Hey everyone,
I've got a new build project to add to my list of build projects to tackle, this time I want to have a go at building an electronic device called an OTL Headphone Amplifier, so, exactly what is an OTL Headphone Amplifier?
Firstly, OTL is short for Output Transformerless, now most amplifiers that use tubes or valves to amplify, or make bigger, an audio signal, will need to use an electronic component known as an Output Transformer, it does at least a couple of essential jobs in a tube or valve amplifier, firstly, it isolates the loudspeaker from the high +HT supply voltages that the amplifier needs in order to operate correctly, secondly, it "Transforms" the impedance of the loudspeaker up to a level that the power tubes are happy with, most power tubes used in guitar amps nowadays don't really like working into low-impedance loudspeakers.
One other thing is that an Output Transformer enables a type of amplifier operation called "Push-Pull", in this case at least two power tubes are used to increase the output-power capability of the amplifier, you've most likely seen some Marshall or Fender amps with two, four, and maybe more, my mid 70's Fender Super Twin amplifier uses six 6L6 power tubes, in Push-Pull operation, one power tube "Pushes" while the other one "Pulls".
So, why build an Output Transformerless Headphone amp when most tube amps need an Output Transformer to operate?, well, the OTL Headphone amp I want to build is usually part of a home HiFi system, it is even considered high-end audio equipment, usually when it comes to building a tube amp for guitar amplification purposes, we are not really concerned with achieving HiFi performance since a tube guitar amp is used with an electric guitar as part of the tonal-shaping system, where the guitar and the amp work in synergy to create the final resulting sound, ever noticed how plugging a guitar into say a Vox AC30 amp can produce a sound that's different to what you would get if you plugged the same guitar into say a Fender Twin, or a Marshall JTM45, the amp that the guitar is plugged into is playing a part in creating the resulting tone.
Now when it comes to HiFi equipment, we are more concerned with making a reproduced signal, louder or bigger, but still sounding like the signal we started off with, we don't want to make it sound distorted and fuzzy, we want to reproduce the signal as faithfully as possible, that's the whole idea behind HiFi, or "High Fidelity".
As it turns out, the Output Transformer has a tendency to produce it's own form of distortion, so if we can somehow eliminate the Output Transformer, we can eliminate one source of distortion, of course, I could build the Headphone Amp using modern Solid-State technology if I wanted to, and there are a few designs on the internet, but seeing as I'm a bit of an old-school electronics kind of a guy, I thought that an Output Transformerless Headphone Amp would be a cool project to tackle, it would be fun as well.
Stay tuned for more updates, by the way, comments are most welcome......
For those of you who are reading my posts in this thread, please feel free to post your comments if you wish to do so, all comments are welcome.
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Originally Posted by Dedman
