AUDIO&VIDEO

Valve Preamplifier (1)

Classic technology revisited
Design by B. Stuurman

This stereo preamplifier is primarily intended to be used as a companion

to the Valve Final Amplifier described in the April and May 2003 issues,
but it can easily be used with other power amplifiers as well. The circuit
has all the usual controls and input options, and it is relatively easy to build,
even if you’re not a valve guru.

Like most preamplifiers, this one has controls that this preamplifier has a phono five printed circuit boards: an ampli-
for volume, tone (treble and bass) and bal- input — which can no longer be fier board for each channel, an I/O
ance. The input options also correspond to taken for granted these days. The board holding all the Cinch connec-
the usual scheme, the only exception being complete stereo version consists of tors and relays, a high-voltage sup-

18 Elektor Electronics 9/2003

 AUDIO&VIDEO
K2
3 230V 243V
R8 R17 +260V
4
10k 2k2
R5 R6 R11 R16 +260V
LINE-IN
C3 C12 C13

47k
100k

390k

100k
10µ 385V 1 RE1.B
7 100n 400V 22µ 350V
C7
8 100n
14
C2 C4 C15
330p 15n R10 400V R12 1µ

0Ω
150k
250V 630V 250V
R1
C1 110V 90V 108V
680k

C9 C11 R14
V1 6 EF86 V2.A 6 1 V2.B

47k
100p 250V 8 270p 1n
3 2 250V 630V 3 OUT
1 7 2
9 P3
P1 3 2 2 3 P5
R3 3
2 8 3 50k
C6 P2 P4
68k

1 500k 20k C10 1 2

PHONO-IN
3V 3V2 3V4
K1 2µ2
3 250V 1 500k 15n 1 500k GND-OUT
630V
2
1 R2 R4 R7 R9 V2 = ECC82 R13 R15
C5 C8 C14
2k2

10M

2k2

15k

1k2
1M

GND-PHONO
220µ 35V 4n7 220µ
630V 35V 0V

VOLUME HIGH LOW

12V
R21 +12V6
1k
+12V6
R19
14 13
10k

K2 K2
5
K2
C16 1 12 11
6
6V4 2
4
T1 10µ LINE-OUT 5
35V SELECT
C17 PHONO V1 9 V2
ff 4 ff
5
0V9 220µ
BF245A 35V
R18 R20 D1 2 RE1.A 9 10
K2
1k5

47k

7 8
6
0V'

1N4148 020383 - 11

Figure 1. The active components of the preamplifier consist of an EF86 and an ECC82. FET T1 is a ‘bonus’.

ply board and a low-voltage supply (12AU7). Volume control P1 is placed pose, due to its low noise and minimal micro-
board. The last of these provides directly at the input of the control phonics. The necessary RIAA compensation
12.6 V DC for the valve filaments, amplifier, and a relay is used to is obtained by using frequency-dependent
among other things. select one of two possible signal feedback. At the average output level of an
sources: the output of the phono MD cartridge, the output voltage of the phono
stage or the line input (pins 3 & 4 of stage is approximately 54 mV, which is also
Two valves K2). The tone control is placed the input sensitivity of the following control
As can be seen from the schematic between V2a and V2b. This is a pas- amplifier.
diagram of the amplifier (Figure 1), sive control using logarithmic poten- K2 is the Line input. A CD player, tuner or
no overall feedback is used, but tiometers. P5 is included at the out- the like can be connected here via the I/O
only local feedback in the phono put of V2B to adjust the balance. board (which is described below). Relay Re1
preamplifier. This is because valves is normally connected to the Line input, and
are manufactured to such tight tol- the CD player, tape, tuner or auxiliary input
erances that excellent results can Amplifier details is selected by a relay on the I/O board.
be achieved even without using The phono preamplifier is built Despite our original intention, it was ulti-
feedback. according to a modified Philips mately decided to add a Line output (K2) to
The circuit is quite simple. The design, using an EF86 or its equiva- allow recordings to be made. This output
actual control amplifier is built lents the 6267 or CV2901 (V1). This should be regarded as a sort of extra, since
around V2a and V2b, an ECC82 is an outstanding valve for this pur- the FET amplifier stage used here (T1) is a

