Audio amplifier power supply design - Part

1: Power supply types & transformer

considerations
Douglas Self
7/21/2010 7:21 AM EDT
Power-Supply Technologies
There are three principal ways to power an amplifier:
1. a simple unregulated power supply consisting of transformer, rectifiers, and reservoir
capacitors;
2. a linear regulated power supply;
3. a switch-mode power supply.
It is immediately obvious that the first and simplest option will be the most cost-effective, but at
first glance it seems likely to compromise noise and ripple performance, and possibly
interchannel crosstalk. It is therefore worthwhile to examine the pros and cons of each
technology in a little more detail.
I am here dealing only with the main supply for the actual power amplifier rails. Many amplifiers
now have some form of microcontroller to handle on/off switching by mains relays and other
housekeeping functions; this is usually powered by a separate small standby transformer, which
remains powered when the amplifier supply is switched off.
The design of this is straightforward or at least it was until the introduction of new initiatives to
limit the amount of standby power that a piece of equipment is allowed to consume. The
International Energy Agency is urging a 1 W standby power limit for all energy-using products.
Simple Unregulated Power Supplies
Advantages

Simple, reliable, and cheap (relatively speaking the traditional copper and iron mains
transformer will probably be the most expensive component in the amplifier).

No possibility of instability or HF interference from switch-mode frequencies.

The amplifier can deliver higher power on transient peaks, which is just what is required.

Disadvantages

The power into 4 will not be twice that into 8 , because the supply voltage will fall
with increased current demand. On the other hand, the amplifier will always deliver the
maximum possible power it can.

Significant ripple is present on the DC output and so the PSRR of the amplifier will need
careful attention; the problem is, however, not hard (if you read the second part of this
chapter) and output hum levels below -100 dBu are easily attainable.

The mains transformer will be relatively heavy and bulky.

Transformer primary tappings must be changed for different countries and mains
voltages.

The absence of switch-mode technology does not mean total silence as regards RF
emissions. The bridge rectifier will generate bursts of RF at a 100 Hz repetition rate as
the diodes turn off. This worsens with increasing current drawn.

Linear Regulated Power Supplies

Advantages

A regulated supply-rail voltage means that the amplifier can be made to approximate
more closely to a perfect voltage source, which would give twice the power into 4 than
it gives into 8 . This is considered to have marketing advantages in some circles, though
it is not clear why you would want to operate an amplifier on the verge of clipping. There
are, however, still load-dependent losses in the output stage to consider. More on this
later.

A regulated supply-rail voltage to a power amplifier gives absolutely consistent audio

power output in the face of mains voltage variation.

Clipping behavior will be cleaner, as the clipped peaks of the output waveform are not
modulated by the ripple on the supply rails. Having said that, if your amplifier is clipping
regularly you might consider turning it down a bit.

Can be designed so that virtually no ripple is present on the DC output (in other words
the ripple is below the white noise the regulator generates) allowing relaxation of
amplifier supply-rail rejection requirements. However, you can only afford to be careless
with the PSRR of the power amp if the regulators can maintain completely clean supply
rails in the face of sudden current demands. If not, there will be interchannel crosstalk
unless there is a separate regulator for each channel. This means four for a stereo
amplifier, making the overall system very expensive.

The possibility exists of electronic shutdown in the event of an amplifier DC fault, so that
an output relay can be dispensed with. However, this adds significant circuitry, and there
is no guarantee that a failed output device will not cause a collateral failure in the
regulators that leaves the speakers still in jeopardy.

Disadvantages

Complex and therefore potentially less reliable. The overall amplifier system is at least
twice as complicated. The much higher component count must reduce overall reliability,
and getting it working in the first place will take longer and be more difficult. For
example, consider the circuit put forward by John Linsley-Hood [1]. To regulate the
positive and negative rails for the output stage, this PSU uses 16 transistors and a good
number of further parts; a further six transistors are used to regulate the supplies to the
small-signal stages. It is without question more complex and more expensive than most
power amplifiers.

If the power amplifier fails, due to an output device failure, then the regulator devices
will probably also be destroyed, as protecting semiconductors with fuses is a very
doubtful business; in fact it is virtually impossible. The old joke about the transistors
protecting the fuse is not at all funny to power-amplifier designers, because this is very
often precisely what happens. Electronic overload protection for the regulator sections is
therefore essential to avert the possibility of a domino-effect failure, and this adds further
complications as it will probably need to be some sort of foldback protection
characteristic if the regulator transistors are to have a realistic prospect of survival.

Comparatively expensive, requiring at least two more power semiconductors, with

associated control circuitry and over-current protection. These power devices in turn need
heat-sinks and mounting hardware, checking for shorts in production, etc.

Transformer tappings must still be changed for different mains voltages.

IC voltage regulators are usually ruled out by the voltage and current requirements, so it
must be a discrete design, and these are not simple to make bulletproof. Cannot usually
be bought in as an OEM item, except at uneconomically high cost.

May show serious HF instability problems, either alone or in combination with the
amplifiers powered. The regulator output impedance is likely to rise with frequency, and
this can give rise to some really unpleasant sorts of HF instability. Some of my worst
amplifier experiences have involved (very) conditional stability in such amplifiers.

The amplifier can no longer deliver higher power on transient peaks.

The overall power dissipation for a given output is considerably increased, due to the
minimum voltage drop through the regulator system.

The response to transient current demands is likely to be slow, affecting slewing behavior.