Self on Audio, 2nd Edition

29

Common-emitter power amplifiers: a different perception?

Now and again articles appear in Electronics World that provoke thought. The sum-of-squares principle of Mr Williams sounded most intriguing, so I ran a few simulations to see if the linearity it could provide was an improvement over conventionality. This proved not to be the case, but it did lead to an interesting intellectual journey. As usually happens when I am evaluating an idea, enough work had been done for an chapter on the topic, and here it is.

When I read Michael William’s intriguing article Making a Linear Difference to Square-Law fets,¹ I was attracted by the prospect of applying it to an audio power output stage. I found the phrase ‘curvilinear class A’ particularly appealing. ...