rather than create a new tube, their
solution was to create a new transformer that
would allow the pentode to be used in a new
way.

Pentode connected

Triode connected

Pentode connected 6550

Triode connected 6550

Ultra-linear connected 6550

In a normal pentode amplifier, grid 2 sees a

constant DC voltage. In a triode connected
amplifier, grid 2 sees the same DC and varying
voltage that the plate sees, as this grid is
connected to the plate (usually through a small
valued resistor, 1k). The ultra-linear amplifier
works between these two extremes. The
method is simple: a portion of the plate
voltage's swing is fed back into grid 2 via a
low impedance tap of the output transformer's
primary winding. This voltage represents a
signal that is negative or anti-phase to input
grid's signal. Thus, the output impedance at the
tube's plate will decrease and so too its gain
and distortion. But as the DC center voltage on
grid 2 is at the same potential as the plate, the
tube will share much of the pentode's higher
potential power output, as the greatly positive
voltage on this grid will make for much greater
potential conduction at low plate voltages.
Ultra-linear operation of a tetrode or pentode,
however, was said to offer much more than just
a compromise between these two extremes. It
offered an output impedance close to that of
the triode connected pentode, a maximum
power output equal or even greater than the
strict pentode operation of the tube, a low level
distortion figure almost as low as the triode,
and a high level distortion figure lower than
the pentode. The best of all possible output
stages, argued Hafler and Keroes.
Well, maybe.
Although popular with tube amplifier
manufacturers because of the higher power
output it yields, Ultra-linear mode does not
command a large avid following the way that
triodes do. But then how many of us have
heard a single-ended, directly heated pentode
(e.g. 833), ultra-linear amplifier or a push-pull
ultra-linear amplifier without feedback?
Furthermore, many of the ultra-linear
amplifiers we have heard may have suffered
from the limitations imposed by the
transformer. I have tested a few transformers
whose ultra-linear taps seemed poorly tapped
or whose output yielded a

substantially
different
bandwidth
and
waveform fidelity than its plate leads.
Transformers are the loose cannons of an
amplifier's design.
On the other hand, if the transformer is
removed from the circuit, but the ultra-linear
mode is retained, we could more fairly judge
the ultra-linear topology. Because grid 2 is at a
more positive voltage than the cathode, it
receives some of the electron flow from the
cathode. Consequently this grid requires a low
impedance source no matter how it is
configured in a circuit. In other words, because
it is conducting current, a simple two resistor
voltage divider will not work, as the current
flow into the resistor would shift the grid 2
voltage too low. No, what is needed,
unfortunately, is a more complex circuit.

Line Stage Amplifier

As a design example of how the ultra-linear
mode can be used in a circuit that is not a
power amplifier, a line stage amplifier proves
useful. Of course, the technique used here can
be applied to phono stages, single-ended power
amplifiers, and virtually any other audio
circuit. While straight gain and a fairly low
output impedance are basic requirements of
any line stage amplifier, we will add ultralinear mode. Remember, the goal here is to
mimic the ultra-linear transformer functionality
by using resistors, capacitors, and active
devices, such as triodes or MOSFETs.

An ultra-linear line
stage amplifier that
uses a
potentiometer to
set the ultra-linear
ratio for grid 2 of
the input tube.

Ultra-linear operation of a pentode requires

two sub-functions: a sampling of the alterations
in the cathode-to-plate voltage and voltage
division of this voltage, and a low impedance
means of driving grid 2 with this signal.
Deriving the ultra-linear ratio of the output
tube's cathode-to-plate voltage requires only a
two resistor voltage divider. Ratios between
10% to 50% have been used by ultra-linear
transformers. Consequently, the resistor ratio
can be anywhere between 9:1 to 1:1. If we
stick to Hafler and Keroes's ratio of 20%
(actually, they specified 18%), the resistor ratio
will be 4:1. Thus, a 400k and a 100k resistor
will divide the plate voltage swing down to
20%. High value resistor were chosen to
prevent excessive loading of the plate. Of
course, if the plate load used is substantially
lower than usual, then substantially lower
values could be used for these resistors.
The obvious circuit choice for driving this
grid, the Cathode Follower, is the best choice.
In fact, this circuit works extremely well in this
application because the current flowing out of
grid 2 will flow into the Cathode Follower's
cathode and then to its plate on its way to the
power supply B+ connection. This means the
Cathode Follower's cathode resistor need not
be as low in value as might be first imagined,
as the Cathode Follower will source most of its
current flow from the current flowing out of
grid 2.

