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Transformer?
N. H. CROWHURST
THERE WAS A T1ME when audio trans- circuit. The saturation density will cor- For driver transformers, where power
formers were specified simply by respond to different voltage levels at dif- must be delivered to the grid circuit,
turns ratio. An interstage trans- ferent frequencies, so the handling ca- considerably larger sizes are required.
former would be designated, according pacity of a transformer depends on the
to ratio, e.g., 3: 1 or 5: 1. But one com- frequency considered. A winding that Its Electrical Specification
ponent would give much better per- will accept 5 volts at 60 cps before dis- The transformer's electrical properties
formance, although having the same torting will accept 10 volts at 120 cps. have a direct bearing on its perform-
turns ratio as another. The modern Applying this fact to audio power ance, but the user will not necessarily
transformer manufacturer knows that transformers, a component rated to de- be bothered with them directly. His con-
there is far more to designing a good liver 10 watts over a frequency range cern is with the performance of the
transformer than just putting windings down to 60 cps will deliver considerably finished article. The principal properties
on a core so as to have the correct turns more power if the low-frequency cut-off are shown for reference at Fig. 1, which
ratio. Each design must in fact be suited is raised to, say, 240 cps. Conversely, a will assist in understanding the behavior
for the particular job in hand. To help smaller transformer may be used for the of the transformer under different con-
the prospective user, the component is same power rating if a higher cut-off ditions, and what part each contributes.
generally specified by the circuit for is employed. In practice, the fact that This is one way of representing the
which it is intended, e.g. "10,000 -ohm only signals of low level are needed at equivalent circuit of any audio trans-
plate to single grid," together with some the low -frequency end of the audio former. For convenience, the fact that
statement of frequency range. This is spectrum enables smaller transformers the transformer provides a step -up or
much more informative, but a still fur- to be employed than would be possible step -down is not shown in the diagram.
ther and more detailed understanding of if full output were required down to, This action of the transformer may be
audio transformers will enable them to say, 60 cps. regarded as perfect, its imperfections
be used to best advantage in every ap- Another factor that affects size is the being presented in the circuit values of
plication. presence or otherwise of d.c. polarizing. Fig. 1. The legend under the diagram
Any audio transformer is essentially Where plate current passes through one explains what each symbol represents.
a matching device, but no transformer winding (not in push -pull), the core be- There are four elements shown as
is a perfect matching device because it comes polarized. To minimize this polar -, shunting the transmitted signal-pri-
introduces its own losses and defects. ization, a gap is left in the core by the mary and secondary winding capaci-
It is the designer's job to see that these manufacturer, according to the intended tance, primary inductance, and core loss
losses and defects are kept to suitable current. Polarization reduces the allow- referred to the primary.
proportions. If he has done a good job, able a.c. magnetization, but the gap in There are four elements shown as in
then the user can get the best perform- the core reduces the primary inductance series with signal transmission-pri -
ance from the component by following unless the turns are increased. So to mary and secondary winding resistance.
the manufacturer's recommendations as achieve suitable primary inductance and
to circuit values. But it would not be satisfactory a.c. magnetization limits, RI
economic to design a different trans- without excessive insertion loss, the
former to suit every possible application presence of polarizing current requires
or circuit, so a standardized design often more turns on a larger core size. R
has to cover a range of uses. A perfectly For input transformers -line to grid,
good transformer, connected into a cir- or microphone to grid -size is seldom
cuit unsuited for it, will give poor re- an advantage, the best transformers la) IB)
sults, but correct understanding of the designed being of small size. For inter -
problem can help rectify these defi- stage transformers, where appreciable Fig. 2. Equivalent circuit for low- frequency cut-
ciencies. voltage swing is required, a slightly off, in a direct - coupled a.f. transformer. (A)
larger transformer may be necessary. Complete arrangement: R, = primary source
impedance; R, = secondary load impedance.
How Big Must it Bet IB) Simplified equivalent of IA) : R. parallel
A popular fallacy has been that audio combination of R,, R,, and Ra.
transformers always follow the prin-
ciple "the bigger the better." Sometimes leakage inductance, and interwinding
size is essential to quality, but for other capacitance.
applications the smaller component is All these circuit elements must be
the better one. referred to one winding when consider-
All modern transformer core mate- ing their effect. If the primary is the
rials have a well defined saturation chosen reference winding, then elements
density. Magnetization above it will con- Fig. 1.Equivalent circuit of audio transforme . actually due to the secondary winding
siderably distort the current waveform, C.= primary Lp = inductance or its associated circuit must be "re-
capacitance eakage inductan e
L. = lprimary ferred" in value by a factor of the turns
and the distortion will reflect into the Ca = secondary r, = primary resistance
capacitance ra = secondary ratio squared. Suppose the ratio is 3 : 1
82, Canterbury Grove, London, S.E. 27, Cs = interwinding resistance step -up, then secondary winding resist-
capacitance Rv = core loss referred
England. to primary ance is divided by 9 and its capacitance
of a 5: 1 step -up will give a referred R. circuit is in the form of a resonant cir-
Fig. 4 (left). Equivalent circuit for low -fre- cuit, seen more clearly as redrawn at
quency cut -off in a parallel -fed a.f. transformer: of 1 megohm divided by 5' or 25, which
is 40.000 ohms. Fig. 5, where R. is in series with the
= coupling capacitor. F g. 5 (right). Re- resonant components Cc and L,, and the
arrangement of Fig. 4 to show it resorant The shunting effect of Lp must be
circuit.
