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The Audio Amateur 0 May 1976

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Angel Di Luciano
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31 views6 pages

The Audio Amateur 0 May 1976

Uploaded by

Angel Di Luciano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
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dneAudio /NOMAUCWL oy a ON/OFF SWITCH. "SPEED CONTROL NIZVOVIN JOWLSAA LON Oa “6166 wHO4 sa ERY ‘85460 THN Npnanoginig “SU og anemy ONY “Lapua oy pedo ofoyh wuman anajg paswmerend Bewod wns gRDNYSPUN J =U % the Sanders ELECTROSTATIC AMPLIFIER by ROGER R. SANDERS R COMPLETING MY electrostatic speakers and KEF/transmission Tine woofers, it becane tine ES lonsider an amplifier for the ESLs. I had been using a Wiildanson "win 20" driving sone old output transformers (in reverse) with ex- cellent results. A direct coupled amplifier offered « small, but per ceptible inprovenent as denonstrat~ fd by direct sonic comparison with David Heraeyer's original high voltage, direct coupled electro- Static amplifier (see Issue #4, 1972 series, p.9). AS this project was designed to offer the finest Sound quality, I felt any inprove~ nent possible should be inclivted, When I decided to use a direct, coupled amplifier I had to face the problen of building one, of course Unfortunately, Dave's original de- sign vas unacceptable to se. My Feasons? It is physically just too huge, it wastes. too mich electric ity, and it puts out enormous anounts of heat. My wife is not ex actly Keen on Dave's anp either, The Audio Amateur for all the above reasons and be- cause she thinks it is ugly. (Beauty ie in the aye of the be- holder, perhaps.--E2.) 1 affectionately nicknamed his amp "The City of New York," since inva dim room the tubes glow unite hot like Iight bulbs and the neon Lights flicker on and off--1t looks Like a city after dark. Dave tells ne that a friend of his has named his version "The Monstrous Behe- noth." I suspect some TAA readers who have built this amp have naned itworse things than that! ‘At any rate, it was unacceptable, and I began a’ search for a class AB amplifier that would be mich more efficient. Jin Welsh, a friend of mine, designed a unique class AB, direct coupled amp, but it required output and driver chokes. Tt ap- poared quite difficult to build ‘ith Rand wound chokes and probably Somewhat higher distortion than Nerneyer's design. T discussed the situation with Dave and he (as always) was most helpful, He suggested a saaiter tube with either reduced voltage or current, resulting in an aaplifier both snaller and less wasteful of heat. T took a series of voltage snd current moasurenonts under dy- namic conditions playing music” through ay speakers. I determined that although T would need the same Voltage, T could reduce the current by SOW and Seill not clip the. amp on ny system at. 100d8 pesk SPLs 8s easured from ny Listening seat shout 5 meters fron the speakers. This 1s considerably louder than concert hall level, and sounds mich too loud to me. It gave me assur ance that I had enough power to play any nisie T'might wish at any Jove I night wish without clipping hg amp at any’ tine, I nade my nedsurenents by calibrating an os- Cilloscope to 1.4 tines the voltage (or current) as related to sine aves being aeastred on # VIM ond then watching the scope while music vas played. T found Ivnecded.2KV at Slightly over 25na. Note that these fre peak, not 24S values. ‘As Hermeyer's anp used’ SSna of piste current, it was clear that an Identical anpiifier could be bustt Which could operate at the sane 2-28 with S08 of tho plate current (27.5na). T chose the cheap and ef fective 8068 tube, nade modest changes in the amplifier circuitry to handle the slightly different tube paraneters, and built ay pro- totype. Tt worked exactly as 1 ex pected with no problems at all. Wy Son of Bchenoth amplifier weighs 57-pounds, compared to Dave's 10st Teas much smaller, about the size of an Audio Resear 0.76 oF & Crown 0C-3008. Tt fits a standard 19" rack nount panel, 8°5/4" high and 10" deep. Most in- portant, rather than dissipating S00 watts, ny unit dissipates ere 290. "This 1s roughly equival- ent to a tube anp of about 60 watts Por channel. T do not have the necessary test ear to neasure the perforaance of ‘the amp, Dut I expect it 0 be equal £0, oF slightly better than the original design, for reasons T Delleve will becone clear further on in this article. Sonfcally it is Superb, with the most noticeable inprovenent over ny transformer coupled drive being & much eighter and nore detailed midrange and up- Per bass. The total sound is, Slightly’ snoother, free from grain, fnd'a subtle veil is lifted

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