 The first tweak to the basic circuit so far

outlined is to add a capacitor at the end of the
voltage divider resistor string. This capacitor
will shunt away the AC signal while preserving
the DC voltage of the pentode's plate, which is
needed to establish the correct DC output
voltage of the Cathode Follower.
The second tweak is to replace the voltage
divider resistors with a single potentiometer.
The potentiometer allows for some amazing
adjustment to the pentode's mode of operation:
at one extreme we have pure pentode; at the
other, pure triode. In between these two
extremes lies ultra-linear operation.
What is the best potentiometer position? Best
for what? Best for rock and roll or best for
opera? Best for what amplifier? What speaker?
What day? What wine? What mood? This
control gives the user a choice over the sound
quality that is not frequency dependant. For the
longest time, I have wanted to build a preamp
that sported several knobs that were labeled
"Dynamics," "Darkness," and "Granularity"
and that controlled such circuit parameters as
idle current, coupling capacitor composition
(from paper to Teflon), feedback ratio (without
altering the output level by reducing the input
signal level correspondingly), and mode of
operation (triode to pentode). Imagine Stereo
Review doing a review of this preamp: "But it
measures the same no matter what the position
of the knobs!"
Since small triodes usually come two to the
envelope, a Cathode Follower for buffering the
pentode's plate from the load can be easily had.
The pentode specified in the schematic is a
favorite of mine, the 6AC7. It is a low noise,
linear pentode in a metal envelope. It requires
about 10 mA's of idle current to sound best.
Avoid the Ken Rad versions of the tube as half
of the samples I have tested have proven
severely microphonic. Alternate tubes are the
6SJ7, EF86, 12BY7, EL84, etc. One sleeper
pentode is the 6AU6, which many tube fans
regard as just being an RF tube; it isn't.

Ultra-linear
Cascode gain
stage. The two
100k resistors
return 50% of
the output
signal to the top
triode's grid and
provide a DC
bias voltage for
the top triode.

The Ultra-Linear Cascode

This circuit approximates the ultra-linear
pentode circuit by using two triodes. Like the
pentode version it boasts both lower output
impedance and distortion than otherwise, but
differs in that the top triode's grid has a very
high input impedance that is easy to drive with
just a simple voltage divider.
A further advantage this arrangement holds
over the stock Cascode is an increased
maximum output swing, as the top triode's
plate swings down, so too its cathode moves
down. This increase in output headroom would
not be needed in a preamp, but in the first stage
of an OTL power amplifier it would prove
significantly better than a stock Cascode
circuit.

OTL Power Amplifiers

Ultra-linear mode can be added to an OTL
amplifier in much the same way as it was
added to the line stage amplifier by sampling
the output and feeding this signal into a
Cathode Follower to drive grid 2. Here some
complexity intrudes into the design. How do
we derive the correct ratios of output signal for
top and bottom output tubes? The bottom tube
works in much the same way as an output tube
in a conventional push-pull ultra-linear power
amplifier. Consequently, providing the bottom
pentode's grid 2 with the right percentage of
the plate's voltage swing is easy enough to
conceptualize.

 Ultra-linear operation requires

something like 33% of the plate's
movement to be fed back into grid 2.
This can be accomplished by the same
means as was used in the ultra-linear
line stage amplifier. The top tube, on
the other hand, works with a fixed
plate voltage and a cathode the swings
up and down with the output of the
amplifier. How is ultra-linear mode to
be applied to the top tube? Before
tackling the schematic, a review of
how ultra-linear mode works is
needed. Ultra-linear mode uses a
portion of the plate-to-cathode voltage
movement to define an input signal for
grid 2 that is in anti-phase to the
signal being applied to grid 1.

Totem-Poled, ultra-linear, OTL amplifier output stage

Because the ultra-linear signal is phase

inverted to the input signal, the gain is reduced
along with the distortion and the output
impedance. In other words, it is a form of
negative feedback. If the ultra-linear signal
were in phase with the input signal, the gain
would increase but the distortion and output
impedance would increase as well; in fact, the
amplifier could easily become an oscillator.
Both grid 1 and 2 are referenced to the
cathode: present either with a greater positive
voltage and the conduction from cathode to
plate increases. So what is needed is an ultralinear signal for the top tube that will work in
anti-phase to grid 1 input signal. The key here
is to reference all voltage relationships to the
cathode. If a two resistor voltage divider
bridges output to ground and its division point
is set 66% relative to the output of the
amplifier, a +10 volt swing at the output would
equal +6.6 volts at the voltage divider's output.
Since a +10 volt swing at the output means that
the top tube's cathode has also swung +10
volts, the +6.6 volt increase in the grid 2
voltage is actually equal to -3.3 volts relative to
the cathode.

Supplying the actual voltage may help make

this clearer. In the absence of a drive signal the
cathode is at 0 volts; the plate, +100 volts; grid
1, -15 volts; and grid 2, +100 volts. Thus, the
cathode-to-plate voltage equals +100 volts; the
cathode-to-grid 1 voltage, -15 volts; and the
cathode-to-grid 2 voltage, +100 volts. In the
presence of a +14 volt pulse at grid 1, the
resulting voltage relationships would then be
that the cathode is at 10 volts; the plate, +100
volts; grid 1, -1 volts; and grid 2, +106.6 volts.
Now, the cathode-to-plate voltage equals +90
volts; the cathode-to-grid 1 voltage, -1 volts;
and the cathode-to-grid 2 voltage, +96.6 volts.
The voltage division ratio of 66% effectively
becomes 33% relative to the cathode.
A string of three equally valued resistors
gives us all the sampling of the output we need
to make a totem-poled, ultra-linear, OTL
amplifier. Two Cathode Followers and a few
capacitors and resistors complete the output
stage. Each Cathode Follower must be biased
so that its cathode voltage is roughly equal to
plate voltage of the output tube it will service.
Thus, the Cathode Follower's grids need
coupling capacitors and bias resistors.

