Chapter 8

Large-signal a.f. amplifiers

Definition of a large-signal amplifier

The final stage of an amplifier may be required to drive a loudspeaker, a recording head or some other load requiring appreciable power for its operation. Such stages must give the required power and to obtain it full advantage must be taken of the voltage swing and current swing available from the output transistor(s). Such stages are known as large-signal amplifiers. There is a danger of overloading and one of the problems in designing large-signal amplifiers is how to obtain the maximum power output from the transistors without distortion.

Transistor parameters in large-signal amplifiers

Because of the very large current swings in a large-signal amplifier it is not possible ...

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