Otl tube amp design software

Apr 03, 2020 for instant, in 145v, the current went through the tube could be up to 400ma, anode resistant was 100 ohm and the amplification coefficient was 2. A high performance, otl, tube headphone amplifier here are a series of images of an amplifier built to drive my sennheiser hd600 headphones. Output transformerless otl is a type of vacuum tube audio power amplifier, which omits an output transformer for the purpose of greater linearity and fidelity. This page contains details of software available from this site, to assist with the design of amplifiers and related equipment. But he does mean if you spend a crap load on a tube amp then its better to just go with a set amp, have slightly more power, more compatibility, and better sound for the same price of an uber expensive otl. Review and measurements of darkvoice 336se headphone amp. Here are a series of images of an amplifier built to drive my sennheiser hd600 headphones. The power supply is a fairly conventional design using a 6550a as a series pass regulator. Better to use a 32 ohms speaker, the amplifier will deliver 80vpp or 28vrms at 0. Otl amplifier design revisited the last schematic i posted held a few typos, which have been corrected, as shown below in redrawing the schematic, however, i realized that topology was just too big a jump for many, and that i needed to work my way up to this schematic in stages, starting with the underlying otl topology without the crossovernotcheliminating aspects of the circuitry. I discuss why why you need so many tubes such as 6as7, 6336. It is a term used to describe amplifiers, particularly tube amplifiers, that do not have an output transformer. I own a couple pushpull amps 45 output tube and 349 output tube and a parallel 2a3 set amp.

Preamp simple transformerless microphone preamp, includes circuit board design. They sound better to me being driven by the darkvoice versus my solid state options. The main specifications are reported in table 1 against. Amps of triode design were not gaining acceptance at the time, and from the very start atmaspheres amps have been triode otls. Qtron pa12 otl tube amplifier delivering the full promise. I worked up an otl design that could do some 40w into 8r, using. The data of this tube was much better than anything made before in the west and sanei of japan imported some 6c33c tubes for audio application in 1997, renaming them ec33c for the japanese consumer. For details see qtron audio homepage back to tube amplifiers.

Therefore, since its inception, 6c33c quickly became the first choice for otl amplifier design all over the world. A trio of software programs for the intrepid tubephile. This amp was built last year, so this is more of a retrospective, but im very proud of it and thought you might be interested. Sunvalley sv18dotl radio design, valve amplifier, vintage valve. The einstein the silver bullet otl is a quite typical einstein design, offering a fully symmetrical circuit design, making a best possible signal to noise ratio a. How do you find a set of operating conditions that will work with 3 different tube families. Transcendent sound single ended otl amplifiers user. Ier i know this is a dc approximation, 32 volts16 ohms approx. Primo vagito del mio amplificatore in tecnologia otl da 75w a canale in classe a. Hi asr, wanted to share my build of my bottlehead crackatwoa headphone amplifier. The acronym otl refers to a tube amplifier that is output transformerless. This index has a wide collection of vacuum tube or valve circuits or schematics, that can be very useful for the enginner or the student who need a circuit or schematic for reference or inf at category vacuum tube valve circuit page 3.

Otl amplifiers of the seventies developed quite a reputation. This is very much cheaper than other otl amps or good quality conventional tube amps. Clio pcboard and software, audiomatica srl, flo rence. So far from ideal, in fact, that an otl power amplifier, which is a truly crazy idea, begins to make sense. Or go with something like one of the tube schiits depending on can. He calls it zotl to differentiate it from otl, but the result is the same. We also have a world class tube line level preamps and tube phono preamp. The design uses a clc supply filter and split heaters for low noise. For output transformers to not ruin the sound of an amp, especially a set tube amp, they have to be wound very carefully, made of very expense metals, and thus cost a lot of money. Atmasphere has been making otl amps for a little over 34 years. A really good otl design makes your transducers sound like they are directcoupled to the music, and that is precisely what the feliks audio euforia does to your headphones.

