AUDIO&VIDEO

OTL Headphone
Amplifier with ECC82 (12AU7)
An ‘iron-free’ valve amplifier
Design by H.-J Friedli, PhD

A headphone amplifier with outstanding sound quality can be built using

readily available modern components. Omitting the output transformer,
avoiding overall negative feedback and using good coupling capacitors
guarantees a highly linear frequency characteristic, while certain
construction methods yield low channel crosstalk.

Measured values (with filter)

Supply voltage: 187 V

THD+N: (1 mW / 600 Ω) 2.3 % (right channel)
1.86 % (left channel)
S/N: (1 mW / 600 Ω) >93 dB
>100 dBA
Filament supply ripple voltage: 30 mVpp
Total power consumption: 17 W

Valve experts know that even power valves that can

deliver several hundred milliampères of anode current can
never drive a loudspeaker with an impedance of 8 Ω,
since the internal resistance of a valve is several kiloohms.
The two impedances are thus almost always matched
using a transformer. In principle, there isn’t any objection
to using this form of impedance conversion, but every
transformer tends to degrade the sound quality. Keeping
this effect to a minimum requires very careful and com-
plicated coil winding techniques, good-quality trans-
former iron and large core cross-sections.
However, if the load impedance is not just a few ohms
but instead several hundred ohms, as is the case with
many types of headphones, and if in addition the required
power level is not overly high, an amplifier with no output
transformer — sometimes referred to as an ‘output trans-
formerless’ (OTL) amplifier — can be a feasible option. In
this case, the load is driven directly by the valve.
The OTL amplifier described here is a cathode follower

40 Elektor Electronics 1/2004

 AUDIO&VIDEO
design suitable for use with a single R9 R10 R11 +200V
or dual headphone, with each head- +200V 33k 2k2 2k2
+200V R8
phone element having a rated K2 C5 C6

10k
impedance of at least 300 Ω. 10µ 400V 47µ 400V
6 V1.B

The circuit C2
7

The circuit shown in Figure 1 uses 1µ

400V 8
the readily available ECC82 double V1.A 1
C4
triode (equivalent to the North C1
L
L
American 12AU7) to provide amplifi- 2 R6
470µ

330Ω
1M
R3 63V
cation. In Europe, ‘special quality’ 1µ
400V 3
(SQ) versions of this valve with bet- R4
82k
ter specifications and longer service R1 R2 R5 R7
C3
life are also available under type

470Ω

1k8

4k7
1M
numbers E802CC and E82CC, 47µ 63V

respectively. R12 R13 R16 R18

A preamplifier stage is necessary C9

470Ω

4k7
1k8
1M
to generate signal amplitudes suffi- 47µ 63V
cient to adequate drive a head- R15
82k
phone. The triode section with base 3 R17

330Ω
R14
pins 1, 2 and 3 is used for this pur- C7

1M
2 C10
pose. The input signal arrives at the R
470µ
1µ
circuit board via an external 50-kΩ 400V
63V R
V2.A 1
logarithmic potentiometer (P1, not 8
+12V6 V1 V2
shown in the schematic) that serves K1 C8
7
as a volume control, and it is directly 5 5
9 9 1µ
coupled to the preamplifier stage via 4 4
400V
6 V2.B
C1. R1 provides the necessary nega- R19
C11 C12
tive grid bias. The gain is essentially
10k

JP1
determined by R8, while the maxi- 10µ 400V 47µ 400V
R20 R21 R22
mum input voltage is determined by 33k 2k2 2k2
R2. R9 is dimensioned such that the +200V
V1, V2 = ECC82 020195 - 11
quiescent anode current is situated
in the most linear possible portion of
the characteristic curve. Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the amplifier using two ECC82 (12AU7) valves.
The inverted and amplified input
signal on the anode is coupled to F1
TR1 TR2
the grid of the second stage via C2.
100mA T
The cathode resistor of the second K1 C7 D7 D5 C5

stage is split into two resistors (R5

230V
12V

12V

and R6). The series resistance of R5 R1

and R6 forms the load resistance,
100k

+200V
C8 D8 D6 C6 K3
while the voltage division provided
R2
by the resistor pair allows the grid C13 C14
100k

12V 12V
4x 1N4007
bias to be set to the proper level. 16VA 10VA
4x 47n 275V X2 10n 47µ
The bias voltage is decoupled from 400V 400V
D10
the load and stabilised by R4 and
C3 before being applied to the grid.
The anode current flowing through POWER JP1
the triode, which depends on the IC1
C3 D3 D1 C1 LM2940CT-12
grid voltage and corresponding
characteristic curve, generates a
voltage across the combination of +12V6
K2
R5 and R6 that is exactly propor- C4 D4 D2 C2
tional to the current. This voltage is C9 C10 D9 C11 C12
in turn fed to the headphone via 4x 1N4002
220n 220n 10µ
coupling capacitor C4. R7 holds the 4x 47n
2200µ 25V 1N4148
63V
output at ground potential for DC
signals in order to avoid crackling 020195 - 12
noises when the headphone is
plugged in. Figure 2. Two mains transformers are used to generate the high voltage.

