A COMPACT 70W CLASS-H .

AUDIO AMPLIFIER MODULE

.- · - .

Based on a Philips TDA1562Q IC, this compact audio

amplifier module can deliver up 70W into a 4-ohm load
when powered from a 12V car battery. It's just the shot
for use in a portable PA, a tiny sub-woofer amplifier, a
busking amplifier or a car audio amplifier.
By RICK WALTERS

O
UR NEW MIGHTY MIDGET mini/midi audio components and TV RMS, while the signal-to-noi se ratio
Amplifier can really pack a sound. is better than 95dB unweighted (22Hz
punch - aroun d 36W RMS to 22kHz).
continuous into a 4-ohm load when Specifications The frequency response is virtually
using a 13.8V supply. However, it's The specifications panel and the ruler flat from 28Hz to 55kHz.
the 70W of output power that it can · accompanying graphs show the per­
deliver during dynamic (music) si g­ formance of our prototype, a s meas­ Pumping it out
nal conditions that really make you ured on our Audio Precision test gear. So how does it achieve such high
,,�-

sit up and take notice. Note that the total harmonic distor­ output powers when powered from a >:':

As can be se e n from the photos and tion is typically less than 0.2% at 1kHz 13.8V rail? Well, it employs a few ')1
the circuit diagram, the Mighty Midget for output powers up to about 16W c
uses just a handful of parts. It's built 1���t'. ;��"i��;5t:�
�/c�l�·:�Iiz1\� ·_�·.:-_,•. _·1:
r 1

on a PC board that mea sures jus t
104mm x 39mm but whi le its size
may be mod est, these's nothing at all
modest about its power output. And
the noise and distortion figures are
pretty good too.
At the heart of the c ircuit is the
TDA1562Q IC, described by Philips
as a "monolithic integrated Bridge­
Tied Load (BTL) class-H high-effi­
ciency power amplifier". It comes in a
_17-pin "DIL-bent-SIL" plastic pack­
age and is not only designed for use in
car audio and portable PA work but
for mains applications as well; eg,
16 SIUCON CHIP
incorporates two power amplifiers in -••-.. -.•• •
· PERfORM�NCE , · - its package and these are operated in i\ifi "'
bridge mode to boost the available . :iiJ .
output power. Fig.1 - the block d ia-.
gram of the TDA1562QIC-shows the• ;�, lfj ·
g eneral idea. ' -· ; ,'/
.
Normally, if we have just one am:,};1, ·;,
pl i fier stage operating from a 13.BVL· ••; · '·.•. . ·•
supply, the maximum power that cal\ ··-. c�/', . 1 . ·­
be delivered into a 40 load is about /)le:• ·
6W. The reason for this is that thf>
. maximu1n voltage "swing" possjble_�}­
from a 13.8V supply is 6.9V in the;'}'
positive direction and 6.9V in the nega'.'-­
tive direction. This is equivalent ioJ\
••••• •"••�";
www.siliconchip.com,;,ll
H operation. In class-H operation, the protection, good supply ripple rejec­
input signal is monitored and the sup­ tion and static discharge protection.
ply rail is constantly adjusted to pro­ There are also no switch-on or
vide just enough voltage for optimum switch-off plops and the output is au­ 1 f'C board, code 0 1203021 ,
·operation of the output devices. tomatically muted if the supply, volt­ 1 04 x 39mm
By contrast, class-G operation in­ age drops below the minimum operat­ 1 1 -metre length of 1 mm-dia.
volves rnonitoring the input signal and ing level. The thermal overload p ro­ enamelled copper wire
switching the - output stage between tection works by automatically switch­ 1 heatsink (eg, Jaycar HH-8566
two different. supply rails, as required. ing the device from class-H to class­ & HH-8572; DSE H-3460;
In this scheme, the (class-AB] output AB operation if its case temperature Altronics H-0560 & H-0522)
stage is normally connected to the exceeds 120° c. This basicallv disa­ 2 2-way PC-mount screw
lowest rail and automatically switches bles the high-voltage supply a�d thus terminal block (5.08mm pitch)
to the higher rail for large signal peaks. limits the output power to less than 4 PC stakes
So which of the two schemes is it? zow. 2 15mm x SBA machine screws
Philips label the TDA1 562Q as a class­ 2 6BA nuts
H amplifier and we are inclined to Circuit description 4 6BA washers
agree with this although we still don't Refer now to Fig.2 for the complete Heatsink compound
know the exact mechanism of the "Lift circuit details of the Mighty Midget Semiconductors
Supply" circuitry. No matter - which Am plifier. Apart from the TDA1 562Q 1 TL072 dual FET op amp (IC1)
ever label is used, it's very effective at itself (IC2), there is a dual op amp IC 1 TDA 1 5620 BTL power
boosting the output power. (!Cl), two air-cored inductors and a · amplifier (IC2) WC:S /7:,_. �
Another advantage of class•H (or few resistors and capacitors.
class-G) operation is that it reduces Op amps !Cla and IClb together Capacitors
dissipation in the output stages by function as a phase splitter. These 2 4700µF 1 6VW PC-mount .­
about 50% . That's because the output stages are necessary to provide a dif­ electrolytic
stages operate at low voltage for most . ferential input to the .amplifiers in 1 2200µF 25VW PC-mount ......­
of the time when the amplifier is !CZ, both of which have their inputs at electrolytic
driven by music signals. This means pins 1 & 2. 2 1 00µF 25VW PC-mount .......-
that the heatsink size can be greatly As shown, the input signal is fed.to electrolytic
reduced. pin 3 of lCla. This functions as a non­ -+&.:3::lµF MKf poli, ester
By the way, all switching from class­ inverting amplifier with a gain of 2.4, l;l"0.22µF MKT polyester
AB to class-H operation (and vice as set by the 47kn and 33kQ feedback 4 0.1 .,,F monolithic ceramic
versa] takes place at zero crossing resistors [ie, Gain 1 + 47/33), Its Resistors (0.25W 1 %)
points of the input signal. This is done output is AC-coupled to pin 2 of IC2
2 47kfl 4 1 0kO
to eliminate switching artefacts, which via a O. lµF capacitor and drives !Clb
1 33kO 2 2.20 1 W
could otherwise cause distortion in which is wired as an inverting unity
the output signal. it's a very effective gain amplifier.
technique - we could find no traces of !Clb in turn drives pin 1 of IC2 via
switching noise whatsoever, a 0.lµF capacitor. As a result, the sig­ Bias for IC1a & !Clb is provided by
nal on pin 1 is inverted (180 ° out of a voltage divider consisting of two
A rugged device phase) compared to the signal on pin 1okQ resistors. The resulting half-sup­
Another goo d thing about the 2 and so we·get true differential drive ply voltage (Vcc/2) is then filtered
TDA1562Q is that it is virtually inde­ to IC2, with a gain of 2.4 for each using a lO0µF capacitor and is di­
structible (within ltmits). It's output input. The input impedance for each rectly connected to pin 5 of !Clb. It
stage is short-circuit proof (either to pin is 75kO (with respect to Vref) and also biases pin 3 of !Cla via a 47kO
ground, the supply rail or across the so the low-frequency rolloff with 0.1µF resistor and this ensures that pin 1
load) aud it features thermal overload input capacitors is about 20Hz. swings symmetrically about V cc/2.

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www.siliconchip. com.au MARCH 2002 19