 In the schematic shown prior, two B+

voltages are available not only to allow better
headroom for the input and driver stages but to
distribute cathode-to-plate voltages fairly for
the Cathode Followers. The top output tube's
Cathode Follower's cathode resistor terminates
into the output; the alternative layout would
have this resistor connected straight to ground.
The advantage to the first scheme lies in the
unloading of some of the required current
swing through this Cathode Follower so that it
better matches the operating conditions of the
bottom Cathode Follower. The bottom Cathode
Follower sees only 33% of the output voltage
swing, whereas the top Cathode Follower sees
66% of the output signal. By terminating the
resistor into output, the top Cathode Follower
effective sees only 33% of the signal.

Headphone Amplifiers
A tube amplifier for dynamic headphone
serves two purposes. The first, obviously, is for
driving high quality headphones, such as those
from Grado and Sennheiser. The second is that
a small headphone amplifier can be viewed as
a test run for a large power amplifier for
loudspeakers.

If a headphone amplifier does not perform

well at driving headphones, then a scaled up
version probably will not work any better at
driving your speakers. On the other hand, if the
headphone amplifier proves stable, trouble free,
quiet, low distorting, then the design concept
warrants an expanded version. Basically, the
lower the impedance of the load, the more
output tubes will be needed. Even if you do not
own a pair of quality headphones building a
scaled-down version of an OTL amplifier is a
good idea.
For example, if the final OTL amplifier will
comprise eight 6AS7s in the output stage, then
build the same amplifier but with only two
6AS7s and test it with a 32 ohm load. What
results will be indicative of what will result
with eight output tubes and an 8 ohm load.
The amplifier shown below inverts the phase
of the input signal. The feedback is taken from
the output and brought back directly to the grid
via the 100k resistor. The advantage of this
arrangement lies in the gain decreasing to unity
when the amplifier is disconnected from its
signal source. The disadvantage to this
arrangement lies in the relatively low input
impedance presented by the 48k resistor.

OTL ultra-linear headphone amplifier

Making this resistor larger in value runs the

risk of increasing the noise level.
Some have a preference for bringing the
feedback to the cathode, as was done by
Futterman in his OTL. While others do not like
the idea that the phase will be inverted by any
amplifier. (Of course, they must be putting a
great deal of faith in the recording process, the
mix-down process, the player's internal
circuitry, and their own preamp or line stage
not having already inverted the phase.) For
these tube enthusiasts, the amplifier can be
reordered.
By reversing the outputs of the Split Load
phase splitter, the amplifier will no longer
invert the input signal's phase. This will leave
the input tube's cathode as the inverting input to
the amplifier. Thus, by bridging the output to
this cathode, a conventional feedback amplifier
can be built. One liability to this approach is
that the output stage's output impedance will
greatly increase, although the open loop gain
will increase as well, which will bring the
output impedance down. A second liability is
the potentially dangerous DC offset that results
from connecting the feedback resistor to the
output from a cathode that is several volts
positive. In the large Futterman amplifier, this
was not much of a concern as the loudspeaker
can easily withstand half a volt of offset and its
low DC resistance shunts away much of the
offset voltage to ground. Headphones, on the
other hand, have much higher DC resistances
(32-600 ohms), which will not voltage divide
as deeply as the speaker and they are much
more sensitive to the DC offset. One solution is
to capacitor couple the feedback resistor to the
cathode. The value of capacitor needed for this
task is found by the following formula:
C = 159155/R/F (in microfarads)
where R equals the impedance of the feedback
resistor and F equals the low frequency cutoff.
Still, this capacitor will be on the order of 30100 microfarads, which probably will mean
more electrolytic capacitors in the signal path,
as a film capacitor would be huge.

EL86 plate curves

Although the choice of output tubes is fairly
wide, one tube stands out. An EL86 (AKA:
6CW5, 8CB5, 8CW5, 10CW5, 15CW5, 45B5,
45CW5, N119, N379, PL84, UL84, XL86)
would work handsomely. This is a real sleeper
of a tube. It is a low voltage, high current
pentode that is linear. With only 50 volts on its
plate it is able to conduct over 100 mA's of
current, which means a B+ of only 100 volts
would work with this tube. This 100 volt
power supply would also supply the heaters of
two 45CW5s in series (plus one 100 ohm
resistor).
(The EL86 makes an excellent pass device in
a series regulator. It also works well as the
shunting device in a shunt regulator, if the
output voltage is not too high: up to 250
volts.)
Alternate tubes are the 6AQ5, 6L6, 6V6,
12BY7, 12HG7 (a major sleeper, this tube has
a frame grid that gives it a transconductance
of 32 mA per volt), EL84 (6BQ5), and the
SV83. All of these tubes will yield only about
30 mA of peak output current, which although
sufficient to drive just about any headphone to
ear-aching levels, headroom is always
welcome. Possibly the coolest choice would
an amplifier entirely populated with 6BM8s.
This tube has a big following and it would
work well in this application because it comes
with its own triode for the Cathode Follower
that is needed to feed grid 2.

