Output TransformerLess
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. Conventional vacuum tube amplifier designs rely upon an output transformer to couple the amplifier's output stage to the loudspeaker A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or .... Instead, OTLs use one of two primary methods for output stage coupling: direct coupling (DC) or capacitive coupling (AC). Additional definitions There is some contention with respect to applying the broader term "OTL" to capacitively coupled designs and variants. The need to delineate these designs from their directly coupled counterparts has led to the informal adoption of several additional terms, including: * OCL (output capacitorless ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vacuum Tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. The type known as a thermionic tube or thermionic valve utilizes thermionic emission of electrons from a hot cathode for fundamental electronic functions such as signal amplifier, amplification and current rectifier, rectification. Non-thermionic types such as a vacuum phototube, however, achieve electron emission through the photoelectric effect, and are used for such purposes as the detection of light intensities. In both types, the electrons are accelerated from the cathode to the anode by the electric field in the tube. The simplest vacuum tube, the diode (i.e. Fleming valve), invented in 1904 by John Ambrose Fleming, contains only a heated electron-emitting cathode and an anode. Electrons can only flow in one direction through the device—fro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Power Amplifier
An audio power amplifier (or power amp) is an electronic amplifier that amplifies low-power electronic audio signals, such as the signal from a radio receiver or an electric guitar pickup, to a level that is high enough for driving loudspeakers or headphones. Audio power amplifiers are found in all manner of sound systems including sound reinforcement, public address and home audio systems and musical instrument amplifiers like guitar amplifiers. It is the final electronic stage in a typical audio playback chain before the signal is sent to the loudspeakers. The preceding stages in such a chain are low power audio amplifiers which perform tasks like pre-amplification of the signal (this is particularly associated with record turntable signals, microphone signals and electric instrument signals from pickups, such as the electric guitar and electric bass), equalization (e.g., adjusting the bass and treble), tone controls, mixing different input signals or adding electr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Transformer Types
A variety of types of electrical transformer are made for different purposes. Despite their design differences, the various types employ the same basic principle as discovered in 1831 by Michael Faraday, and share several key functional parts. Power transformer Laminated core This is the most common type of transformer, widely used in electric power transmission and appliances to convert mains voltage to low voltage to power electronic devices. They are available in power ratings ranging from mW to MW. The insulated laminations minimizes eddy current losses in the iron core. Small appliance and electronic transformers may use a split bobbin, giving a high level of insulation between the windings. The rectangular cores are made up of stampings, often in E-I shape pairs, but other shapes are sometimes used. Shields between primary and secondary may be fitted to reduce EMI (electromagnetic interference), or a screen winding is occasionally used. Small appliance and electron ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Loudspeaker
A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or "loudspeaker", comprises one or more such speaker ''drivers'', an enclosure, and electrical connections possibly including a crossover network. The speaker driver can be viewed as a linear motor attached to a diaphragm which couples that motor's movement to motion of air, that is, sound. An audio signal, typically from a microphone, recording, or radio broadcast, is amplified electronically to a power level capable of driving that motor in order to reproduce the sound corresponding to the original unamplified electronic signal. This is thus the opposite function to the microphone; indeed the ''dynamic speaker'' driver, by far the most common type, is a linear motor in the same basic configuration as the dynamic microphone which uses such ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Capacitive Coupling
Capacitive coupling is the transfer of energy within an electrical network or between distant networks by means of displacement current between circuit(s) nodes, induced by the electric field. This coupling can have an intentional or accidental effect. In its simplest implementation, capacitive coupling is achieved by placing a capacitor between two nodes. Where analysis of many points in a circuit is carried out, the capacitance at each point and between points can be described in a matrix form. Use in analog circuits In analog circuits, a coupling capacitor is used to connect two circuits such that only the AC signal from the first circuit can pass through to the next while DC is blocked. This technique helps to isolate the DC bias settings of the two coupled circuits. Capacitive coupling is also known as ''AC coupling'' and the capacitor used for the purpose is also known as a ''DC-blocking capacitor''. A coupling capacitor's ability to prevent a DC load from interfe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Electrical Impedance
In electrical engineering, impedance is the opposition to alternating current presented by the combined effect of resistance and reactance in a circuit. Quantitatively, the impedance of a two-terminal circuit element is the ratio of the complex representation of the sinusoidal voltage between its terminals, to the complex representation of the current flowing through it. In general, it depends upon the frequency of the sinusoidal voltage. Impedance extends the concept of resistance to alternating current (AC) circuits, and possesses both magnitude and phase, unlike resistance, which has only magnitude. Impedance can be represented as a complex number, with the same units as resistance, for which the SI unit is the ohm (). Its symbol is usually , and it may be represented by writing its magnitude and phase in the polar form . However, Cartesian complex number representation is often more powerful for circuit analysis purposes. The notion of impedance is useful for perf ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Electrolytic Capacitor
An electrolytic capacitor is a polarized capacitor whose anode or positive plate is made of a metal that forms an insulating oxide layer through anodization. This oxide layer acts as the dielectric of the capacitor. A solid, liquid, or gel electrolyte covers the surface of this oxide layer, serving as the cathode or negative plate of the capacitor. Due to their very thin dielectric oxide layer and enlarged anode surface, electrolytic capacitors have a much higher capacitance-voltage (CV) product per unit volume than ceramic capacitors or film capacitors, and so can have large capacitance values. There are three families of electrolytic capacitor: aluminum electrolytic capacitors, tantalum electrolytic capacitors, and niobium electrolytic capacitors. The large capacitance of electrolytic capacitors makes them particularly suitable for passing or bypassing low-frequency signals, and for storing large amounts of energy. They are widely used for decoupling or noise filtering ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Circlotron
Circlotron valve amplifier is a type of power amplifier utilizing symmetrical cathode-coupled bridge layout of the output stage. Original circlotrons of 1950s used output transformers to couple relatively high output impedance of vacuum tubes to low-impedance loudspeakers. Circlotron architecture, easily scalable, was eventually adapted to operate without output transformers, and present-day commercially produced circlotron models are of output transformerless (OTL) type. History The ''Circlotron'' name emerged as a trademark of Electro-Voice. A U.S. patent for a circlotron ''High Fidelity Audio Amplifier'' was filed by Alpha Wiggins of Electro-Voice on March 1, 1954, and granted March 28, 1958. However, other inventors filed the same concept earlier: * C. T. Hall filed ''Parallel Opposed Power Amplifiers'' on June 7, 1951; U.S. Patent 2,705,265 was granted on March 29, 1955. * Tapio Köykkä filed on September 2, 1952; Finnish Patent 27332 granted on November 10, 1954; improv ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Line Driver
A line driver is an electronic amplifier circuit designed for driving a load such as a transmission line. The amplifier's output impedance may be matched to the characteristic impedance of the transmission line. Line drivers are commonly used within digital systems, e.g. to communicate digital signals across circuit-board traces and cables. In analog audio, a line driver is typically used to drive line-level analog signal outputs, for example to connect a CD player A CD player is an electronic device that plays audio compact discs, which are a digital optical disc data storage format. CD players were first sold to consumers in 1982. CDs typically contain recordings of audio material such as music or aud ... to an amplified speaker system. References Electronic amplifiers {{electronics-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |