Wednesday, May 21, 2008

A Low Distortion Audio Preamplifier

In an audio amplifier the quality of sound depends upon a number of factors, e.g. quality of active and passive components, circuit configuration, and layout. To an extent, the selection of components depends on the constructor’s budget. The discrete active components like transistors have been increasingly replaced by linear ICs, making the task of designer easier. With the passage of time, the general-purpose op-amps like LM741, which were being used in audio/hi-fi circuits, have become The preamplifier circuit presented here is based on a dual precision op-amp for the construction of a low distortion, high quality audio preamplifier.
A dual op-amp OPA2604 from Burr-Brown is used for all the stages. The FET input stage op-amp was chosen in this context it is worth wile to mention another popular bi-polar architecture op-amp, the NE5534A. It has, no doubt, an exceptionally low noise figure of 4nV/ÖHz but rest of the specifications compared to OPA2604 are virtually absent in this IC. Also This IC is also capable of operating at higher voltage rails of ± 24V (max.). Also its input bias current (100 pA) is many orders lower than its bipolar counterpart’s. This ensures a multifold reduction in noise.

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