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Posted

That's great and a lovely job as well. Credit where credit is due.

 

However you could have had the same physical layout and with some finesse with component values and the transistor used for the Vbe multiplier fixed up the blunder in the original design that has potential to compromise the output stage reliability.

 

Just because Krell designed a potential hand grenade would it be fitting of a clone to leave it that way?

 

I don't want a clone or a clone of a clone. I wouldn't use the circuit Krell used.

We are waiting for you to do it and prototype it for us.

Posted (edited)

Ok Purk, no need to prototype, it's a just a matter of simple design. See below.

 

Grawk, thank you, I never said I wanted to make a KSA5 derived amp. I actually said I wouldn't use that circuit. I do know what the word "clone" means, however thank you for clarifying what the thread was about.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

In the original design, if the pot wiper goes open circuit for any reason, such as doing adjustment to the OP (output stage) bias, the OP will go to the maximum bias the Vbe multiplier circuit will allow.

 

As you may know this is not at bad as a 3 terminal pot with wiper connected to the base. For this arrangement a wiper contact failure would result in the OP stage shorting the +ve and -ve rails to each other. I have seen this arrangement in some commercial equipment. At a minimum It generally results in destroyed OP stages.

For the KSA5 an open wiper would cause about 500mA current through each OP transistor, however this may not be realised due to the power supply reserve to supply it. If the power supply can source the current it would result in almost 10 watts power dissipation in each OP device.

The heatsinks used for the OP devices appear to be Aavid Thermalloy part number 513002B02500G with a thermal resitance of 13.40°C/W. Assuming 500mA bias and 20 volt rails the MJ15030 OP devices would be running junction temperatures 159°C above ambient. This level of heat exceed SOA and would destroy the OP transistors very quickly. Even if the power supply could only supply half the current, 250mA the OP devices would have junction temperatures 80°C above ambient. Whilst inside SOA at 25°C if the amp was in a hot environment it would be running near the limits of the OP device limits of SOA.

Here is a modified Vbe multiplier that avoids the flaw in the original design for anyone that is interested. The modified circuit would result in an under biased condition for the OP stage for a wiper failure scenario. It only requires resistor value changes and possible a reverse mounted transistor depending on the type used.

 

EDIT: Correction - mistake made on diagram text. I mistakenly though the base was centre pin. Looks as though the collector and emitter pins would need to be crossed with the MJE15031 PNP and it mounted in the convential way (not reversed). The Toshiba would need to be mounted in reverse and the collector and emitter leads crossed.

 

 

EDIT2: Updated image text to correct error mentioned in previous edit. (GMT: 01:14 18-09-2014)

KSA5-vbe_zps843c859a.jpg
 

Edited by CraigBuckingham
Posted

I would just like to add, I thought I mentioned it in my previous post. In my experience good quality multi-turn trimpots like the one used in the KSA5 are usually very reliable on the trimmer contact. Much more so than other types. However, I would always prefer a design that didn't take unnecessary risks.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

A bit more work done on my KSA5.  Power supply boxed up and ready to go.  I have started boxing up the amp board, but still have lots of work to go.  A few pictures.

 

Me

post-4368-0-08005300-1412340332_thumb.jp

 

post-4368-0-84402500-1412340348_thumb.jp

 

post-4368-0-72576300-1412340388_thumb.jp

 

post-4368-0-07534600-1412340401_thumb.jp

Posted (edited)

The idea is to build a whole bunch of different amps in cases that I don't care if they get scratched

and then maybe show up at a few meets so that people can hear this stuff and know that all of them

blow away most if not all of the current batch of overpriced crap.

 

ss dynalo balanced is done (two of them actually)

ksa5 will be done soon.

will do the squarewave next.

ss dynahi after the squarewave. Pretty sure I can get it in one big hifi2000 box.

 

no, I'm not going to travel with the SS1. It would take up the entire trunk.

Edited by kevin gilmore
Posted

The idea is to build a whole bunch of different amps in cases that I don't care if they get scratched

and then maybe show up at a few meets so that people can hear this stuff and know that all of them

blow away most if not all of the current batch of overpriced crap.

 

ss dynalo balanced is done (two of them actually)

ksa5 will be done soon.

will do the squarewave next.

ss dynahi after the squarewave. Pretty sure I can get it in one big hifi2000 box.

 

no, I'm not going to travel with the SS1. It would take up the entire trunk.

 

consider some Hello Kitty stickers to prove your point.

Posted

after the rebuild. icarium posted many before pics.

 

 

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/ss1-10.jpg

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/ss1-9.jpg

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/ss1-8.jpg

 

but the thing really is insane for size and weight vs power.

 

its my balanced squarewave boards, and a Chinese remote controlled step attenuator.

 

its hard to tell what it originally was. But I think the following

a balanced section with the digital remote controlled step attenuator

a balanced section with a goldpoint rotary attenuator

a balanced section with knobs on the side for adjusting the output stage bias, something

for frequency, and some other unknown knob.

there was also a crossfeed knob.

  • 2 weeks later...

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