 The 6BM8 will also work as the input tube, as

its pentode will serve as the voltage amplifier
and the triode will work well in the Split Load
phase splitter. (I want to build this version
sometime soon, as a 2x3 array of these tubes
on a printed circuit board would certainly be
clean looking. Additionally, using all the same
tube has the advantage that they can all be
tested for noise and the winners can be placed
in the input tube position.)
If a discrete pentode, such as the EL86, is
used for the output stage, then a 6DJ8 or
12AU7 type tube can be used in the Cathode
Follower position. The 6DJ8 or a 6AQ8 will
also work perfectly as an input tube and phase
splitter.
If you wish to keep the amplifier looking
more like a Futterman, then an EF86 or 5879
would be a solid choice for the input tube. One
trick would be to feed the output directly into
grid 2 of the input tube. With the output stage
configured as a unity gain, non-phase inverting
buffer, the output signal should equal that on
the plate of the input tube. In other words, the
output signal will force the input pentode to
function in triode mode, a mode that
intrinsically entails a form of feedback. This is
a marvelously short and direct feedback loop.

OTL ultra-ultra-linear headphone amplifier

Differential Input
Headphone Amplifier
The problems of how avoid phase
inversion and how to easily apply
feedback can be overcome by switching
to a differential input stage and a bipolar
power supply. At first glance, the input
stage looks as if it functions just a
Differential
amplifier,
but
closer
inspection shows that it work more like a
Common Cathode amplifier in that the
plate of the first triode does not swing as
great a voltage as the second triode. This
is the result of feeding the output of the
amplifier back into the first triode's plate
resistor. It is this arrangement that both
equalizes the voltage swings of the
output tubes and allows both top and
bottom output tubes function as Cathode
Followers, i.e. unity gain and low Zo.
To get the logic behind this circuit, working
backwards may help. If a positive going pulse
is applied to the output of the amplifier, this
pulse will be transmitted to the top of the first
triode's plate resistor. Since the very little
voltage

Differential input stage for headphone amplifier

division occurs at the plate, the pulse is then

relayed via the coupling capacitor to the
bottom pentode's grid 1, which will force
greater conduction from this tube, which in
turn will pull down the output voltage of the
amplifier.

 As the top pentode is clearly acting as a

Cathode Follower, it will experience a decrease
in current conduction because the positive
pulse will force its cathode to be even more
positive than its grid, all of which in turn will
serve to decrease the voltage at the amplifier's
output.
So far the output stage has an output
impedance equal to 1/2 Gm, where Gm is the
transconductance of the output tubes. The
output impedance can be further decreased by
wrapping a feedback loop around the amplifier.
Here is where the second triode's grid comes
into play. This grid is at ground level and it
represents a high input impedance. These
features serve to make adding a feedback loop
easy: no additional capacitors, no critically
valued, low resistance feedback resistor.
Instead, all that is needed is a two resistor
voltage divider. While we must be mindful of
the Miller effect capacitance from the second
triode's grid to its plate, we enjoy greater
latitude in the choice of resistor values than
previously. Notice that when the positive going
pulse is forced on to the amplifier's output, the
feedback will send a correcting signal to both
output tubes. Let's follow the path.

The pulse cause the second triode to increase

its current conduction, which develops a
greater voltage across its plate resistor, which
then forces the top output tube's current
conduction to decrease, thereby pushing the
output negative. Now the pulse which caused
the second triode to increase its conduction
also causes an increase in the common cathode
resistor, which will cause the first triode to see
its cathode moving positive while its grid
remain fixed at 0 volts. The first triode
conducts less and thus its plate resistor sees
less current flowing through it, which results in
a positive pulse being fed into the bottom
output tube's grid. The bottom output tube then
conducts more current, which will work to pull
the output voltage down.
Of course, the gain of the triodes will greatly
magnify the errant pulse at the output and this
gain is what feeds the feedback. If the openloop gain of the amplifier is 10 and we feed all
of this signal back into the amplifier, the
output impedance will decrease by ten fold, as
should the distortion and noise. Furthermore
the feedback will extend the bandwidth of the
amplifier. Magic?

 Well, sort of, the problem with feedback lies

in that it can do all of these very desirable
things, but not all at once. Without a load the
open-loop gain was 10, but with a 32 ohm load
the gain may fall to 2. Now if all of the output
signal is fed back into the amplifier, the output
impedance will only be halved. But the
distortion may even be greater than in the
unloaded, open-loop state. Why? The output
stage might have left Class A operation, all of
the tubes might have left their linear region of
use, and the power supply might have begun
collapsing because of the increased current
demand and its noise component greatly
increased. In other words, the feedback could
be used to lower the output noise and extend
the bandwidth of the amplifier with no load, or
it could be used to maintain a constant unity
gain at the output in the presence of a load.
Realizing the limits of feedback to convert
sow's ear unto silk, we must make the amplifier
as close to silk as we can before we add the
feedback. This makes noise reduction of prime
importance to designing this amplifier. By
using as many noise canceling techniques as
we can, the feedback will have much less work
to do. In order to balance the output stage, the
top pentode must see no noise on its grid and
the bottom pentode must see all of the negative
power supply rail noise on its grid. Why the
dissimilar demands? In fact, there are not any.
Think in terms relative to each pentode's
cathode. The top tube's cathode connects
directly with the output of the amplifier;
therefore, its cathode should have zero noise on
it as should its grid. The bottom tube's cathode
connects to negative power supply rail;
therefore, it will share all the noise on it and,
thus, so should its grid. If both tubes have their
grids tied to their cathodes and if this two tube
series is placed across a bipolar power supply,
the noise at the junction of the two tubes will
null and equal no noise. (Imagine two rubber
bands tied together and pulled equally in
opposing directions.)

