Power Amplification for High Resolution Audio

Product Development

Presenter:
John Dawson, Jade Electronics Ltd - Cambridge, UK

Driving modern passive loudspeakers to realistic levels without audible distortion can be surprisingly demanding—more so when the source is high resolution audio. And, although the peak power levels are much lower, achieving full dynamic range with headphones can also present tricky design problems. This tutorial reviews the various types of linear amplifier—particularly classes A, AB, B, D, G and H—and examines some of the trade-offs involved in designing and implementing some recent commercial designs for both speakers and headphones. A number of the author's measurements of real products—not all of them good—will be shown.