Class A power amplifier.

Class A power amplifier is a type of power amplifier where the output

transistor is ON full time and the output current flows for the entire cycle of
the input wave form. Class A power amplifier is the simplest of all power
amplifier configurations. They have high fidelity and are totally immune to
crossover distortion. Even though the class A power amplifier have a handful
of good feature, they are not the prime choice because of their poor
efficiency. Since the active elements (transistors) are forward biased full
time, some current will flow through them even though there is no input
signal and this is the main reason for the inefficiency. Output characteristics
of a Class A power amplifier is shown in the figure below.

From the above figure its is clear that the Q-point is placed exactly at the
center of the DC load line and the transistor conducts for every point in the
input waveform. The theoretical maximum efficiency of a Class A power
amplifier is 50%. In practical scenario, with capacitive coupling and inductive
loads (loud speakers), the efficiency can come down as low as 25%. This
means 75% of power drawn by the amplifier from the supply line is wasted.
Majority of the power wasted is lost as heat on the active elements
(transistor).As a result, even a moderately powered Class A power amplifier
require a large power supply and a large heatsink.
Class A power amplifier circuit.

The circuit diagram of a two stage single ended Class A power amplifier is
shown above. R1 and R2 are the biasing resistors. They form a voltage
divider network which supplies the base of the transistor with a voltage 0.7V
higher than the negative maximum amplitude swing of the input signal.
This is the reason behind the transistor being ON irrespective of the input
signal amplitude. Capacitor Cin is the input decoupling capacitor which
removes the DC components present in the input signal. If Cin is not there,
and there are DC components in the input signal, these DC components will

be directly coupled to the base of the transistor and will surely alter the
biasing conditions.
Rc is the collector resistor and Re is the emitter resistance. Their value is so
selected that the collector current is in the desired level and the operating
point is placed at the center of the load line under zero signal condition.
Placing operating point as close as possible to the center of load line is very
essential for the distortion free operation of the amplifier. Cc is the coupling
capacitor which connects the two stages together. Its function is to block
passage of DC components from first stage to the second stage.
Ce is the emitter by-pass capacitor whose function is to by-pass the AC
components in the emitter current while amplifier is operating. If Ce is not
there, the AC components will drop across the emitter resistor resulting in
reduced gain (degenerative feedback). The most simple explanation is that,
the additional voltage drop across Re will get added to the base-emitter
voltage and this means additional forward voltage is required to forward bias
the transistor.
Cout is the output coupling capacitor which couples the output to the load
(loud speaker). Cout blocks the DC components of the second stage from
entering the load (loud speaker). The Coupling capacitor Cout, Cin and Cc all
degrades the low frequency response of the amplifier. This is because these
capacitors form high pass filters in conjunction with the input impedance of
succeeding stages resulting in the attenuation of low frequency components.
Input and output waveforms of a two stage RC couple amplifier is shown in
the figure below.

Advantages of Class A power amplifier.

Class A design is the simplest.

High fidelity because input signal will be exactly reproduced at the

output.

Since the active device is on full time, no time is required for the turn
on and this improves high frequency response.

Since the active device conducts for the entire cycle of the input
signal, there will be no cross over distortion.

Single ended configuration can be practically realized in Class A

amplifier. Single ended means only one active device (transistor) in the
output stage.

Disadvantages of Class A power amplifier.

Main disadvantage is poor efficiency.

Steps for improving efficiency like transformer coupling etc affects the
frequency response.

Powerful Class A power amplifiers are costly and bulky due to the large
power supply and heatsink.

Transformer coupled Class A power amplifier.

An amplifier where the load is coupled to the output using a transformer is
called a transformer coupled amplifier. Using

transformer coupling

the

efficiency of the amplifier can be improved to a great extend. The coupling

transformer provides good impedance matching between the output and
load and it is the main reason behind the improved efficiency. Impedance
matching means making the output impedance of the amplifier equal to the
input impedance of the load and this is an important criteria for the transfer
of maximum power. Circuit diagram of typical singleSTAGE CLASS A
amplifier is shown in the circuit diagram below.

