Hybrid Headphone Amp

Jeff Macaulay
ECC 82
Potentially, headphone listening can be f
f 5 1a D2 +12V
technically superior since room reflections 4 6
R7
are eliminated and the intimate contact 1N4001
2k 1g

39k
3 7
between transducer and ear mean that T5

only tiny amounts of power are required. 2 8

The small power requirement means that 2g f f 1k C5

transducers can be operated at a small 1 9 BC517

1000µ
2a fM 16V
fraction of their full excursion capabilities T4

thus reducing THD and other non-linear

R4 R6
distortions. C2
T3
BD139

1k
91k
This design of a dedicated headphones V1 C4
amplifier is potentially controversial in 100n ECC82 1 (6) BC517
that (1) it has unity voltage gain and (2) C1
D1
2200µ
(7) 2 T2 16V
employs valves and transistors in the
10µ
same design. R1 3 (8)

Normal headphones have an impedance 4 5 2x

10k

BC550
of 32 Ω per channel. The usual standard T1

line output of 775 mV to which all qual-

R2 R3 R5
ity equipment aspires will generate a C3

22 Ω
91k

power of 15k
100µ
25V

U2 / R = 0.7752 / 32 = 18 mW 050347 - 11

per channel across a headphone of this

impedance. An examination of available
headphones at well known high street
emporiums revealed that the sensitivity
varied from 96 dB to 103db/mW! So, in
practice the circuit will only require unity
gain to reach deafening levels.
As a unity gain design is required it is
quite possible to employ a low distortion
output stage. The obvious choice is an
emitter follower. This has nearly unity
gain combined with a large amount of
local feedback. Unfortunately the output
impedance of an emitter follower is
dependent upon the source impedance.
With a volume control, or even with differ-
ent signal sources this will vary and could
produce small but audible changes in
sound quality. To prevent this, the output
stage is driven by a cathode follower,
based around an ECC82 valve (US
equivalent: 12AU7). This device, as
opposed to a transistor configuration,
enables the output stage to be driven
with a constant value, low impedance. In
other words, the signal from the low
impedance point is used to drive the high
impedance of the output stage, a situa-
tion which promotes low overall THD.
At the modest output powers required
of the circuit, the only sensible choice
is a Class A circuit. In this case the
much vaunted single-ended output voltage divider R4 and R2. Input signals
stage is employed and that comprises are coupled into the circuit via C1 and
of T3 and constant current source T1- R1. R1, connected between the voltage
T2. The constant current is set by the divider and V1’s grid defines the input
V be voltage of T1 applied across R5. impedance of the circuit. C1 has suffi-
With its value of 22 Ω, the current is ciently large a value to ensure response
set at 27 mA. T3 is used in the emitter down to 2 Hz.
follower mode with high input imped- Although the circuit does a good job of
ance and low output impedance. rejecting line noise on its own due to the
Indeed the main problem of using a high impedance of V1’s anode and T3’s
valve at low voltages is that it’s fairly collector current, it needs a little help to
difficult to get any real current drain. obtain a silent background in the
In order to prevent distortion the output absence of signal. The ‘help’ is in the
stage shouldn’t be allowed to load the form of the capacitance multiplier circuit
valve. This is down to the choice of out- built around T5. Another BC517 is used
put device. A BC517 is used for T3 here to avoid loading of the filter com-
because of its high current gain, prising R7 and C5. In principle the
30,000 at 2 mA! capacitance of C5 is multiplied by the
Since we have a low impedance output gain of T5. In practice the smooth dc
stage, the load may be capacitively cou- applied to T5’s base appears at low
pled via C4. Some purists may baulk at impedance at its emitter. An important
the idea of using an electrolytic for this added advantage is that the supply volt-
job but he fact remains that distortion age is applied slowly on powering up.
generated by capacitive coupling is at This is of course due to the time taken to
least two orders of magnitude lower than fully charge C5 via R7. No trace of hum
transformer coupling. or ripple can be seen here on the ‘scope.
The rest of the circuitry is used to condition C2 is used to ensure stability at RF.
the various voltages used by the circuit. The DC supply is also used to run the
In order to obtain a linear output the valve heater. The ECC82 has an advan-
valve grid needs to be biased at half the tage here in that its heater can be con-
supply voltage. This is the function of the nected for operate from 12.6 V. To run

elektor electronics - 7-8/2006

 it T4 is used as a series pass element. prevent extraneous signals being picked volts only are lost across T4 and although
Base voltage is obtained from the emitter up from the heater wiring. Connecting the device runs warm it doesn’t require a
of T5. T4 has very low output imped- the transistor base to C5 also lets the heat-sink.
ance, about 160 mΩ and this helps to valve heater warm up gently. A couple of (050347-1)

7-8/2006 - elektor electronics 3