9/2003 Elektor Electronics 19

AUDIO&VIDEO
I/O circuit
LEFT RIGHT

K2
PHONO-IN PHONO-IN
K9 The I/O circuit shown in Figure 2
PHONO PHONO
contains all of the cinch connectors
K3 R1 RE1.B RE5.B R6 K10
for the preamplifier, which are four-
CD 100k 100k CD
teen in total. Attenuators are
TAPE
K4 R2
100k
RE2.B RE6.B R7
100k
K11
TAPE
included in series with the CD, Tape,
LINE-IN LINE-IN Tuner and Aux inputs. They consist
K5 K12
TUNER
R3
100k
RE3.B
Cx Cy
RE7.B R8
100k TUNER
of resistors R1–R4 (or R6–R9 for the
2µ2 2µ2 second channel) and the common
K6 K13
AUX
R4
100k
RE4.B RE8.B R9
100k AUX
resistor R5 (or R10). The amount of
R5 R10
attenuation can be adjusted as nec-
20k

20k
GND-L GND-R
essary by modifying the values of
(PHONO) (PHONO) the series resistors. This may be nec-
K7
LINE-OUT LINE-OUT
K14 essary with the CD input in particu-
LINE-OUT LINE-OUT
lar, since some CD players provide
K8
OUT OUT
K15 an output voltage that is several
OUT OUT

(Wiper P5) (Wiper P5)

times greater than the line input sen-
GND-OUT GND-OUT sitivity of 250 mV used here. By the
way, if you use a series resistor with
K1
5 AUX sufficiently high resistance for the
4 TUNER
3 TAPE Aux input (e.g., 220 kΩ), you can
2
1
CD
0V'
connect a phonograph with an old-
fashioned ceramic hi-fi cartridge
D4 D3 D2 D1 D5 D6 D7 D8 directly to the Aux input. This type
RE4.A RE3.A RE2.A RE1.A RE5.A RE6.A RE7.A RE8.A
of cartridge provides a sufficiently
1N4148 1N4148 1N4148 1N4148 1N4148 1N4148 1N4148 1N4148 high output voltage and does not
020383 - 13 require RIAA compensation, as do
MD cartridges.
Relays are used to keep the
Figure 2. The I/O circuit uses relays to dramatically reduce the amount of wiring. wiring of the inputs simple. A
switchover relay is located on each
of the amplifier boards. When it is
‘foreign’ element in a valve amplifier. tiometers must be mechanically cou- energised, the output of the phono
The tone control, in which P2 adjusts the pled such that they rotate in oppo- stage is connected to the input of the
treble and P4 adjusts the bass, is a standard site directions. This can be easily control amplifier, while otherwise
circuit. At the ‘straight-through’ setting, the done using a pair of gears. the output of the I/O board is con-
control has an attenuation factor of 14, which The power supply provides a fila- nected to the input of the control
means that quite a bit of gain is necessary to ment voltage of 12.6 V. An ECC82 amplifier. The CD, Tape, Tuner and
achieve the input level required by the valve can be directly connected to this Aux inputs on the I/O board are con-
final amplifier described in the April and May voltage, but an EF86 can only be nected to the Line In input via relays
issues. This gain is provided by an ECC82 connected to 6.3 V, so two valves Re1–Re4 (or Re5–Re8 for the second
(12AU7) dual triode (V2). Each triode section (one on each of the two amplifier channel). The desired input is
provides a gain of approximately 11, so the boards) must be connected in series selected by energising the associ-
total gain is more than adequate. when a 12.6-V supply is used. This ated relay.
The balance control (P5) of this amplifier is can be easily done using connector One final remark regarding the
rather unusual. Although a ‘normal’ balance K2. For one channel, pins 7, 8, 9 and I/O circuit: if you are not absolutely
potentiometer could be used here, two log- 10 are connected together using certain that the outputs of all of your
taper potentiometers were used in the proto- jumpers, while for the other channel, signal sources are free of DC volt-
type (one for each channel). When a log-taper pins 11, 12, 13 and 14 are connected ages, it is recommended to place 2.2-
potentiometer is at the centre of its mechan- together. After this, pins 11 and 12 µF MKT (metallised plastic) capaci-
ical range, it is set to approximately 16 per- for the first channel are connected to tors in series with Line In, between
cent of its total electrical resistance. With a pins 9 and 10 of the circuit board for the I/O board and the amplifier
50-kΩ potentiometer, the resistance between the second channel. For a mono boards (Cx and Cy in Figure 2).
the wiper and the start of the track is then amplifier, a 330-Ω, 2-W resistor can
8 kΩ, while the resistance between the wiper be inserted in the circuit.
and the end of the track is 42 kΩ. If the poten- The final detail is that in our ver- Power supply
tiometer is wired in reverse, the additional sion of the amplifier, a wire link was The preamplifier requires two supply
series resistance (when the potentiometer is used in place of R10. If the gain of voltages: a high voltage of 260 V and
set to the midrange position) can be limited the ECC82 proves to be too large, a a filament voltage of 12.6 V. In order
to 8 kΩ, while still allowing the signal to be resistor can be fitted to convert R1 to avoid availability problems, two
reduced to zero. The two (single) poten- and R11 into a voltage divider. standard toroidal-core transformers