Tubes
Kits & Power Supplies
Sockets
Guitar Items

Transformers

Tools & Chemicals

Capacitors

Books
Other Parts & Supplies

Software

Restoration Products

Over 10,000 square feet of:

Tubes, books, transformers, sockets, friendly
folks, capacitors, resistors, literature, cabinet
restoration materials, friendly folks, wire,
grill cloth, gifts, tools, information...and did
we mention the friendly folks?

68 pages of products and

information (most of
which are also available
on our Web site). It's all
here!

Get our 2000 catalog

absolutely free!

 We know what is required to make this

amplifier naturally quiet: along with the music
signal, no noise on the top tube's grid and all
the negative power supply rail noise on the
bottom tube's grid. The advantage a bipolar
power supply holds over a mono-polar power
supply, is that much of the noise on each rail is
both equal amplitude and anti-phase with the
other. Of course, this assumes an equal load for
each rail voltage. This means that the midpoint
between these rails is noise free, just as the
knot in between the two rubber bands remains
still while both ends are vigorously pull to and
away from each other. (Actually, wherever we
define ground to be will also define the
reference point that against which both signal
and noise will be measured. This point,
obviously enough, has no signal and no noise
relative to itself.)
As the inputs to the differential input stage
are referenced to ground, the common cathode
resistor remains fixed at one end and at its
other end bounces up and down with the
negative power supply rail noise. This varying
voltage defines a varying current through the
resistor, which, in turn, is relayed through the
two tubes into the two plate resistors. The first
triode's plate resistor is effectively grounded at
the output of the amplifier. Thus, the noise
induced current change develops an in-phase
noise signal at the connection between plate
resistor and plate, which is then transmitted to
the bottom output tube's grid.
On the other hand, the second triode's plate
resistor is effectively connected to the positive
100 volt rail of the power supply. Thus, the
noise induced current change develops an inphase noise signal that expands and contracts
the voltage across the plate resistor to the same
degree as the positive rail voltage expands and
contracts, which effectively nulls at the plate
and the top output tube's grid.
In order for this noise nulling technique to
work requires that the plate resistors value
equal twice that of the common cathode
resistor.

Extracting Extra
Power Supply Voltages
I know that many readers will balk at the need
for an extra power supply voltage. Part of their
distaste comes from the need for an extra
transformer (or at the very least an extra
transformer winding that this extra voltage
seems to entail.) The other part is that many
find the extra power supply voltage
intellectually dishonest or at least clumsy.
"One power supply voltage is best," they tell
me. "Really, why?" is my usual response, but it
is never satisfactorily answered. Let's look into
this a little more deeply.
Well, the first half of their dislike is plain
wrong: an extra transformer or even additional
secondary winding is not needed, as the extra
power supply voltage can be derived by
voltage doubling the existing power supply (as
long as there is a center tap). The second
part...what can I say about the second part,
other than to say that the reason this Webzine
exists is to lessen the sway of things like the
second part.

A full-wave bridge center-tapped power

supply splits and rectifies the secondary AC
voltage. For example, a 140 VAC CT
transformer will yield +/- 100 volt rails. By
adding a full-wave voltage doubler circuit to
the power supply, we create the higher power
supply voltage. By adding a second voltage
doubler, if needed, we could also create a
doubled negative rail power supply voltage.
Voltage doubler circuits have received some
bad press the audio magazines. And some of
it is deserved.

Voltage doublers fall into two types: half-wave

and full-wave. Both come close to doubling the
normally rectified voltage from a transformer
winding. The half-wave version, however,
will not sustain the higher voltage under load
as well as the full-wave version. It only
receives half of the potential charging that the
full-wave does, as it only charges its final
capacitor during one half of the 60 cycle sine
wave from the transformer winding.
Half-wave
voltage doubler
circuit

Full-wave
voltage doubler
circuit

But, beyond a sagging output voltage under

load, half-wave voltage doubler suffers from
two other defects. The first is that has more
noise. The second is that this noise's
fundamental frequency is 60 Hz, which is
much harder to filter than the full-wave
voltage doubler's 120 Hz frequency (the lower
the frequency, the harder to filter). These are
definitely negative attributes, but one failing
often attributed to it, that this circuit tends to
magnetize the power transformer's core, is
false. The phrase "half-wave" confuses many.
Now, what normally happens in a full-wave
power supply is that the current flows through
the secondary winding in one direction on one
half of the AC cycle and then it flows in the
other direction the other half of the cycle: up,
down, up, down.

