UNIVERSITY OF PERPETUAL HELP SYSTEM DALTA LAS PINAS

College of Engineering

Electronics II Laboratory

Audio Amplifier
Project 1

Group Members

Nikolay Nikolaev
Joanna Christel Manghinang
Mia Dianne Calva

Instructor

Engr. Jayson Rogelio

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

An audio amplifier is an electronic device that increases the strength (amplitude) of

audio signals that pass through it. An audio amplifier amplifies low-power audio signals
to a level which is suitable for driving loudspeakers. The input signal of an audio
amplifier may only measure a few hundred microwatts, but its output may be tens or
even thousands of watts. Design parameters for audio amplifiers include gain,
frequency response, distortion and noise.
Applications for audio amplifiers include home audio systems, concert and theatrical
sound reinforcement and public address systems. The sound card in a personal
computer, every stereo system and every home theatre system contains one or several
audio amplifiers. Other applications include instrument amplifiers such as guitar
amplifiers, professional and amateur mobile radio and portable consumer products such
as games and childrens toys.

ANALYSIS

The BJT transistor is a current amplifier when the base emitter voltage is 0.6~0.7V like a
diode drop. The collector-base is also a diode but is only lightly doped and reverse
biased to function as a base current controlled current amplifier. We use impedance to
convert current to voltage gain in the 1st stage and the second stage is needed to
amplify current to drive higher power (low resistive) loads.
The 1st stage we call "H biased" as it resembles the schematic, where the 2 input base
resistor ratio sets the base then the emitter voltage is 0.65V lower and thus the emitter
DC current can be predicted from hFE.
From the collector emitter ratio there is more drop on the collector so for the same
current, there is now a voltage gain for DC as well as AC. BUT since the Emitter
capacitor provides a much lower "impedance: This ratio for AC is much higher and is
limited by the internal emitter resistance (not shown in schematic). We can estimate the
voltage gain by looking at the specs and estimate the internal resistance for Re. This
works well for small input signals less than 10% of the Vbe drop, since for AC the
emitter cap does not allow much voltage swing. 100mV max is already distorted quite a
bit. So we are converting voltage to current with impedance (V=I*R) and thus using the
collector output amplifying voltage with impedance ratio and current gain of the
transistor.

In the 2nd stage it is pure current gain and the ac voltage on the emitter matches the
base as long as the Vbe stays at 0.6~0.7Vdc. Putting too much (too low value) of a load
like 8 ohms wont work on a 1Kohm emitter bias and will fail. Because the transistor
were actually controls the current by pull-up to the supply. The resistor must pull down in
order for the amplifier to be bi-directional for AC signals. With no emitter resistor to
ground the emitter voltage would just float at the maximum AC voltage like a positive
peak detector.
Thus common speaker amplifiers use complementary pair output schemes with PNP
and NPN devices. Since the collector resistance is about the same as the input
resistance, we say it is more a voltage amplifier, whereas the 2nd stage with emitter
output is a current amplifier with < unity voltage gain. The ac load must not be < than
the DC resistor.

METHODOLOGY
In order to test ideas about how will an audio amplifier works, here is the schematic
design with detailed explanation for each component parts .
Schematic design

Components
C1
R1
R2
R3
Q1
R4
Q2
R5
C2
C3

Component Name
CAPACITOR 1
RESISTOR 1
RESISTOR 2
RESISTOR 3
TRANSISTOR 1
RESISTOR 4
TRANSISTOR 2
RESISTOR 5
CAPACITOR 2
CAPACITOR 3
SPEAKER

Component Value
0.47 uF
220K OHMS
27K OHMS
10K OHMS
2N3403
1.5K OHMS
2N3403
1K OHMS
47 uF
33 uF
2 OHMS

C1: This is a coupling capacitor which allows the AC signal to pass but blocks
DC. It protects the microphone's coil from receiving a DC current from the
amplifier's bias circuit and protects the amplifier's bias circuit from being disturbed
by the impedance of the microphone. C1 transmits the voltage fluctuations from the
microphone, superimposing them upon the bias voltage between R1 and R2.

R1 and R2: These resistors form a voltage divider, establishing a voltage-divider

bias for the base of transistor Q1. From a 9V power supply, R2 will develop about
1V. That's enough to forward bias the base junction of Q1, turning the transistor on.

Q1: This BJT is the heart of the first amplification stage, a common-emitter (CE)
voltage amplifier. Its job is to transform variations in the base current caused by the
microphone voltage variations arriving over C1 into current variations through the
collector-emitter circuit R3, R4 and C2.