1/2004 Elektor Electronics 41

AUDIO&VIDEO
0 0 +200V

+12V6
COMPONENTS LIST K1 K2

H2
H3

(Amplifier) R22

JP1
R21
Resistors: R10 C5 R11 C11
C6 R20 C12

ROTKELE )C(
R9

1-591020
R1,R3,R12,R14 = 1MΩ

020195-1

R19
R2,R13 = 470Ω

R8
R4,R15 = 82kΩ V1 V2
R5,R16 = 1kΩ8
R6,R17 = 330Ω

R14
R15
R16
R17
R6
R5
R4
R3
R7,R18 = 4kΩ7

R12
R13
R2
R1
R8,R19 = 10kΩ
R9,R20 = 33kΩ
R10,R11,R21,R22 = 2kΩ2 C3 C9

Capacitors:
C1,C2,C7,C8 = 1µF 400V (MKP4 or MKS4, C2 C8
C1 C7
R7 R18
250V)
C4 C10
C3,C9 = 47µF 63V radial OUT1

T L T T R T OUT2

H4
H1

L R
C4,C10 = 470µF 63V radial
C5,C11 = 10µF 400V radial, e.g., Panasonic
ECA2GHG100n (Farnell # 219-9320)
C6,C12 = 47µF 400V radial (e.g., Conrad
Electronics # 475858)

Valves:
V1,V2 = ECC82 or 12UA7, with Noval (9-
way) socket (Chelmer Valve Corp.)

Miscellaneous:
JP1 = 2-way PCB pinheader with jumper
K1 = 2-way PCB terminal block, 5mm lead
pitch
K2 = 2- way PCB terminal block, 7.5mm
lead pitch

(C) ELEKTOR
020195-1
PCB, available from The PCBShop

Figure 3. Layout of the amplifier printed circuit board.

Power supply
The power supply for the headphone ampli-
fier is shown in Figure 2. The high voltage is
generated using a standard mains trans-
former. The winding normally intended to be
used as a secondary winding is connected to
the 12-V terminals of the actual mains trans-
former. This results in an open-circuit voltage
of around 200 VAC on the primary winding of
the ‘reversed’ transformer, which serves as
the anode supply transformer. This AC volt-
age is rectified and then smoothed by C14.
The DC filament voltage is rectified by
D5–D8 and then smoothed by C15. The
capacitors connected in parallel with the
diodes suppress high-frequency noise gener-
ated by the diodes. A voltage of 12.6 V is gen-
erated in a simple manner using an
LM2940CT12 (for low voltage drop) with a sil-
icon diode in the ground lead. are physically larger, which makes
LED D10 not only serves as a pilot them better for audio purposes.
light, but also works together with For the large-volume electrolytic
R1 and R2 to provide a minimum capacitors (C6 and C12), types with
load and ensure that capacitor C14 lead spacings of 5 or 7.6 mm can be
is discharged, even if no load is con- used, or radial snap-in types with
nected to K3. lead spacings of 10 mm. The latter
type of capacitor has a larger diam-
eter and thus absorbs less heat from
Layout the nearby valves. Low-inductance
The layout of the printed circuit board electrolytic capacitors designed for
for the amplifier, as shown in Fig- high-frequency switching applica-
ure 3, is designed such that it is pos- tions should preferably be used, and
sible to use not only ‘normal’ MKS4 in any case they must be specified
capacitors for C1, C2, C7 and C8, but for operation at 105 °C .
also coupling capacitors with lead Power is supplied to the individ-
spacings of 15 or 22.5 mm, such as ual channels via the combination of
WIMA MKP4 types. These capacitors R10 and R11 or R21 and R22, respec-
have higher breakdown voltages and tively. These resistors dissipate

42 Elektor Electronics 1/2004

 AUDIO&VIDEO
around 0.18–0.25 W, depending on
the supply voltage. Be sure to use
resistors with adequate power rat-
Anode voltage filter
ings. There are resistors available The circuit forms a power RC
R1
T1 filter that reduces the ripple
that can dissipate 0.3–0.4 W with the