20 Elektor Electronics 9/2003

 AUDIO&VIDEO
are used here. The first transformer
T1
(Tr1) converts the mains voltage to IRF740 F1
15 V. After rectification and stabili- 100mA F +260V

sation, this voltage is used to power TR2 +260V

the filaments. The secondary voltage red white R5

D9

47k
is also converted back to approxi- C6 D6 D5 C5
R7
mately 230 V by the second trans- grey C11
1N4007 C13

100k
230V
former (Tr2). The toroidal-core trans- C7 C8
blue 220µ
formers have practically no external 400V 100n
630V
D7 D8 R6
magnetic fields, so they are hum- C12

1M5
free. They can be mounted one on yellow white
22µ
2x 15V D5...D8 = 1N4007
top of the other in order to save 0A5 C5...C8 = 100n / 630V
350V
0V

space in the enclosure.

The complete schematic diagram
of the power supply is shown in IC1
Figure 3, with the low-voltage por-
LM317 +12V6
tion at the bottom and the high-volt-
R2
age portion at the top. Tr1 is a 30- TR1 +12V6

270Ω
VA type, while Tr2 is a 15-VA type white red
LED1
(the smallest in the series). The C2 D2 D1 C1
JP1 R3
transformers have two secondary grey C9 C10

2k2
15V

230V (6V3)
windings, which are connected in blue
C3 C4 4700µ 100µ R4
parallel. Rectification is provided by 40V R1 63V

1k
D3 D4 1k2
D1–D4 and D5–D8. A noise-sup-
white yellow
pression capacitor is connected in P1
2x 15V D1...D4 = 1N5404
parallel with each diode, in order to 1A C1...C4 = 100n / 100V 500Ω 0V'