R3: This is the load resistor for the CE voltage amplification stage. Variations in
current controlled by Q1 cause R3 to develop a voltage. This voltage is the output
of the Q1 stage, directly conveyed to the base of Q2. The voltage is inverted with
respect to the microphone signal. When the signal swings positive, more current
flows through R3, developing a greater voltage drop. The top of R3 is pinned to the
9V power rail, so more voltage drop means that the bottom of R3 swings more
negative.

R4: This emitter resistor provides feedback to stabilize the DC bias of Q1. The
bias provided by R1 and R2 turns on Q1 using a voltage of about 1V, mentioned

above. This causes current to flow through the transistor. This current causes a
voltage in R4. The transistor "rides" on this voltage. So the voltage opposes the 1V
of bias. According to some rule of thumb calculations, R4 will develop about 0.3V,
which is the voltage that is left over when we take the 1V bias voltage between R1
and R2, and subtract the base-emitter voltage drop of 0.7V. This 0.3V over 1500
ohms means that about 0.2 mA of collector current will flow through the transistor,
at quiescence. This bias current also flows through the 10K R3 resistor, where it
gives rise to a voltage of 2V. So the output of Q1 is biased approximately 2V below
the 9V power rail.

C2: This capacitor bypasses the R4 resistor for AC signals. The R4 resistor has
the effect of feedback. The amplified current passes through R4 and develops a
voltage, and Q1 rides on top of this voltage. The voltage being amplified is the
difference between the input and the emitter. So R4 provides negative feedback,
which reduces gain. By introducing C2, we get rid of this feedback for AC signals.
AC signals do not experience negative feedback, and so the gain is much higher for
those signals. R3 and R4 provide a stable DC bias for Q1, and C2 "cheats" around
it, creating a higher gain for AC, so that the amplifier has a wider swing around the
bias point (which, recall, is about 2V below the power rail). A lot of voltage gain is
needed because microphones put out a rather small signal, and all the amplification
is being done by a single stage.

Q2: This transistor is set up as a current amplifying emitter-follower stage. Note

that there is no load resistor similar to R3 in the previous stage. Instead, the output
is taken from the top of the emitter resistor R5.

R5: What happens here is that the top of resistor R5 follows the voltage applied
to the base of Q2. It is simply that voltage, minus 0.7V. As the voltage at the base
swings, the voltage at the top of resistor R5 goes through the same swing. This
voltage is applied to the speaker through C3.

C3: Another blocking capacitor. It prevents DC from flowing into the speaker,
which would damage the speaker and also cause a lot more bias current to flow
through Q2, since the speaker's impedance is a lot lower than that of R5.

C2: This is a power-supply decoupling capacitor. In several places in the circuit,

AC signals return to the power supply either through the 9V rail or through the
common return (ground). These currents can develop a voltage across the internal
impedance of the power supply. C2 provides a short circuit for these AC signals.
Without power supply decoupling, current variations in Q2 could feed back into the
Q1 stage, giving rise to oscillations. C2 also helps to keep stray noise from the
power supply, such as power supply ripple, from affecting the circuit. Another way to

look at it is that the capacitor provides current in response to sudden demands by

Q2.

The Q2 stage is needed because, even though it does not amplify voltage, it amplifies
power. It does that because it is able to deliver more current than Q1. Q1 has load
resistor R3, which gives it rather high output impedance. If the speaker were connected
to the Q1 stage output, hardly any sound would come out of it because the Q1 stage
cannot maintain its voltage into just an 8 ohm load. Q2 has no collector resistor, and so
the output impedance is low. Current fluctuations flow freely from the power supply,
through the transistor's collector and across C3 to the speaker.
The Q1 stage is needed because a current driving stage like the one built around Q2
doesn't have any voltage gain. The Q2 stage alone could take the voltage from the
microphone and put it across the speaker. Now it would be better than connecting the
microphone directly to the speaker, because the microphone would be isolated from
driving the low impedance of the speaker. But, in spite of that, would simply not be loud
enough. Getting a reasonably loud sound out of the speaker requires a much higher
voltage level.
The jobs of amplifying voltage, and then amplifying the current which enables that
voltage to be put across a low-impedance load such as a speaker, are best
implemented separately.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, an audio amplifier can amplify signals from an audio source and drive a
speaker. However it should be done into two stages: The Common emitter amplifier
whereas the voltage amplification took place and the common collector amplifier which
acts as the voltage buffer.