1M
BUZ41A
component of an unstabilised
same package size (such as 1/4-W supply voltage. Naturally, this
K1 K2
metal film resistors), and the PR01 results in a voltage drop of a
series from BC Components can even C2 D1 few volts. Here a MOSFET suit-
handle 1 W. In any case, it won’t do 10n 10V
able for use with high voltages
any harm to fit these four resistors 400V C1 1W3 C3 (a BUZ41A, rated at
well clear of the circuit board in order 500 V / 4.5 A) is wired as a sim-
47µ 10n
to improve their cooling. 400V 400V ple source follower. The gate is
In the circuit board layout, atten-
020195 - 13 very slowly brought up to the
tion has also been given to keeping desired voltage via the R1/C1
network. It takes four minutes (five RC time constants) for the output voltage to reach
the signal paths of the two stereo
99 percent of its nominal value. As the valves also take a while to warm up, this delay does
channels as widely separated as not matter. The effect of using the filter can be clearly seen in Curve B.
possible. The connections between The voltage drop across T1 is primarily determined by the gate–source cutoff voltage
the ground terminals of the four and is approximately 3.5–4 V. The gate is protected against excess voltages by Zener diode
anode decoupling capacitors and the D1. C2 and C3 are necessary to eliminate the tendency of the circuit to oscillate. No circuit
common ground point are routed board layout has been designed for the filter circuit, but it can easily be built on a small piece
separately for each channel. Inci- of prototyping board. The filter dramatically reduces the amplitude of the ripple voltage.
dentally, there is one wire bridge on
the amplifier board (between C5/C11
and C1/C7).
The power supply circuit is voltage. For a transformer with a formers is that the high voltage is isolated
housed on a second printed circuit nominal secondary voltage of 9 V, from the filament voltage. Nevertheless, the
board, to which the amplifier board this can easily be 12 V. two ground potentials must be intercon-
can be attached in sandwich fash- To balance out the reactive nected. This can be done on the amplifier
ion. However, the amplifier is some- power, an X1-type capacitor rated at board and/or on the power supply board
what sensitive to the stray fields around 150 nF / 250 V can be con- (JP1).
emanated by the transformers, nected across the secondary wind-
whose magnitude depends on the ing of TR2. This will cause the anode
type of transformer used. The 50-Hz voltage to actually increase slightly, Construction
components in the frequency spec- but the mains power consumption Fitting the components to the circuit boards
trum (see measurement curves A and current will decrease by around should not present any problems. All com-
and B) clearly indicate the presence 6–7 percent. ponents are fitted on the ‘normal’ compo-
of the two transformers, which were An advantage of using two trans- nent side.
located at distance of 20 cm. Diodes
D1–D4 are ‘solid’ 1N4002 types, but
there is enough room for even more
robust types. Capacitors C5–C8,
which have a lead spacing of 15 mm,
must be X2 types.
If you want to fully eliminate any
ripple in the filament voltage, you
can use a 15 V / 20 VA transformer
for TR1. As this is a slightly larger
type, it will not fit on the circuit
board. Although the dissipation of
IC1 will increase in this case, the
specified heat sink is fully adequate.
We also tried using a 15 V / 16 VA
transformer, but it drew 23 VA from
the mains (significantly overloaded).
You are welcome to experiment with
various transformers; a wide variety
of results may be obtained, depend-
ing on the transformer type, open-
circuit voltage, loaded voltage, core
size, and material. The winding ratio
is always determined by the design
value of the open-circuit secondary

1/2004 Elektor Electronics 43

AUDIO&VIDEO
The voltage regulator requires a heat sink.
Its cooling tab is connected to its middle lead,
which is 0.6 V above ground potential in this
circuit due to the diode.
As everybody knows, the electrolytic
capacitors must be fitted with the correct
externally, which leaves consider-
able room for personal choice in
selecting an enclosure and arranging
the controls and connectors.
The circuit board layout (Figure 3)
has been kept highly symmetric with
0
+200V

IC1
polarity. However, it is also necessary to

H2
H3

observe the proper polarity when fitting the SK104 C11

D9 C12
four 1-µF capacitors. As the grid terminal is

C14
C10
0 +12V6 K2 K3
the most sensitive point in a valve circuit, it
D2 D4 JP1
must be connected to the inner foil of the C1 C3
C13 R2
C2 C4 C7 C5 R1 C6
capacitor. The outer foil, which is sometimes D1 D3 C8
marked by a stripe, then has a screening
D10
effect. C9

D7

D8
H7

D5

D6
The Cinch sockets, potentiometer, phone
socket and mains switch must be wired TR1