This page is about otl amps, strengths and weaknesses, and why not having an output. Its a vacuum tube based design that uses a singletriode tube per channel to produce output without splitting the musical signal. Looking for a highend tube headphone amp design gearslutz. Because it is not easy to design a good otl circuit. His otl amps are awesome, reliable, affordable, and probably there are 20 time the number of his amps. This outputtransformerless design uses a 6sn7 dual triode as the input tube, a 6as7608072365998 as the output tube also a dual triode, but a much larger and more powerful one, and a 5u4gb as a rectifier tube. Tenor tenor audio celebrating 20 years of michel vanden. To do this with tubes, you need split rail power supplies andor servos. These amps took the world by storm as the premier tube amplifier of its time and gave tenor chief engineer, michel vanden broeck, a well served place in audio history. Otl amps sound great and a lot of them produce good technicalities compared to other headphone amps of similar price. The crackatwoa is an upgraded model of bottleheads popular diy. Aug 19, 2019 singlepower design, but different circuit. At any rate, if i dont find a suitable nonotl amp design that i like, i may just sell off the entire lot of 6080 tubes. Can anyone explain to me, in laymans terms, the advantages or disadvantages of otl amplifiers.

The otl is a unique design concept that is different than traditional vacuum tube amplifiers. Listed under the technical referencevacuum tube category that is about vacuum tube resources. It seems to me that the computer otl amplifier topology could be. To provide the user with a wide range of configuration options, the stratus singleended headphone output has user selectable output impedance between 8ohm and 120ohm, and selectable gain attenuation between 0db and 6db for greater volume range.

The einstein the silver bullet otl is a quite typical einstein design, offering a fully symmetrical circuit design, making a best possible signal to noise ratio a guarantee. Is this the kind of current required at 150 volts, for each 150 volt supply. The queue for a glenn amplifier is nine to twelve months. Sep 16, 2016 my amp shown above 10 wattschannel by berning no longer in production, alas is singleended, and in actual use is like an otl type amp the best of both worlds. Rare vintage pair fisher 55a vacuum tube mono block amplifiers classic hifi. Qtron pa12 otl tube amplifier delivering the full promise of otl technology. Otl amplifier celebrating twenty years of michel vanden. Also host the excellent magdemo transformer design software, and a host of useful newsletters on spice modelling. As we know, almost all other amplifiers have output transformers.

That sounds like a lot until you consider that we estimate tube life for our amps to be in the 10,00020,000 hour range. By trying out several different sets of operating conditions in the computer i could eliminate hundreds of possibilities without playing with electricity. Sans pareil outputtransformerless otl amplifier fourier components, st. Commercial otl amplifier i can now offer otl amplifiers for sale, it is an improved version of my well known design and is sold assembled and tested, only made on order. Conventional vacuum tube amplifier designs rely upon an output transformer to couple the amplifier s output stage to the loudspeaker. At any rate, if i dont find a suitable non otl amp design that i like, i may just sell off the entire lot of 6080 tubes. The benefit is supposed to be getting rid of nonlinearities of the transformer. Tube amps are fairly simple circuits, so unless youre doing something like a digital modeler, i think your time would be better spend learning how to design various stages of an amp versus learning how to use a software program. The start with this little amplifier was the christmas weekends and all spare time i got together with the lack of parts to my power amplifier. The singleended otl amplifier from transcendent sound isnt advertised as a headphone amp but i bet it would make a fantastic one. Celebrating 20 years of michel vanden broeck designs. This is a project that quickly became the focus in lots of tube oriented forums and has inspired long threads and many iterations, including further articles published in audioxpress from the author himself. I have heard a lot about them, but have not listened to any to date. Home the forums geekslutz forum looking for a highend tube headphone amp design.

