ZinAmp
at
Nov 9th and 10th 2019 – San Francisco, CA
ZinAmp .. in a Nutshell
• Hybrid Tube / Lateral-FET Integrated
• Tube Phono and Pre-amps, ‘loosely’ based on Marantz 7
• Power Amp – Class A/B Lateral FETs with Class A BJTs - in parallel
• Inspired by the GEM amp
• GEM created by Graham Maynard
• Output for additional power amp
• Because you never know…
• Auto-power off..
• ..and on again .. even with a vinyl record!
• weird, but fun to demonstrate
• EQ Toggle Switch
• Flat and Dynamic settings
• Similar to a loudness curve, but quite subtle/gentle
• 120W Per Channel – probably!
Lid off !
..and on again!
Block Diagram
Why Bother?
• Modern mainstream amps in 2016 sounded underwhelming to me
• Got interested in vintage equipment – 70s & 80s Technics et al
• Research led me to a “dream combo” of a Hafler DH200 and a Marantz 7
• Couldn’t find these affordably in the UK
• Wanted a Tube Phono Integrated with a Class A output – didn’t exist!
• I was going to have to build this amp!
• Found a really good mentor to help me
My Mentor
Henry Dulat – UK “Top Repairman”!
Acknowledgements
Doug Self Rod Elliot - ESP
https://sound-au.com
In memory of…
Graham Maynard
• UK DIY Audio and Radio enthusiast
• Creator of the GEM Amp
• Respected contributor to diyaudio.com
• Passed away in October 2014
• www.bovan.net
The GEM Amp
• Conventional design with …
• Class A/B stage
• Single Ended Class A stage
• Two local feedback loops
• Quiescent supply of 600mA
• Carlos from Brazil built one
Graham’s Mission
• To achieve the sound of John Lindsley-Hood’s 1969 Class A design
• 100-200W power – needs Class A/B
• Crossover distortion in A/B made worse by back EMF from loudspeakers
• Not visible when testing with steady sine waves into resistors!
• but is present with real music signals into speakers, due to transient back-EMF
• Parallel Class A stage mitigates effects of back EMF
• Smoothing the crossover region
• Similar idea to Quad 405 current-dumping design from 1978
• More info at www.bovan.net
John Linsley-Hood - 1969
My Challenge
• To get the GEM amp to work in my ZinAmp integrated box
• I have respectable heatsinks, but not like mono-blocks!
• Limited space for filter capacitors
• Avoiding noise and hum is a key constraint…
• ….followed by space inside the box
Keep it Simple (Stupid)
Design Decisions
• Push-pull Class A would be more efficient
• Suggested by my mentor, Henry Dulat
• Should requires less quiescent current
• Cooler running than the GEM single-ended
• Lateral Mosfet A/B Stage
• Interest in Hafler led me down this path .. prototypes already developed
• Requires fewer components than BJTs
• More thermally stable etc.
• Regulated Power Supply
• Smaller capacitors but a little more dissipated heat
• Remove one of Graham’s LFB loops
• Feeding back into –ve rail
• John Broskie (tubecad.com) suggested this would be noisy at high-volumes
• Broskie also suggested a regulated supply
Power Amp - schematic
• Push/Pull Class A BJT Output
- in parallel with
• FET Class A/B Output
• Local Feedback to VAS
• Bootstrapping for VAS
• Additional Bootstrap driving +ve side
of Class A stage
Driving the Push-pull Class A
• VAS with parallel followers
• VAS Follower 1
• VAS Follower 2
• Collector of each follower drives
one side of output
• Both followers are bootstrapped
Power Amp - PCB
Regulated Supply - schematic
• Conventional Design
• Rod Elliot / ESP
• +/- Rails
• Load Limiter
• Big Power Transistors
- Darlingtons
- 10-15A rating
• FB transistors also need to be fairly
robust
• Dissipates a little heat
• Does the job!
Regulated Supply – PCB
Setup and Biasing
• Aim: to maximise the amount of class A current without overheating!
• Using double-die FETs so twice the A/B bias current
• Class A stage will not ”mop-up” c/o distortion from under-biased FETS
• FET bias current of < 70mA can sound ’chalky’ (Exicon FETS)
• Sweet Spot
• Class AB biased to 75mA – or double-die FETs to 150mA
• Class A biased to 200mA
• Sounds nice and doesn’t run too hot
• Class A stage generates most of the heat though
• Tempted to try mono-blocks with bigger heat-sinks!!
• Plenty of scope for experimentation … and a bit more current!
Setup and Biasing cont..
• Voltage across Rbias = 700mV
• VGS = 350mV per device
• underbiased
• Voltage across Rbias = 900mV
• VGS = 450mV per device
• Sweet spot - sufficient
• Voltage across Rbias = 1200mV
• VGS = 600mV per device
• Ok with single-die FET
• Double-die FETs run hotter
Trade-offs
• Rails can’t go beyond 48v without encountering heat issues
• Tried 58v - sweaty – approx 160° F
• Power output intrinsically limited to about 120W pc music-power
• How much power do you need?
• Push-pull Class-A vs Graham’s Single Ended
• Better Rail Rejection – although regulated supply mitigates this
• Lower current, less heat
• Lower second order harmonics perhaps no longer predominant as with single-ended – although
class A stage is only providing 1 watt or so.
• This is a work in progress!
• Subjective listening is good….
• …though full measurement/analysis is required
• Bob Cordell measured a THD of approx 0.07% yesterday, mostly lower 2nd 😎
How does it sound?
• Really good … well, I would say that!
• Definite step forward from the Class A/B amp I had built previously
• I wouldn’t go back
• Gives a sense of space between notes and sounds – no smear
• Like the blacks in the picture on a good plasma-screen TV
• Vocals and drums sound particularly life-like
• Anything that’s acoustically mic’d
• My wife likes this amp – and she has better hearing than I do👂
Please come and listen
Questions welcome – thanks!
Why not just over-bias the FETS?
Over-bias FETs into Class A: Class A/B in parallel with Class A:
• Moderate heat dissipation • Moderate heat dissipation
• Class A at moderate volume • Class A at moderate volume
| At the expense of | • Retaining headroom
• Slight loss of headroom | At the expense of |
• Loss of Class A performance at higher volume
• Loss of Class A performance at higher volume
Either way, as you crank up, the speaker back-EMF increases and the Class-A effect diminishes
| Although with the parallel class A stage, you get a little more headroom |
…but the GEM amp was simply too interesting not to try!