Full-wave
bridge
rectifier

Half-wave
rectifier
circuit

But in the simple half-wave voltage rectified

power supply shown above, the current will
flow through the secondary winding in one
direction on one half of the AC cycle and then
it not flow on the other half of the cycle: up,
off, up, off. These repeated single direction
conduction cycles are similar in effect to
hooking up a DC voltage source across the
transformer's
secondary,
which would
definitely work to magnetize the transformer's
core.
The principle of operation for a half- wave
voltage doubler, however, is different from
that of the simple half-wave rectified power
supply, being much closer to the full-wave
rectifier circuit. They share the "half-wave"
name because of noise frequency and half
cycle charging of the capacitor to which the
load attaches, but not because of the
conduction cycle through the secondary. The
half-wave voltage doubler's transformer
conducts through both halves of the AC cycle
just like the full-wave bridge rectifier circuit.

On the first half of the cycle, the capacitor

attached to the transformer's secondary is
charged and the output capacitor receives no
charging. On the second half, the both
capacitors are charged simultaneously. So the
transformer's secondary experiences a current
conduction on both halves of the cycle and is
thus not subject to the magnetizing of its core.
The full-wave voltage doubler circuit, while
it does experience conduction through both
halves of the cycle, works differently from the
half-wave version. Basically, it charges one
capacitor during one half of the cycle and then
in the second half of the cycle, it charges the
second capacitor. Because these capacitors are
in series with each other, the voltages and
frequency of the noise double.
The full-wave voltage doubler circuit reduces
to two half-wave rectifier circuits placed in
series. Now, if two half-wave voltage doublers
are placed in series, the result is a full-wave
voltage doubler. This will require three more
capacitors and four more diodes. All
capacitors must be rated for at least the full
voltage doubled rail voltage and 150% of this
value would be safer. So to the diodes must
rated for at least the full doubled voltage. (Do
not forget that this circuit only works with a
center-tapped transformer.)

What is wrong with magnetizing the core?

Transformers are able to pull off a fairly amazing feat: they are able, in a small package, to
convert one AC voltage into another. This feat works by using the magnetic field that results from
having a current flow through an inductance (the primary) engulf another inductance (the
secondary) so that an AC voltage will develop in the second inductance (secondary). While this
process does not necessarily require a core, it does greatly benefit from using a core. The core
concentrates the magnetic field so it more effectively couples to the secondary and it greatly
increases the inductance of both the primary and the secondary. But when the core becomes
saturated (magnetized), it cannot do either very well.
A toroidal transformer is particularly susceptible to core saturation, as its core is very tightly
made. On the other hand, the usual stack frame transformer's core cannot as easily be made tight
and this sloppiness creates an untended air-gap in the transformer, which will serve to reduce the
tendency towards saturation by the core. As the toroidal transformer lacks this small air-gap, it
will not withstand much unidirectional current flow before saturating.

Full-wave voltage doubler circuit

Finding a 140 CT transformer is tough, as

this is not a common value. Three fixes
present themselves. The first is to have one
custom winded. This will cost more much
more money than the off-the-shelf option,
but designing power transformers is not
secret art like designing output transformers
is. And a custom transformer quickly
becomes cheaper if you can get a few of
your friends to order one as well. The
second fix is to obtain an over-specified 120
CT transformer, as 20% regulation on the
transformer will easily bump the secondary
voltage up to 140 under a light load. The
final fix is to use two transformers in series.
This is my recommendation.
Since at least one extra winding will be
needed for supplying the heaters, a second
transformer would probably be needed
anyway. Wiring two transformers in series
is easy, as a common transformer
configuration is to have four windings on
one core.

Combing two transformers not only serves to

boRst the rail voltage, but it also serves to
flatten the aspect of the enclosure that will
house the power supply. Two flat-pack style
PC mount transformers are not nearly as tall a
single horizontal mount power transformer that
holds the equivalent windings. Furthermore,
having the two lower voltage windings
effectively center-tapped allows for easily
establishing a +/- 12 volt rails about the
ground. These rails will come in handy, if DC
servos, slow start circuitry, or startup/faults
muting circuitry are used, as these circuits will
undoubtedly use ICs in their implementation.
Of course this means the low voltage windings
must be full-bridge rectified, which we should
anyway to provide DC voltage for the heaters.

Ancillary support circuitry: DC servo to correct for DC

offsets at the output and an automatic muting circuit for
protecting the headphones from a fault condition in the
amplifier

The Real Thing:

Ultra-Linear OTL Power Amplifiers
Only the brave need apply. OTL amplifiers
have a well-deserved reputation for breaking
down and often damaging loudspeakers in the
process. This makes sense, as the protection
from the lethal voltage within a tube amplifier
is usually the isolation provided by the output
transformer. For example, if a cathode-to-plate
short occurs in a transformer coupled push-pull
amplifier, nothing much happens to the speaker
even though the tube is blown (and probably, a
handful of resistors, diodes, and wire). An
OTL amplifier, on the other hand, is like
performing a trapeze act without a net. To get
an idea how much potential energy is inside an
OTL amplifier imagine how many watts your
loudspeakers would have to endure if one of
the output shorted plate to cathode. The math
is simple voltage squared divided by
resistance:
Power = VR.
Assuming 170 volt rails in the amplifier, this
means 3612 watts into an 8 ohm speaker!
Protection circuitry helps, but there is always
the chance that it will not be fast enough.
Adding an output coupling capacitor looks like
a better idea than first imagined.
Having scared away the weak-hearted, we
can move on to describe what an ultra-linear
OTL power amplifier would look like.
Actually, a power amplifier would not look too
different from the headphone amplifier
examples already given. More output tubes,
beefier tubes throughout, much higher power
supply
voltages,
certainly,
but
not
fundamentally different in design. The first
step is to forego any temptation to build a
Class A ultra-linear OTL amplifier. Here is
why: 100 watts would require 850 watts of
plate dissipation alone. We must add to this
figure the heater and support circuit
dissipation. A stereo amplifier would trip your
house's circuit breaker at turn-on. Five channel
surround sound would require the power
company to set up one step-down transformer
for just your house.