Impedance matching can

be attained by selecting the number of turns of the primary so that its net
impedance is equal to the transistors output impedance and selecting the
number of turns of the secondary so that its net impedance is equal to the
loudspeakers input impedance.
Advantages of transformer coupled amplifier.

Main advantage is the improvement of efficiency.

Provides good DC isolation as there is no physical connection between

amplifier output and load. Audio signals pass from one side to other by
virtue of induction.

Disadvantages of transformer coupled amplifier.

It is a bit hard to make/find an exactly matching transformer.

Transformers are bulky and so it increases the cost and size of the
amplifier.

Transformer winding does not provide any resistance to DC current. If

any DC components if present in the amplifier output, it will flow through
the primary winding and saturate the core. This will result in reduced
transformer action.

Transformer coupling reduces the low frequency response of the

amplifier.

Transformer coupling induces hum in the output.

Transformer coupling can be employed only for small loads.

Amplifier Classes The Class A Common Emitter Amplifier described in

Amplifier Module 1, Module 2 and Module 3 has some excellent properties
that make it useful for many amplification tasks, however its use as a power
amplifier is limited by its poor efficiency. Although Class A may be used for
power output stages (usually low to medium power), it is less used for higher
power output stages, as more efficient classes of amplifier such as Classes B,
AB or even classes D, E, F, G and H are available. The classes A, B, AB and C
refer to the way the amplifiers are biased, although class C is mainly used in
oscillator circuits. Classes D to H are used in switch mode amplifiers where
power is saved by having the output transistors switched rapidly between
fully on and fully off. In either of these states the transistor is dissipating
little or no power. Class A Power Amplifiers The purpose of class A bias is to
make the amplifier relatively free from distortion by keeping the signal
waveform out of the region between 0V and about 0.6V where the
transistors input characteristic is non linear. Class A design produces good
linear amplifiers, but are wasteful of power. The output power they produce
is theoretically 50%, but practically only about 25 to 30%, compared with the
DC power they consume from the power supply. Class A power amplifiers use
the biasing method illustrated in Fig. 5.2.1. This method causes a standing
bias current to be flowing during the whole waveform cycle, and even when
no signal is being amplified. The standing bias current (the Quiescent
Current) is sufficient to make the collector voltage fall to half the supply
voltage, and therefore power (P = IC x VCC/2) is being dissipated by the
transistor whether any signal is being amplified or not. This was not a great
problem in class A voltage amplifiers, where the collector current was very
small, but in power amplifiers output currents are thousands of times larger,
so efficient use of power is crucial. What youll learn in Module 5.2 After
studying this section, you should be able to understand: The limitations due
to the efficiency of class A power amplifiers. Efficiency of class A Effects
on power supply requirements. Transformer coupled Class A power output
stages. The effect of an inductive load on Vpp. Impedance matching with

tranformer coupling. Fig 5.2.1 Class A Bias www.learnabout-electronics.org

Power Amplifiers AMPLIFIERS MODULE 05.PDF 8 E. COATES 2007 - 2012
Transformer Coupled Class A Output The circuit shown in fig 5.2.2 is a class A
power output stage, but its efficiency is improved by using an output
transformer instead of the resistor as its load. The transformer primary
winding has high apparent impedance (ZP) at audio frequencies because of
the action of the transformer in magnifying the impedance of the
loudspeaker. As shown by the formula: ZP = ZLS (NP/NS) 2 The apparent
impedance of the primary winding (ZP) will be the actual impedance of the
loudspeaker (ZLS) multiplied by the square of the turns ratio. Although the
impedance of the transformer primary winding is high, its DC resistance (at
0Hz) is practically zero ohms. Therefore while a class A voltage amplifier
might be expected to have a collector voltage of about half supply, a class A
power amplifier will have a DC collector voltage approximately equal to the
supply voltage (+12V in Fig. 5.2.2) and because of the transformer action,
this allows a voltage swing of 12V above and below the DC collector voltage,
making a maximum peak to peak signal voltage (Vpp) available of 24V. With
no signal, the quiescent collector current of the (medium power) output
transistor may typically be about 50mA. When a signal is applied, the
collector current will vary substantially above and below this level. Class A
power amplifiers, using the relatively linear part of the transistors
characteristics are less subject to distortion than other bias classes used in
power amplifiers, and although their inferior efficiency improves when output
transformers are used, the introduction of a transformer can itself produce
additional distortion. This can be minimised by restricting amplitude of the
signal so as to utilise less than the full power of the amplifier, but even under
optimum conditions the efficiency of class A presents problems. With
substantially less than 50% of the power consumed from the supply going
into the signal power supplied to the loudspeaker, the wasted power is
simply produced as heat, mainly in the output transistor(s). In large high
power amplifiers class A is not practical. For example an amplifier used to

