F3 DP 2024 Turinsky Jakub Diploma Thesis Jakub Turinsky

Master Thesis
Czech
Technical
University
in Prague
Faculty of Electrical Engineering

F3 Department of Measurement
Guitar amplifier design
Jakub Turinský
Supervisor: Prof. Ing. Jan Holub, Ph.D.

Field of study: Electrical engineering
Subfield: Cybernetics and robotics
January 2024
ii
MASTER‘S THESIS ASSIGNMENT
I. Personal and study details
Student's name: Turinský Jakub Personal ID number: 474618

Faculty / Institute: Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Department / Institute: Department of Measurement
Study program: Cybernetics and Robotics
II. Master’s thesis details

Master’s thesis title in English:
Guitar amplifier design
Master’s thesis title in Czech:

Návrh kytarového zesilovače
Guidelines:
Design and implement a guitar amplifier consisting of the following parts:
1. Preamplifier with adjustable distortion, equalization, overall volume and reverb effect (use FV-1 sound processor)
2. 40W class-D end amplifier with THD+N max. 1%
The design will include the development of the PCB and mechanical design to a fully usable state for user and/or production.
Verify the achieved prameters by measurements. Compare the achieved THD and the catalogue data of the components
used.
Bibliography / sources:
1. online documentation for the FV-1 (Spin Semiconductor - Audio measurements on the FV-1)
2. Popovich I.S., Audio Tests & Measurements, Career Professionals, 2019, 0980622395, 9780980622393
3. Pohlman C.K., Principles of Digital Audio, McGraw Hill, 978-0071663465
Name and workplace of master’s thesis supervisor:

prof. Ing. Jan Holub, Ph.D. Department of Measurement FEE
Name and workplace of second master’s thesis supervisor or consultant:
Date of master’s thesis assignment: 26.09.2023 Deadline for master's thesis submission: 09.01.2024
Assignment valid until:

by the end of winter semester 2024/2025
___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________

prof. Ing. Jan Holub, Ph.D. Head of department’s signature prof. Mgr. Petr Páta, Ph.D.
Supervisor’s signature Dean’s signature
III. Assignment receipt

The student acknowledges that the master’s thesis is an individual work. The student must produce his thesis without the assistance of others,
with the exception of provided consultations. Within the master’s thesis, the author must state the names of consultants and include a list of references.
.
Date of assignment receipt Student’s signature
CVUT-CZ-ZDP-2015.1 © ČVUT v Praze, Design: ČVUT v Praze, VIC

iv
Acknowledgements Declaration
I want to thank my supervisor Prof. Ing. I hereby declare that I have worked on
Jan Holub, Ph.D. for his time and help this thesis independently and specified
with my thesis. Another thanks belongs all the used information sources in ac-
to Antonín Salva for consultations and ad- cordance with the Methodical guidelines
vice about the project and David Karon about following ethical principles during
for supplying me with the necessary ma- the preparation of university theses.
terials. My biggest thanks however be-
long to my family, my girlfriend, and my
friends for their help, patience, and never- In Prague, 1. January 2024
ending support over my studies.
v
Abstract Abstrakt
The thesis deals with the complete design Práce se zabývá kompletním návrhem ky-
of a guitar amplifier to the point of a fin- tarového zesilovače do stavu dokončeného
ished device aimed at an end user. From zařízení určeného pro koncového uživatele.
choosing the requirements of the finished Od výběru požadavků výsledného zaří-
device, selecting the individual important zení, přes výběr jednotlivých důležitých
building blocks, putting together the fi- stavebních bloků, sestavení výsledného cel-
nal schematic, and dividing the design kového schématu, rozdělení návrhu do jed-
into individual PCBs, their design, and notlivých plošných spojů, jejich návrhu
the mechanical chassis design in which a návrhu mechanické konstrukce ve kte-
the electronics are placed. The device is rém jsou umístěny. Zařízení je napájeno
powered by a 24VDC/60W adapter and 24VDC/60W adaptérem a zesilovač pro-
the amplifier produces 40W power on the dukuje 40W výstupního výkonu využitím
output using the TPA3106D1 chip from čipu TPA3106D1 od společnosti Texas
Texas Instruments. The preamplifier al- Instruments. Předzesilovač umožňuje zesí-
lows the user to amplify and distort the lit a zkreslit signál, obsahuje 3-pásmové
signal, three-band equalizer, mix control korekce, nastavení přimíchání digitálního
of a digital reverb effect (reverb of the efektu dozvuku (reverbu z audioprocesoru
FV-1 audio processor with adjustable pa- FV-1 s nastavitelnými parametry vnitř-
rameters by inside trimmers), master vol- ními trimry), nastavení celkové hlasitosti
ume setting and a vacuum tube ECC83 a sekci s vakuovou elektronkou ECC83
section (powered by 120V voltage multi- (napájenou 120V napěťovou násobičkou).
plier). The tube section is designed in a Elektronková sekce je navržena tak, aby
way that it can be left out of the device se dala jednoduše vynechat z konstrukce
so that the device can drain as low power a zařízení tak odebíralo co možná mini-
as possible. mální výkon.
The document contains also a measure- Dokument obsahuje také měření příkonů
ments section where the power of the in- jednotlivých částí zesilovače, přenosové
dividual parts is measured, also the fre- frekvenční charakteristiky navržených ko-
quency characteristics of the equalizer, rekcí a změřeno a oveřeno celkové harmo-
and the datasheet THD value of the power nické zkreslení koncového zesilovače podle
amplifier’s TPA3106D1 is verified. dokumentace.
Keywords: Guitar amplifier, Klíčová slova: Kytarový zesilovač,