Once we accept a lean Class AB as the only

practical choice (along with using feedback to
keep down the distortions that result from
Class AB crossover problems [or Gm doubling
effects] and to lower the output impedance),
we must determine how many output tubes we
will need. Even the most muscular sweep tube
can only conduct a peak current of about 2.2
amps (the 8908) and this peak current is only
possible with a grid 2 voltage of 250 volts.
The 6LF6 limit is about 1.2 amps. The
problem with these tubes is that they are
almost impossible to find at a reasonable cost.
This leaves the EL509/6KG6 as the only
choice.
The EL509 is the only sweep tube in current
production as far as I know and its cost is
under
$30.
Although
its maximum
recommended continuous cathode current
draw is only 500 mA, it can put out peaks of
over 1 amp. Now the question is how many
watts we want from our amplifier. The
formula for peak current demand based on
RMS watts into a load is:
Ipeak = (2 x Watts x R)
R.
Assuming 8 ohm speakers, if we want
100 watts, we will need a peak of 5 amps;
80 watts, 4.5 amps;
60 watts, 4.5 amps;
50 watts, 3.5 amps;
40 watts, 3.2 amps;
30 watts, 2.7 amps;
20 watts, 2.2 amps;
16 watts, 2 amps.
Thus, a 100 watt amplifier would need 10
EL509s to play it safe, although 8 would
probably prove adequate. This number of
output tubes results from dividing the peak
amperage by 1 amp and doubling that number,
as the amplifier must be able to swing the
peak amperage negatively as well as
positively. Of course, we should always round
up to build in some safety margin. Besides, the
more output tubes, the lower the output
impedance.

Heater Concerns
Now, where you live might help you decide
on how many output tubes to use. In Japan, 8
would be a good choice; but in the United
States, 10 would be the better choice. Why?
These numbers lend themselves to a nice
trick. One of the problems with any power
amplifier is having to feed the heater string.
The EL509 heater draws 2.5 amps. which
means given 10 tube output stage, we will
need a 25 amp at 6.3 volt tap on the power
transformer. They make such transformers, but
they are huge and the wire coming out of them
is usually something like 10 solid-core
(definitely a headache to work with).
Now, if all 10 tubes heaters are placed in
series, the total voltage requirement would be
63 volts and the current draw per heater string
would be only 2.5 amps. If the heater string
from one channel is placed in series with the
other channel's string the current draw would
still be 2.5 amps, but the total voltage
requirement for the string would be 126 volts.
126 volts is very close to the 120 volts we
have coming out of our wall sockets in the
United States. But if 8 output tubes are used
per channel, then the total series requirement
for this heater string would be 100.8 volts,
which is very close to the 100 volts wall
voltage in Japan. (Understand that running the
heaters directly off the wall voltage is not the
same thing as running the amplifier's rail
voltage directly of the wall voltage as in some
of the Futterman amplifier and many cheap
tabletop radios from the 1950s.)
Power supply used
in the some of the
Futterman OTL
amplifiers, which
used no power
supply transformer.

NOT
RECOMENDED

I would never trust the wiring to be correctly

set up throughout the house's wall sockets and
in all the audio gear that hooks to the amplifier
to forgo the safety provided by using a power
transformer. With the heaters, I am much less
nervous. The heater must be insulated from
the cathode to prevent the heater voltage from
contaminating the audio signal. Furthermore,
in spite of dealing with hundreds of tubes, I
never have found a tube that went bad because
its heater shorted to its cathode. Open heaters,
yes; shorts, no. This brings up the subject of
Christmas tree lights.

The old style string of Christmas tree lights

had a major defect: when one bulb burnt out,
it took much effort to find it, as all the bulbs
were in series, so all the bulbs went dark.
How do we spot the bad tube with an open
heater out of a group of 20? The solution is to
wire a neon bulb in parallel with each heater;
thus, if a heater opens, the neon bulb will see
the full 120 VAC and light up. While all
heaters are working, the 6 volts across the
neon bulb is not nearly sufficient to ignite the
bulb. An alternative to the neon bulb would to
use a LED in series with a small valued disk
capacitor (0.1 F).

Output Stage Design

Power output tubes are driven hard and often
the grid is driven positive relative to the
cathode, which causes the grid to conduct
current from its grid resistor. The voltage the
develops across this resistor shifts the bias
voltage for the output tubes. The usual
solution is to use a fairly low valued grid
resistor. However, if the resistor value is too
low, the previous stage will be excessively
burdened. Other solutions are to use an
interstage transformer or coupling capacitor
and choke or a Cathode Follower in place of
the usual coupling capacitor and resistor
combination.