produce 200W to a large loudspeaker system would need a 400W amplifier

producing at its most efficient, 200W of wasted heat that must be dissipated
by very large transistors and even larger heat-sinks if overheating, and
subsequent component failure is to be avoided. Class A output stages are
therefore used mainly in low to medium power output stages of 1 to 2 watt
and below, such as domestic radio or TV receivers and headphone amplifiers.

The choice of class A

From the above it should be obvious that the choice of class A not is taken
just to be eccentric. In contrary it is not difficult to find good arguments to let
the amplifier work in class A.
The advantages can be summarized as:

No cross over distortion

No switching distortion

Lower harmonic distortion in the voltage amplifier

Lower harmonic distortion in the current amplifier

No signal dependent distortion from the power supply

Constant and low output impedance

Simpler design

The last point is referring to both mechanical and electrical design. In

addition to e.g. the items regarding methods to reduce cross over distortion
and switching distortion, it is worth mentioning printed circuit board layout,
wiring etc, which are critical for class B amplifiers.
Negative feedback is several times mentioned as a plausible method to
improve, but not eliminate, corruption produced by class B (and A/B)
amplifiers (still it is made such amplifiers without global feedback known for
theirs sonic qualities).
As it appear from the above, designing a current amplifier with appurtenant
power supply, without any possibility for error correction and operated in

class B is not a promising job. A class A amplifier designed without any form
of global feedback, is a more grateful task. Negative feedback, however, has
its advantages:

Lower distortion

Higher suppression of ripple and noise from the power supply

Lower output impedance

Better DC stability

Suppression of interference from the loudspeaker connection

As the feedback also tries to correct offset from the quiescent point because
of the temperature, a DC servo or blocking capacitor may be avoided. Also
disturbances at the amplifier output are corrected by aid of the feedback.
It is a relevant question to ask whether use of negative feedback implies
some kind of information loss. It is also a fact that amplifiers both with and
without global feedback that have good sonic qualities are available. It is
considered that the linearization is the most important advantage of
negative feedback. It is more difficult to design linear amplifiers without
feedback. Here the distortion is high at high levels, and more complicated
design is needed to reduce the distortion. It is very difficult to compare
amplifiers with and without global feedback. One may argue that amplifiers
with feedback have a tendency to compress the sound and be less
transparent, but the differences are in that case marginal. The challenge
often is two-sided: to design an amplifier with negative feedback preserving
the good properties from a non-feedback amplifier, or to design a nonfeedback amplifier with sufficient linearity.

Advantages of Class B amplifier.

High efficiency when compared to the Class A configurations.

Push-pull mechanism avoids even harmonics.

No DC components in the output (in ideal case).

Disadvantages of Class B amplifier.

The major disadvantage is the cross-over distortion.

Coupling transformers increases the cost and size.

It is difficult to find ideal transformers.

Transformer coupling causes hum in the output and also affects the low
frequency response.

Transformer coupling is not practical in case of huge loads.

Advantages of Class AB power amplifier.

No cross over distortion.

No need for the bulky coupling transformers.

No hum in the output.

Disadvantages of Class AB power amplifier.

Efficiency is slightly less when compared to Class B configuration.

There will be some DC components in the output as the load is directly

coupled.

Capacitive coupling can eliminate DC components but it is not practical

in case of heavy loads.

Advantages of Class C power amplifier.

High efficiency.

Excellent in RF applications.

Lowest physical size for a given power output.

Disadvantages of Class C power amplifier.

Lowest linearity.

Not suitable in audio applications.

Creates a lot of RF interference.

It is difficult to obtain ideal inductors and coupling transformers.

Reduced dynamic range.