slow down the switching of the

diodes and thus prevent them from
020383 - 12
generating RF interference. C9 and
C11 are the buffer capacitors for the
low voltage and high voltage, Figure 3. The power supply consists of separate high-voltage and low-voltage sections.
respectively. The ground terminal
(0 V) of the low-voltage supply is
labelled ‘0V’’. switch-off pops. D9 discharges C12 after the
The low voltage is stabilised by Ur = 1.7 (I / C) = 1.7 (50 / 220) = 0.4 V supply is switched off, R7 ensures that no
an adjustable voltage regulator voltage is present at the output after a few
using the well-known LM317. Trim- where: minutes and C13 provides HF decoupling.
pot P1 can be used to adjust the out- Ur = peak-to-peak value Fuse F1 protects T1 in the event of a short cir-
put voltage to exactly 12.6 V. If of the ripple voltage cuit on the output. Incidentally, it is not nec-
jumper J1 is fitted, the voltage I = load current in mA essary to use an external heat sink for the
divider is changed such that the out- C = value of C11 in µF FET, even if it has to supply 50 mA.
put voltage can be set to 6.3 V. This
allows the power supply to also be If we provide a ripple-free voltage at
used for simpler valve circuits, the gate of T1, such that this voltage Construction
although the amount of current that is much lower than the ripple volt- Amplifier circuit board
can be drawn in this configuration is age and provides sufficient leeway The printed circuit board for the control
much less (approximately 400 mA). for variations in the mains voltage, amplifier is shown in Figure 4. Although it is
C10 improves the transient the voltage on the output (source of certainly not difficult to build, a few remarks
response, and LED1 indicates that T1) will also be free of ripple. Here are in order.
the power supply is operating. In R5, R6 and C12 provide the neces- Sockets with plastic bodies are used for
addition, the LED and R4 provide a sary voltage. the valves. These sockets are fitted to the
minimum load in the absence of an The circuit around T1 also pro- component side of the board, as usual. The
external load, to ensure that the vides a ‘soft-start’ characteristic for SIL connectors for K1, K2, P1, P2, P4 and P5
required minimum operating current the high voltage supply. After the are supplied in long strips, and individual
is drawn from the IC. supply is switched on, the high volt- lengths can be sawn off using a coping saw
The job of the IRF740 MOSFET age increases gradually and attains with a metal-cutting blade. Each connector
(T1) in the high-voltage portion of its final value after approximately has at least two contacts, so they cannot
the supply is to largely eliminate 3 seconds. It also decreases gradu- twist around. To minimise the chances of
100-Hz ripple. For a normal load cur- ally when the supply is switched off, incorrect connections, male contacts are used
rent of 50 mA (each control amplifier due to the large capacitance of C11. on the amplifier board and female contacts
needs approximately 15 mA), the rip- These soft-start and soft-stop char- are used on the I/O board.
ple voltage across C11 is acteristics prevent switch-on and For some of the capacitors, the board is

9/2003 Elektor Electronics 21

AUDIO&VIDEO
C3
C12 0
C7
H1 ROTKELE )C( 1-383020
H4

+260V P5
C1 C2

R11
R5

R8
R21 C13
R16 R17
R19
R1

K2 C15
C4
R6 C16

R10
V1 T1 V2 P3 C9
C17
R3

R18 R12
R14
R20
020383-1 +12.6V P2
P4
C6
R4 C8
C5
RE1 0V‘ C11

R15
K1 C10

R7

R9
P1
R2 D1 R13

H3
H2

C14

020383-1 (C) ELEKTOR

Figure 4. The printed circuit board for a single-channel (mono) amplifier board. Two such boards are needed for a stereo preamplifier.

Figure 5. You can check your fully assembled amplifier board against this photo.