 If feedback were not a necessity in this type

of amplifier, I would recommend the inductive
components. But the phase shifts inherent
transformer and inductor use could turn the
amplifier into an oscillator. The Cathode
Follower has the advantage of reducing the
size of the coupling capacitor needed
(although, the cathode directly attaches to the
input grids of the output tubes, the Cathode
Follower itself still sees a coupling capacitor
at its grid). It also fights the output tube's grid
from pulling up the grid voltage at input
overload. So, why not use a Cathode Follower
directly to grid 1? You certainly could, but
then you would have to make sure not to
remove or jiggle any of the Cathode Follower
tubes while the amplifier was in use.
Furthermore, always try to use as little extra
circuitry in the signal path as possible.
Besides, the first solution, using a low value
grid resistor, could offer some extra
advantages.
Instead of using one large valued coupling
capacitor (2 F) and one low valued grid
resistor (20k), we could use one smaller
coupling capacitor and one higher value grid
resistor per output tube. In other words, each
output tube would find its own individual
capacitor coupling network. This would
certainly be more expensive but worth it.

An ultra-linear
power amplifier
output stage
with individual
coupling
capacitors per
output tube.
The signal
relationships
are shown at
the left of the
schematic.

The advantage of this arrangement lies in the

added protection it offers the output tubes in
the event of a tube failure. For example, if an
output tube develops a short from its grid to its
cathode, then only this tube will conduct wildly
and glow red, as this fault cannot spread to the
other output tubes because of the DC blocking
performed by each coupling capacitor.
Additionally, this setup allows for setting the
biasing each tube individually, lessening the
need for tube matching. (Furthermore, I would
prefer to use smaller valued capacitors, as I
distrust large valued capacitors and worry
about a poorer high frequency limit due to the
increased inductance that comes from the
additional windings.)
The EL509 data sheet states that its grid 1 sees
no more than 100k resistance to the bias
voltage source. If this guideline is not followed,
we risk having the output tube break into
positive grid bias. The 100k limit must be
divided by number of output tubes used per
bank. For example, if a bank of tubes consists
of five EL509s and they all share a common
grid resistor, then 20k becomes the limit for
this resistance, or if each output tube has its
own coupling capacitor network, the total
effective paralleled resistance is 20k. This
resistance is the load impedance that the phase
splitter stage must drive.

 Now, 20k is a tough load for most miniature

tubes to drive. Consequently, very buffed
triodes like the 5687 or 6BX7 or parallel
triodes or maybe the Cathode Follower should
be used to buffer the phase splitter from this
load.

The Feedback Loop

We know we have to use feedback, but how
should it be configured? My preference is to
never extend the loop beyond more than two
active devices. Having built the same amplifier
with one global feedback loop versus two subcircuits each with its own feedback loop, I
definitely found the latter more listenable. The
cause might be found in the assumption that the
two sub-circuits better handled the clipping of
the output stage.

(A good friend of mine tells me that he

prefers the sound of an amplifier with an
undersized output transformer, say a pair of
6550s driving a Dynaco ST-35 output
transformer. He argues that output transformer
clipping is less objectionable to the ear than the
tube clipping.)
My current thinking is that mix of nonfeedback sub-circuits with feedback subcircuits might be best, for example, a hybrid
power amplifier that consists of a tube gain
stage with a moderate amount of feedback
cascading into a no-feedback, Class A, unity
gain, push-pull MOSFET output stage.

Four gain stages and one feedback loop

By dividing the amplifier into two and using

two feedback loops, only the last half of the
amplifier clipped. The first half could withstand
a much greater input signal than the amplifier
as a whole could, so even though the output
stage had begun to clip the output signal, the
input stage was putting out a clean signal.
100% feedback topology for output stage

Four gain stages and two feedback loops

My guess is that once the input signal relaxed

enough to allow the output stage to break out
of clipping mode, the output stage could more
readily snap back in line with a signal that was
not also greatly distorted. Perhaps it was
because each active device must break out
clipping, assuming a very high feedback ratio,
before the next device can do as well and all
the delays add up to a slower recovery.

One experiment worth trying is to wrap the

feedback loop only over the phase splitter and
the output stage as shown above. This circuit
could then be fed from an input that used or
did not use feedback. Notice that the input
circuit would have to swing at least all the
voltage that the amplifier put out (say, 40
volts) plus the voltage (say, 5 volts) needed to
drive the phase splitter (total, 45 volts). Still,
what vacuum tube do so well is swinging big
voltages linearly.

 Of course, about a dozen other input stages

could be used instead. The point of this article,
however, was incorporating ultra-linear mode
into an amplifier that did not use an output
transformer. Doubtless, this not the end of
articles on ultra-linear operation, OTL
amplifiers, or headphone amplifiers.

A Common Cathode amplifier input stage cascading

into a Long-Tail phase splitter that drives the ultralinear output stage.

//JRB

Audio Gadgets is software for the technically

minded audiophile. The quickest way to
understanding what Audio Gadgets is all
about is to imagine a programmable calculator
designed for the audio enthusiast. Audio
Gadgets does far too much to fit in even a
21" monitor; consequently, the notebook
metaphor is used to hold ten pages of audio
topics. Stepped attenuators to tube circuits.

Windows 3.1/ 95/98/NT

Shown above is the stepped attenuator page, which is only

one of ten audio pages.