preamplifier, power amplifier, předzesilovač, koncový zesilovač,
TPA3106D1, class-D amplifier, THD, TPA3106D1, class-D zesilovač, THD,
vacuum tubes, voltage multiplier, FV-1, vakuové elektronky, napěťová násobička,
digital reverb effect, PCB design FV-1, digitální reverb efekt, návrh PCB
Supervisor: Prof. Ing. Jan Holub, Překlad názvu: Návrh kytarového zesi-
Ph.D. lovače
vi
3.2 Block diagram design . . . . . . . . . 13
Contents
Part I 4 Power distribution, protection and

Introduction and research effects loop design 15
4.1 Power protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1 Introduction 3
4.2 Power distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2 Research 5
4.3 Effects loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.1 Guitar amplifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5 Preamplifier design 19
2.1.1 Vacuum tube amplifiers . . . . . . 6
5.1 Voltage regulator for the

2.1.2 Solid-state amplifiers . . . . . . . . 7 preamplifier and main on/off toggle
switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.1.3 Hybrid amplifiers . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5.2 Input buffer and OP amp
2.1.4 Modelling amplifiers . . . . . . . . . 7 amplification stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.3 Bypassable tube stage . . . . . . . . . 22

Part II
Schematic, PCB and mechanical
construction design 5.4 Three-band equalizer . . . . . . . . . . 25
5.5 FV-1 Reverb stage . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

3 Design preparation 11
5.6 Output stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

3.1 Basic requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1.1 Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 6 Power amplifier 31
3.1.2 Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 7 PCB and mechanical design 35
3.1.3 Circuit section selection . . . . . 12 7.1 Chassis enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.1.4 User controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 7.2 PCB separation and block design 36
vii
7.3 Preapmlifier group of PCBs . . . . 39 9.3 THD of the power amplifier . . . . 69
7.3.1 Input PCB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Part IV
Results, conclusion, and future
7.3.2 Main preamplifier PCB . . . . . 41 improvements
7.3.3 Tube section PCB module . . 43 10 Conclusion 75
7.3.4 Reverb section PCB module . 44 10.1 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
7.4 Power amplifier group of PCBs . 46 10.2 Future improvements . . . . . . . . . 76
7.4.1 Back connector PCB . . . . . . . 46 10.3 Overall conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . 77
7.4.2 Power amplifier PCB module 48

Appendices
7.5 Mechanical design . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

A Bibliography 89
Part III
Prototype assembly, testing and
measurements
8 Prototype assembly and testing 55
8.1 Prototype assembly . . . . . . . . . . . 55
8.2 First start and testing . . . . . . . . . 57
9 Measurements 63
9.1 Power consumption . . . . . . . . . . . 63
9.2 Equalizer trasfer functions . . . . . 66
viii
5.7 Tube stage schematic. . . . . . . . . . 24
Figures
5.8 Boss HM-2W and its emulated EQ
1.1 Photo of the finished amplifier. . . 3 section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.1 MARSHALL 2002 JCM 900.[1] . . 5 5.9 XB-MB Preamp EQ section

schematic.[5] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.2 Basic block diagram of guitar

amplifier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5.10 Three band EQ schematic. . . . . 26
2.3 KEMPER Profiler modeling 5.11 FV-1 typical application

amp.[2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 schematic. [6] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.12 The FV-1 reverb section

3.1 Generic guitar amp block diagram 13 schematic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.13 Benzin VH4 output section

4.1 Power protection schematic. . . . . 15 schematic. [7] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.2 Amplifier power distribution 5.14 Schematic of the preamplifier’s

diagram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 output stage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.3 Effects loop schematic. . . . . . . . . 17

6.1 FV-1 typical application schematic.
[8] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.1 Preamplifier block diagram. . . . . 19
6.2 TPA3106D1EVM - TPA3106D1
5.2 Preamplifier’s voltage regulator Evaluation Module.[9] . . . . . . . . . . . 32
and the ON/OFF switch. . . . . . . . . 20
6.3 TPA3106D1EVM - TPA3106D1
5.3 Input buffer and OP amp gain Evaluation Module schematic.[9] . . 32
stages schematic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.4 Schematic of the preamplifier’s
5.5 Tube Driver V1.2 schematic.[3] . 23 output stage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.6 Voltage multiplier table of supply

7.1 Photo of the wooden tolex-coated
voltage and output voltage
shell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
relation.[4] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
ix
7.2 Scatch of the chassis enclosure. . 36 7.19 The power amplifier PCB. . . . . 49
7.3 Selected connectors, switches, 7.20 Designed metal chassis enclosure. 50

sockets, and potentiometers for the
design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
7.21 Designed metal chassis enclosure
with the front CTU logo plate. . . . 51
7.4 PCB design block diagram. . . . . 38
7.5 Amplifier PCB and chassis design. 38 8.1 Assembled prototype PCBs. . . . . 55
7.6 Preamplifier group of PCBs. . . . 39 8.2 The assembled prototype in

chassis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
7.7 Scatch of the chassis enclosure. . 40

8.3 The assembled prototype in
chassis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
7.8 Input phono jack PCB. . . . . . . . . 40
8.4 The finished prototype of the

7.9 Preamplifier PCB model. . . . . . . 41 amplifier front. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
7.10 Main preamplifier PCB. . . . . . . 42 8.5 The finished prototype of the

amplifier back. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.11 Tube section PCB model. . . . . . 43
9.1 Amplifier power distribution

7.12 Tube section PCB. . . . . . . . . . . . 44 measurements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
7.13 Reverb section PCB model. . . . 44 9.2 Schematic of the designed

three-band equalizer. . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
7.14 Tube section PCB. . . . . . . . . . . . 45

9.3 Frequency characteristics of the
EQ, bass changing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
7.15 Power amplifier group of PCBs. 46

7.16 Back connector PCB model. . . 46 EQ, middle changing. . . . . . . . . . . . 67
7.17 The back connector PCB. . . . . . 47 9.5 Frequency characteristics of the

EQ, treble changing. . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
7.18 Power amplifier PCB model. . . 48
x
EQ, all potentiometer changing. . . 67
Tables
9.7 Block diagram of the THD 9.1 Power consumption measurements

measurement experiment. . . . . . . . . 69 results for the whole amplifier with
power amplifier and artificial load. 64
9.8 Frequency spectrum of the 1kHz

signal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 9.2 Power consumption measurement
results for the preamplifier’s group of
PCBs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
9.9 Frequency spectrum of the 1kHz
signal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
9.3 THD results for individual
frequencies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
9.10 THD results for individual
frequencies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
10.1 Photos of the finished amplifier. 77
xi
1
............................................
Part I
Introduction and research
2
Chapter 1
Introduction
Figure 1.1: Photo of the finished amplifier.
Guitar amplifier design is an engineering discipline of developing an am-