I have never owned an otl amp, but, i heard a custombuilt otl that sounds much better than either amp i own it is pretty unobtainable and a bit scary in operation. I was aiming for the audio gdhe9 but have reconsidered. Otl output trasformer less tube amplifiers my consideration on problems of each design. The amp requires the most neutral preamp and sources, and works well with tube or solid state. Mr dakesue in japan was the first person to design a 6c33cb otl power amplifier. The only real disadvantage of an otl amplifier lies in its incredibly complex circuit which results in very expensive manufacturing techniques. This is because otl amps are usually capacitor coupled on the output. That is simply a part of their early history, and has no impact on the current crop of otl amps.

The 6c33c is today probably the best tube available for otl s, it is a pure triode, it can pass high continuous currents and it is relatively cheap and easy to come by, for more info about this tube see. Vacuum tube amplifier 02 3d model 3d model of vacuum tube amplifier with original design. This article from respected author ari polisois deals with a singleended amplifier with enough power to drive even the most difficult speaker systems delivering 50w per channel. The most recent schematic of my xpp headphoneamplifier. A high performance, otl, tube headphone amplifier kevin o. In my amplifier i have used a 200va power transformer per channel. The result is an unbelievable clarity and realism that no other configuration can achieve. But the sound is better than any other amp ive had by far. A tube amplifier needs to block high voltage dc from going out of the unit and also reduce the rather high output impedance of tubes. Because of the relatively high impedance of these phones, i wanted plenty of voltage available to drive them. All software on this page is compatible with windows 95, 98, me, 2000 and nt4.

System bullock and white software free loudspeaker design software. Tube audio design software goldpoint decently priced assembled stepped. Philips ag 9014 stereo tube amplifier test otl 800 ohm duration. Transformation of the highimpedance and lowcurrent tube plate circuit into the. Ltspiceswitchercad iii a nice easy to use simulator which is gaining rapid acceptance. Through most of the 1980s they found it difficult to gain acceptance in the mainstream audio community. Words alone cannot reveal the otl tube amp experience.

I like the polaris ss amp just fine with my senn 650s for example. If you want to build a tube amplifier and you dont want to just copy someone elses circuit it might be a good idea to learn how to design it. The pa12 was able to deliver a big tone sound when the program material demanded it. Considering how old this design is, they may have been designed to work with tube circuitry. In this amp, i use the tube triodeconnected in what is essentially an srpp circuit. Review by dick olsher, superior audio magazine is the leading authority in highend. While the output transformer is not an af audio frequency transformer, as it is in most tube amps, an rf radio frequency transformer is still. With all three speakers this amp sounded superb, but it was almost a perfect match for the little magus with the dx55 alnico drivers. Mr dakesue in japan was the first person to design a 6c33cb otl power amplifier circuit in 1997. I am really a tube fan and want to reach tube nirvana and dont know if otl is the way to go. There are also some other smaller programs just for specific parts of the amp. This author shares with us his design of a highquality audio amp that produces 180w mono, bridge or.

Otl output trasformer less tube amplifiers audio design guide. Welcome to my vacuum tube audio page, which i dedicate to the reader who seeks an indepth understanding of amplifier design who wants to learn the factors that contribute to audio quality who doesnt buy the myths of the highend marketplace, where old designs enhanced with premium components and dressed up in impressive packages command astronomical prices. So the far preferable way to drive an electrostat is with a normal tube amp driving it without a tranformer. Xpp otl pp class a headphoneamp, oves diy audio pages. I had my tech give the amplifier a thorough check up. For those who use high efficiency speakers of 94db or better you will be rewarded with rich natural sound. I personally would look for a better true otl design like a hartung another of effusions amps.

I have used the 61976cl6 in other amplifier efforts, most notably my socalled spud amp renowned for its excellent midrange character. Conventional vacuum tube amplifier designs rely upon an output transformer to couple the amplifiers output stage to the loudspeaker. Most tube amplifiers run through tubes every 1,0002,000 hours. Welcome to my tube amp simulation software page paragraph about tube amp design simulation. Bottlehead crackatwoa otl tube headphone amplifier build. An esl is a reciprocal compromise it has very high impedance and requires high voltage and it uses a transformer, its and all non otl tube amps achilles heel.

