In this report I describe the design, simulation and characterisation of a novel, high performance, medium power (≈ 50 W) class-B audio amplifier. Following a general discussion of amplifier characteristics and design goals, the amplifier schematic is presented and described in detail. SPICE simulation results verify the design and provide further understanding of circuit behaviour. A brief discussion on the methodologies of good PCB design is followed by a presentation of the key experimental characteristics of the amplifier along with a comparison to the characteristics derived by simulation. An amplifier control board which responds to thermal and short-circuit faults and adds radio and alarm clock features is briefly discussed. The final chapter `recommendations for future work' is a reflection upon the strengths and weaknesses of the amplifier design and suggest possible means of improvement.
Full report: http://gregjolley.github.io/amplifier/