{"id":7316,"date":"2018-03-29T20:21:04","date_gmt":"2018-03-29T19:21:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/?p=7316"},"modified":"2018-03-29T20:21:04","modified_gmt":"2018-03-29T19:21:04","slug":"4p1l-pse-class-a2-amplifier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/2018\/03\/29\/4p1l-pse-class-a2-amplifier\/","title":{"rendered":"4P1L PSE Class A2 Amplifier"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It was mentioned <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diyaudio.com\/forums\/tubes-valves\/183329-4p1l-se-111.html\">here<\/a>, so I decided to chip in with my previous experience from back in 2013. Here is what I tried myself:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-Zaa3K-A2-Po6W.png\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7313\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/2018\/03\/29\/4p1l-pse-class-a2-amplifier\/4p1l-pse-zaa3k-a2-po6w\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-Zaa3K-A2-Po6W.png?fit=1198%2C686&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1198,686\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"4P1L PSE Zaa=3K A2 Po=6W\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-Zaa3K-A2-Po6W.png?fit=840%2C481&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-large wp-image-7313 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-Zaa3K-A2-Po6W-1024x586.png?resize=525%2C300\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-Zaa3K-A2-Po6W.png?resize=1024%2C586&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-Zaa3K-A2-Po6W.png?resize=300%2C172&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-Zaa3K-A2-Po6W.png?resize=768%2C440&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-Zaa3K-A2-Po6W.png?w=1198&amp;ssl=1 1198w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 85vw, 525px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--more-->The 4P1L pair in class A2 can deliver up to 6W with a 3K2 Zaa output transformer. I didn&#8217;t push the 4P1L hard and a 250V\/35mA operating point was performing well.<\/p>\n<p>One (of the many) advantages of the 4P1L compared to other DHTs (like 2A3, 300B, etc.) is that the grid drive requirements aren&#8217;t as demanding. The maximum power is achieved with 20Vrms. This means that with a simple driver stage of a gain of x10 or more, we can drive the output stage to full tilt.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m using a gain of 20 today with the EML-20A mesh DHT. However, back then I used the 6e5p driver which provides a higher gain but is a fantastic driver, albeit not DHT. It does sound really nice, it&#8217;s one of my preferred ones.<\/p>\n<p>If I were to build this amplifier again today, I&#8217;d do the following:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-A2-Amp-v01.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7315\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/2018\/03\/29\/4p1l-pse-class-a2-amplifier\/4p1l-pse-a2-amp-v01\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-A2-Amp-v01.jpg?fit=990%2C832&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"990,832\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"4P1L PSE A2 Amp v01\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-A2-Amp-v01.jpg?fit=840%2C706&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7315 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-A2-Amp-v01.jpg?resize=840%2C706\" alt=\"\" width=\"840\" height=\"706\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-A2-Amp-v01.jpg?w=990&amp;ssl=1 990w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-A2-Amp-v01.jpg?resize=300%2C252&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/4P1L-PSE-A2-Amp-v01.jpg?resize=768%2C645&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The driver is the 6e5p (or better 6e6p-dr) which is very linear and works well with a bit of degeneration in the cathode. As the stage is a hybrid mu-follower (i.e. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/2017\/07\/09\/gyrator-pcb-update-rev07\/\">gyrator<\/a> load) the reflected cathode resistor in the anode isn&#8217;t impacting the output impedance. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/for-sale\/source-follower-pcb\/\">follower<\/a> is a classic MOSFET (high GM, low Crss) follower using a symmetric +\/-80V to provide enough headroom. The HT is a bit marginal for the driver but provides good headroom for the 4P1L.<br \/>\nThe rest of the circuit is self explanatory<br \/>\nAs I don&#8217;t need the A2 power, I end up with the 4P1L PSE with filament bias I have now. Probably will rebuild this version as the follower drives well the PSE pair. I&#8217;d go for 3 valves next time.<br \/>\nHope this helps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was mentioned here, so I decided to chip in with my previous experience from back in 2013. Here is what I tried myself:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[782,216,29,606,605,625,903,1064,44,875,1061],"class_list":["post-7316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-valves","tag-4p1l","tag-4p1l-pse","tag-6e5p","tag-6e6p","tag-6e6p-dr","tag-bartola","tag-bartola-gyrator-pcb","tag-bartola-source-follower-pcb","tag-gyrator","tag-gyrator-pcb","tag-source-follower"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2r2tK-1U0","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7316"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7317,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7316\/revisions\/7317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartola.co.uk\/valves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}