Pure classa triode otl design and only one tube for. Whats so irresistible about a singleended triode set amp. Output impedance is around 50 ohm depending on the power tube used. This is where the vacuum tubes directly drive the loudspeaker with no intervening transformer. Audio preamplifier circuits three transistor microphone preamplifiers. This page is about otl amps, strengths and weaknesses, and why not having an output transformer may ruin good music. Our tube amps and preamps are renown for their extremely low noise and musicality. Transcendent sound produces vacuum tube audio amplifier kits that utilize otl output transformerless technology. Audio asylum otl asylum otl, output transformerless amplifier user group.

I suggest to read this article by turner audio, has a lot of information regarding otl amplifiers. Theres a page on how to use it with the vacuum tube models here. I have the berning zotltype, and i think it may be the best design of all amps ever. This is the first time im talking about a tube amplifier, but i took my time to read about it and understand the design behind the sound, and how. The futterman amps, for instance, had a big soundstage, with a very quiet background. Lee jaehong 6c33c otl, schematic, diy tube amplifier lex manns.

Here you will find vacuum tube based amplifier, preamplifier and headphone amplifier kits, speaker kits, finished high end tube audio products, reel to reel tape machine upgrades, parts, and one of the finest support communities on the web. It is silky smooth yet possesses uncanny detail and three dimensional imaging. New york audio laboratories futterman otl1 power amplifier. Rca mi9377 schematic rca otl amp rockola model b schematic.

If you have never heard an otl amp, it can be very difficult to imagine how they sound. I do plan on remaking all of these programs into 64bit versions, but it will be a huge ordeal, as programming requires vast chunks of noisefree. I see no reason to avoid otl for reliability reasons anymore. Qtron pa12 otl tube amplifier delivering the full promise of otl. Audio engineers and designers have been trying to build otl amplifiers since the 1950s, but they met with only limited success. Regular tube amplifiers have very high voltages in them and by contrast most loudspeakers are low voltage. There is a computer program that comes with this page to help you. Our otl amplifiers give a sense of musical rightness, together with a realism that reveals the unique qualities of each recording. Abraxas audio 6cl6 6197 otl headphone tube amplifier. My amp shown above 10 wattschannel by berning no longer in production, alas is singleended, and in actual use is like an otl type amp the best of both worlds. For additional information about designing tube amplifiers, refer to the theory section. Theory, but also our listening panel told us that a well built output transformer less otl amplifier is able to approach the live sound more accurately than any other amplifier, transistor or tube.

The finest and most harmonically correct amplifiers in the world. There have been hifi amplifiers of this design, but i dont know of a commercial tube otl ocl headphone amp. How do you really design an otl amplifier with high reliability. In order to convert from the high voltage of tubes to the low voltage of a speaker an electronic device known as a transformer is used. I want to add that this is only 1 12 wpc but it sounds like 5 wpc. But that brings us to the subject of vacuumtube poweramplifiers. Glenn otl headphone amplifier lots of tubes sale pending. Schematic 29w set 2 x 6c33c, screen fb to el34, cfb, gnfb. Discover what real music actually sounds like with a tenor and realize this will be the last amplifier you will ever need to purchase. This is most often done with a transformer but in otl designs, other methods are used. Ive always been curious about otl amplifiers, but never tried one except for the very unusual and wonderful berning siegfried, which was both set and otl. Ozren bilan room acoustics audio site links audiologs. View topic using the that1646 as a transistor predriverheadphone amp. Tube amplifier otl mania is spreading around the world and despite of costly designs, expencive monoblock with separate power supplies and the knowhow engineering, presla amplifier prices are affordable for large segment of fans of this type of amplifiers.