22 Elektor Electronics 9/2003

 AUDIO&VIDEO
COMPONENTS LIST P3 = 20kΩ preset, horizontal, lead pitch C13 = 22µF 350V, axial, 16x36 mm
Amplifier board 5.08/2.54mm (Conrad Electronics # C15 = 1µF 250V, lead pitch 22.5mm
424420) or 5/10mm C16 = 10µF 35V tantalum, lead pitch 2.5mm
Resistors: P5 = 50kΩ logarithmic
R1 = 680kΩ Valves:
R2,R12 = 150kΩ Capacitors: V1 = EF86, 6267 or CV2901
R3 = 68kΩ C1 = 100pF 250V polypropylene, e.g. V2 = ECC82, E82CC or12AU7
R4,R9,R17 = 2kΩ2 Conrad Electronics # 458686
R5,R11 = 100kΩ C2 = 330pF 250V polypropylene, e.g., Semiconductors:
R6 = 390kΩ Conrad Electronics # 458740 T1 = BF245A
R7 = 10MΩ C3 = 10µF 385V, axial, 12x30 mm D1 = 1N4148
R8,R19 = 10kΩ C4,C10 = 15nF 630V, lead pitch 10mm
R10 = 0Ω (wire link, see text) C5,C14,C17 = 220µF 35V, radial, lead Miscellaneous:
R13 = 15kΩ pitch 5mm Re1 = DIL relay, 1x changeover, 12V coil.
R14,R16,R20 = 47kΩ C6 = 2µF2 250V, lead pitch 27.5mm or 2 Noval (9-pin) valve sockets, PCB mount, pin
R15 = 1kΩ2 22.5mm circle 18mm, e.g., Conrad Electronics #
R18 = 1kΩ5 C7,C12 = 100nF 400V, lead pitch 15mm 120529.
R21 = 1kΩ C8 = 4nF7 630V, lead pitch 10mm or IC socket, 14-way, turned pins (for Re1).
All resistors: metal film 0.5-1W, e.g., 7.5mm 36-way pinheader, straight.
Beyschlag MBE-0414 C9 = 270pF 250V polypropylene, e.g., 36-way socket, straight.
Conrad Electronics # 458732 4 PCB solder pins with mating sockets.
P1,P2,P4 = 500kΩ logarithmic, C11 = 1nF 630V, lead pitch 10mm or PCB, order code 020383-1 (see Readers
stereo 7.5mm Services).

LINE-L
laid out for two different sizes, so it 020383-3
OUT

ROTKELE )C( 3-383020

H1

H2

should always be possible to find a D4 D3 D2 D1

suitable type. PCB pins are used for RE4 RE3 RE2 RE1
LEFT
the high voltage and filament volt-
K8 K7 K6 K5 K4 K3 K2
age connections. GND-L
The voltages shown on the
R5

R4

R3

R2

R1
L
schematic diagrams are valid when K1
one amplifier board is connected to GND-OUT

the power supply. Variations of up to

10 percent are possible. The voltage R
R10

R9

R8

R7

R6
on the drain of T1 may range from 6 GND-R
K15 K14 K13 K12 K11 K10 K9
to 9 V. If this is not the case, replace
the FET, since there can be a large RE8 RE7 RE6 RE5 RIGHT
D8 D7 D6 D5

H3
H4

OUT1

LINE-R

COMPONENTS LIST
I/O board

Resistors:
R1-R4, R6-R9 = 100kΩ
R5,R10 = 20kΩ

Capacitors:
Cx,Cy = 2µF2 MKT (metallised
plastic) (see text)

Semiconductors:
D1-D8 = 1N4148

Miscellaneous:
Re1-Re8 = SI relay, 1 make
contact, 12V coil, e.g., Conrad
Electronics # 504602.
14 cinch chassis sockets.
020383-3 (C) ELEKTOR

SIL PCB header, 5-way.

6 solder pins with mating sockets.
PCB, order code 020383-3 (see
Readers Services) Figure 6. The I/O circuit board can be used directly as a connector panel. ‘L’ and ‘R’ naturally
stand for ‘left’ and ‘right’.

9/2003 Elektor Electronics 23

AUDIO&VIDEO
amount of individual variation in the
FET characteristics.
A photograph of the fully assem-
bled amplifier board is shown in Fig-
ure 5.

I/O circuit board

The printed circuit board for the I/O
circuit is shown in Figure 6.
Tin the ground surfaces before
the fastening the cinch connectors to
the board. The inputs of the connec-
tors are located on the copper side of
the board. Place the supplied spring
washers under the nuts and firmly
tighten the nuts. Fit the other com-
ponents only after the Cinch con-
nectors have been fitted.
Each stereo channel has two
ground points, labelled ‘Gnd Out’
and ‘Gnd L/R In’, which must be
connected to the corresponding
Figure 7. This photo shows how the components should be mounted on the I/O circuit board. points on the control amplifier

P1 2-383020 C5
ROTKELE )C( 0V‘ +260V
C2
H1

H3

H2 H4
D6

C9 C11
C6
D2
R4

D1

F1 100mAF
D5

C1
R3

R1

JP1
15V 230V
C4
+12.6V 0V
LED1
(6V3)
C10 C8
C7
R5 R6
D4 C12
D8
R2

D3

C3 C13

D9
D7

R7
H6

H5

IC1
H8 H7

020383-2
T1

(C) ELEKTOR
020383-2

Figure 8. The two parts of the power supply circuit board must be sawn apart.