as a
considered relative to the parallel re- resistances Rp and R. are in shunt. For
sultant of R., R. and Rp. Thus (B) in this reason, larger values of R. or
Fig. 2 shows a simplified theoretical smaller values of R. increase the damp-
gauge to suit, varies winding resistance ing (or reduce the Q) of the resonant
and referred core-loss shunt in the same form of the circuit, where R is the re-
sistance of R,, R. and Rp in parallel. circuit.
proportion. Thus a winding with too few Less-than -critical damping results im
turns results in low core -loss shunt, This circuit produces a simple 6 db/
octave l.f. cut -off, of the type shown at a l.f. peak in the vicinity of cut -off.
while too many turns produces excessive Critical, or more -than -critical, damping,
winding resistance. Conversely, from the Fig. 3, in which the 3 -db point is the fre-
quency where the reactance of Lp is eliminates any tendency to peak. Choice'
user's viewpoint, connecting a trans- of suitable values for R,, R., and Cc can
former to circuits of lower impedance equal to R. Thus the cut-off frequency
can be modified by changing either Lo result in best possible operation of the
than design values introduces high series transformer in a circuit. as will he-
loss due to winding resistance, while or R. As Lp and Rp are fixed by the shown in detail in following articles.
connection to higher impedances results transformer, the remaining possibilities
in serious shunt losses due to core mag- for adjusting l.f. cut -off are R, and R.. Response at High Frequencies
netization. Reduction of the effective parallel re-
In generally, a variation of impedance sistance of these two will lower the I.f. At high frequencies the effect of Lp,.
results in a deficiency in frequency re- cut -off, extending the frequency range. and Cc if used, will be negligible, and
With a direct -coupled transformer, where any appreciable transformation
sponse as well, and the choice of the ratio is employed, one of the winding
number of turns in design must be a where the core is polarized, the core is
compromise to achieve good response to gapped so that the highest possible in- capacitances may usually be neglected.
ductance is achieved when the current Thus Fig. 6 shows the h.f. circuit equiv-
both low and high ends of the spectrum.
At low frequencies, the effect of La, for which it is designed passes through alent for a step -up transformer. while
C., C., and C. is negligible, but that of the winding. It is wasteful to work the [Continued on page 5.51'
Fig. 8 !left). Elimination SPECIAL FEATURE: The Spring Issue contains C. G. Burke's
of C. from Fig. 6, and
Fig. 9(right) from Fig. monumental research work which reviews every LP ever made of
7.
Beethoven's music. In book form, it would occupy 120 pages.
generally possible to connect the trans- HIGH -FIDELITY k a quarterly BEFORE YOU BUY HI-FI EQUIPMENT: Make it a habit to
former so as to practically eliminate the magazine, devoted to the consult the elaborately -illustrated articles in HIGH -FIDELITY on
effect of interwinding capacitance. Inter - interests of people who enjoy record players, styli, tape recorders, FM and TV tuners, amplifiers,
winding capacitance is the capacitance the best in home musical speakers, and modern decorative ideas for home installations, all
entertainment. It is a large-
between the layers of turns that are size magazine, beautifully described in non -technical language.
nearest together in the two windings. illustrated, and handsomely Mail Coupon Today! Big Spring issue now ready for mailing.
printed on Fne paper.
These layers will be turns electrically Published by
close to one end of their respective wind- MILTON B. SLEEPER e Mr. Charles Fowler, Editor, High Fidelity Magazine
ings. By connecting the windings into I 26 Audio Building, Great Barrington, Mass.
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If the ends nearest together in both
AUDIO ENGINEERING MARCH, 1952 55
windings have zero signal potential to low side of the transformer is series The internal properties of an audio
ground, the effect of interwinding ca- damping, while that connected to the transformer that set a limit to its fre-
pacitance is completely eliminated, not high side is shunt damping. Figure 10 quency range at the upper end are its
even adding to effective winding ca- shows the h.f. response due to (a) less - leakage inductance and the winding ca-
pacitance, because there is no signal than- critical damping, (b) critical damp- pacitance of the high side (including
potential across it. (Any d.c. potential ing, (c) more -than -critical damping. additional capacitance connected across
between windings will not produce ca- the winding externally, such as grid
pacitance currents.) Common cases where inadequate input and strays). The ultimate cut -off
When the effect of interwinding ca- damping gives rise to a h.f. peak are frequency is inversely proportional to
pacitance has been eliminated, the cir- interstage transformers operated in the the square root of the product of this
cuits of Figs. 6 and 7 become those plate circuit of triodes, and output trans- inductance and capacitance. Both these
shown at Figs. 8 and 9 respectively. formers for tetrode or pentode tubes. quantities increase with the size of the
Now, as in the 1.f. case, each circuit be- Careful attention to the circuit can elim- transformer so it is clear that smaller
comes a simple resonant circuit, in inate an undesirable peak or loss and transformers have an inherently higher
which the impedance connected to the produce the best possible response. frequency range.
FIFTH PRINTING
o
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AND STILL GOING STRONG! 10
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audio
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Paper cover .
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The long awaited compilation of reprints from early issues of
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