File:Clip clamp circuit for high-level signals (after Bob Cordell 2011).png

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English: Adaptive limiter clamp circuit for high-level signals driving power amplifiers - adapted from Cordell 2011 (the original was for line-level signals). The idea is to limit the signal at the input terminal of the output stage, so that the latter never clips. The amp's output stage has a gain of 3, and with rail supply of +/-40V (at idle) it normally clips at exactly 25V RMS into 8 Ohms, or +/- 35V peak (at which point the rails sag to +/-38 V RMS). Thus, the input voltage fed into the output stage must not exceed +/- 11.5 V peak with aforementioned rail voltages; the limit varies with mains voltage. Here, the voltage divider LED1-LED2-R1-R2-R3-R4 tracks the rail voltage; the LEDs account for fixed dead voltage loss in the power output stage (around 3..4 V)
  • Since the limit increased tenfold, the number of diodes in each leg of the limiter increased to three (two diodes plus base-emitter junction). Schottky diodes are preferred over basic 1N400x types due to faster recovery
  • There is no need to wrap the diodes or transistor in feedback loop (which was essential for line-level signal).
  • The purpose of emitter followers is to divert the clamping currents away from the opamps - so that the latter don't introduce their own ringing into the audio chain.
  • Time constant in the rail voltage divider match the timing of the Cordell circuit. Two-stage filtering may be excessive; I did not test other configurations.
  • Any general-purpose, fully compensated, preferably low-current-consumption opamp would do. I used what I had in the bin.
Date (original design: published 2011)
Source Own based on Cordell, Bob (2011). Designing Audio Power Amplifiers. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780071640251 - chapter 17.5
Author user:Retired electrician
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The original schematic for line-level signals
The power amp (shown without limiter)
This work is ineligible for copyright and therefore in the public domain because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship.

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current18:05, 17 April 2023Thumbnail for version as of 18:05, 17 April 20231,616 × 1,050 (153 KB)Retired electrician (talk | contribs)upd
18:01, 17 April 2023Thumbnail for version as of 18:01, 17 April 20231,633 × 911 (134 KB)Retired electrician (talk | contribs)revd
05:10, 26 November 2022Thumbnail for version as of 05:10, 26 November 20221,346 × 1,282 (221 KB)Retired electrician (talk | contribs){{Information |Description={{en|Adaptive limiter clamp circuit for high-level signals driving power amplifiers - adapted from Cordell 2011 (the original was for line-level signals). }} |Source=Own based on Cordell, Bob (2011). Designing Audio Power Amplifiers. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780071640251 - chapter 17.5 |Date=2021-11-26 (original design: published 2011) |Author=user:Retired electrician |Permission= |other_versions= }} {{PD-ineligible}} Category:Clipping (audio)

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