24 Elektor Electronics 9/2003

 AUDIO&VIDEO

Figure 9. The fully assembled power supply boards. Pay attention to the polarity of the diodes!

boards. Part 2 of this article will Power supply boards first be sawn apart, since they will be fitted
include a wiring diagram showing Two printed circuit boards have on opposite sides of the ‘transformer block’
how the screens of all the screened been designed for the power supply. (the two transformers stacked together).
wiring should be connected in order One is for the low-voltage portion, Assembling the circuit boards is a simple
to avoid ground loops. The rest of the and the other is for the high-voltage job. PCB pins and push-on mating recepta-
wiring will also be described in portion. These two boards are sup- cles (sleeves) are used here as well for the
detail in this diagram. plied as a single board, so they must connections. The electrolytic capacitor shown
in the components list for position C9 has
three terminals, but the circuit board can also
accommodate a type with two terminals. Use
COMPONENTS LIST C13 = 100nF 630V, lead pitch heat conducting paste when fitting IC1 to the
Power supply boards 22.5mm heat sink.
After inspecting the assembled circuit
Resistors: Semiconductors: boards, it’s a good idea to temporarily mount
R1 = 1kΩ2 D1-D4 = 1N5404 them on a wooden board along with the
R2 = 270Ω D5-D9 = 1N4007 transformers, so you can quickly check out
R3 = 2kΩ2 IC1 = LM317 the power supply boards. For safety, a test
R4 = 1kΩ T1 = IRF740, BUZ61 or
load consisting of a 230-V, 8-W lamp can be
R5 = 47kΩ BUK455-400B (VDS ≥ 400V)
connected to high-voltage output, Without
R6 = 1MΩ5 LED1 = LED, 5mm dia., red
the lamp, the voltage on the output should be
R7 = 100kΩ
P1 = 500Ω preset, horizontal, lead Miscellaneous: approximately 260 V, while with the lamp it
pitch 5/2.5mm or 5/10mm Tr1 = toroidal transformer will be a good deal lower. Be careful when
All resistors: metal film 0.5-1W, e.g., 230V/2x15V, 1A, Amplimo type measuring this voltage!
Beyschlag MBE-0414 11013 (www.amplimo.nl) While you are checking out the power sup-
Tr2 = toroidal transformer 230 V/2 x ply, you can also adjust the filament supply
Capacitors: 15 V, 0,5 A, Amplimo type 1013 voltage to exactly 12.6 V.
C1-C4 = 100nF 100V, lead pitch (www.amplimo.nl) Figure 9 shows what the fully assembled
10mm J1 = 2-way PCB pinheader power supply boards should look like.
C5-C8 = 100nF 630V, lead pitch Heat sink, Rth 5 K/W, e.g., Fischer type (020383-1)
22.5mm SK129/50,8/STS
C9 = 4700µF 40V, radial, lead pitch PCB mount fuse holder with cap,
10mm or 12.5mm 5x20mm, lead pitch 22.5mm
C10 = 100µF 63V, radial, lead pitch F1 = 100 mAF (fast acting) fuse
5mm 8 solder pins with mating sockets
C11 = 220µF 400V, radial, lead pitch Next month, we will continue with the
(sleeves)
10mm PCB, order code 020383-2 (see assembly and wiring of the preamplifier, as
C12 = 22µF 350 V, axial, 16x36 mm Readers Services) well as an enclosure. We’ll also have a close
look at its specifications.

9/2003 Elektor Electronics 25