COMPONENTS LIST
(Power supply) 2-591020
ROTKELE )C(
Resistors: H5 H6

R1,R2 = 100kΩ

020195-2
Capacitors:
C1-C4 = 47nF ceramic
C5-C8 = 47nF 275 VAC, Class X2, lead
100mA T

pitch 15mm
C9 = 2200µF 25V radial TR2
F1

C10,C11 = 220nF K1
C12 = 10µF 63V radial ~ ~

H4
H1

C13 = 10nF 400V, lead pitch 7.5mm or

10mm
C14 = 47µF 400V radial (BC Components
# 22215266109, Farnell # 322-7984)
(BC Components # 22215266479, Farnell
# 322-8009)
Panasonic ECA2GHG470 (e.g., Farnell #
319-9356)

Semiconductors:
D1-D4 = 1N4002
D5-D8 = 1N4007
D9 = LED red, low current
IC1 = LM2940CT-12 with heatsink, Fischer (C) ELEKTOR

type SK104 (50.8 mm) 020195-2

Miscellaneous:
JP1 = 2-way PCB pinheader with jumper
K1,K3 = 2-way PCB terminal block, lead
pitch 7.5mm
K2 = 2- way PCB terminal block, lead pitch
5mm
F1 = fuse, 100mAT (slow), with PCB mount
holder
TR1 = mains transformer 12V / 16VA (ERA
BV054-5383.0K (Conrad Electronics #
506575)
TR2 = mains transformer 12V /10VA (ERA
BV048-5383.0H (Conrad Electronics #
506478)
PCB, available from The PCBShop

Figure 4. The power supply printed circuit board can be fitted to the amplifier board ‘sandwich’ fashion.

44 Elektor Electronics 1/2004

 AUDIO&VIDEO

Curves and sound

Curve A shows the frequency spectrum of a 1-kHz signal (1 mW into 600 Ω). +0

-10
The distortion components (right channel) amount to 2.3 percent, but this is -20

primarily due to the second harmonic. Besides this, an enormous effect can -30

be seen from the ripple voltage of the unstabilised anode voltage supply. To -40

-50
remedy this, we developed an active filter (see box) that almost fully sup- -60

presses the 100-Hz component and its harmonics. The results obtained using d
B
r
-70

this filter can be seen in Curve B. The third curve, C, shows the distortion as A -80

-90
a function of output power. The distortion level increases quite linearly with -100

the output power level. The amplifier ‘runs out of room’ at around 5 mW. -110

It’s almost impossible to describe the performance of a piece of audio -120

-130
equipment using bare figures alone. The most noticeable aspect of the -140

sound is dynamic range: what is supposed to be loud is loud, and what is -150
20 50 100 200 500 1k 2k 5k 10k 20k

supposed to be soft is soft. The sound is warm and spacious, and although it Hz 020195 - 14

is perhaps slightly lacking in clarity of detailing at the upper edge of the fre- Measurement curve A. Frequency spectrum without a
quency spectrum for high volume levels, this by no means reduces the pre-filter for the anode voltage.
enjoyment of opera voices. The sound is very pleasant and remains so
during
extended lis- +0 100

-10
tening. Low -20
50

tones do not -30 20

present any -40

10
-50
problems, and -60
5

it is certainly d
B -70
r %
2
quite enjoy- A -80
-90 1
able to listen -100
0.5
to music with -110

strong bass -120 0.2

-130
components, -140
0.1

such as rock, -150

20 50 100 200 500 1k 2k 5k 10k 20k
0.06
1u 2u 5u 10u 20u 50u 100u 200u 500u 1m 2m 5m 10m

pop and jazz. Hz 020195 - 15 W 020195 - 16

Measurement curve B. Using a filter provides a clear Measurement curve C. The distortion level increases
benefit, with significantly reduced 100-Hz components. linearly with output amplitude.

regard to its visual aspect, so there as possible from the signal inputs. If heard if the Cinch sockets are open and the
is no reason not to use an enclosure the transformers are too close to the volume control is turned up full.
design featuring a visible circuit inputs, a typical 50-Hz hum will be (020195-1)
board with its valves and other com-
ponents. If you would rather conceal
the circuit board but still wish to
have the valves visible, you should
etch the circuit board using a mirror
image of the layout. In this case, the
tube sockets are fitted to the copper
side of the board, with all other com-
ponents being mounted in the usual
manner so they face downward after
the board is fitted in the enclosure.
All polarisations remain the same.
All 230-V wiring must be made
using wire with sufficiently thick
insulation. It is essential to apply
additional insulation to the solder
points and fit an insulating sheet
between the mounting panel and
the undersides of the transformers.
You must also provide for good ven-
tilation. A double-pole on/off switch
must be fitted in series with the 230-
volt wiring. The transformers should
be fitted in the enclosure as far away

1/2004 Elektor Electronics 45