plification device for musicians to use with a wide range of features and
possibilities. The development is rather subjective, selection of the electronics
building blocks, selecting the user controls, the frequency bandwidths for
equalizers, etc. With the electronics development going on, the possibilities
for these designs are expanding every day. Therefore I decided to design an
amplifier that combines current new components and building blocks namely
designing a modern high-efficiency power amplifier enabling high power with
low power consumption and signal distortion.
In this project, we design an amplifier from scratch to a point of fully functional
reliable device prepared for the end user. We set up a list of requirements and
limitations and developed the amplifier around it. From the user’s functional
perspective, the amplifier will deliver controls of Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble,
3
1. Introduction .....................................
Reverb, Master volume, bypassable tube stage (with high cathode voltage),
effects loop, a guitar input, and speaker output. The plan is to select func-
tional blocks to deliver these control options, design the complete schematics,
the PCBs, and the mechanical chassis enclosure which will sit in a wooden
shell to properly mechanically protect the device, test the device, and measure
key parameters of the device. Mainly measure the power consumption of
the complete amplifier, the frequency spectrum of the three-band equalizer,
and the THD of the power amplifier. The power amplifier will be a class-D
amplifier that delivers high-efficiency amplification with very low THD, the
measurement aims to confirm or disprove the information from the datasheet.
4
Chapter 2
Research
2.1 Guitar amplifier
Figure 2.1: MARSHALL 2002 JCM 900.[1]
A guitar amplifier is an electrical device that is designed to shape and

amplify a guitar signal to reproduce sound waves through a loudspeaker(s).
Their development begins in the early 1920s to give guitarists a loud enough
sound to cut through the mix of a band with louder instruments such as drums
or horns. Typically developed from radio amplifiers, they quickly became
a big part of musicians’ way of music interpretation. They are typically
designed in two options, independent guitar amplifier head with loudspeaker
output to be connected to a reprobox via external cable (see figure 2.1) or
a guitar combo that combines these two devices into one box. Each option
has its pros and cons, the amplifier head being more versatile (range of easy
amp and loudspeaker options) and the combo being more practical and also
5
2. Research .......................................
a typically cheaper option. There is a wide range of options being produced
from small 1W combo amplifiers (for example Marshall DSL1CR[10]) aimed
as a home use practice amplifiers to 100W amplifiers designed to produce
loud enough sound for medium-sized concerts (for example MARSHALL 2002
JCM 900, see on figure 2.1).[11, 12]
From an electronic perspective, guitar amplifiers are mono amplifiers with
high input impedance and low output impedance (loudspeakers are typically
4/8/16Ω impedance) that are either directly pluggable into the wall with an
integrated power source inside (power transformer) or with a power adapter.
Their purpose is to shape the signal to the user’s taste. For example, it
is expected that the amp will be able to distort and compress the signal,
shape the frequency spectrum, set the output level, and optionally simulate
room response as a reverb with all of these attributes adjustable by the user
with potentiometers. This is typically achieved by separating the device into
two blocks - The preamplifier and the power amplifier. The preamplifier’s
purpose is to take care of the sound shaping. The power amplifier amplifies
the signal from the preamp to a power output high enough for the loudspeaker
to reproduce into acoustic waves. Between these two blocks, there is usually
an option to connect external effect units via the Effects loop.[11, 12]
Figure 2.2: Basic block diagram of guitar amplifier.
With development starting in the 1920s no surprise that the early amps were
designed with vacuum tubes. Most of the current market’s standards are
based around these designs that continued mostly in the 1960s to 1980s but
are still being developed nowadays. Transistor amps are also very common
but not very popular in the high-end market. Because of this, we can separate
guitar amps into a few groups.[13, 14]
2.1.1 Vacuum tube amplifiers
Guitar-based popular music was experiencing a huge expansion in the 1960s

and 1970s as well as guitar amp and overall electronics design development.
Being more and more in demand several iconic guitar amps were being
developed and since it was in the 70s, the most popular active component for
6
.................................. 2.1. Guitar amplifier
guitar amp design was the vacuum tubes which became most popular and
common. Even to this day, all-tube amplifiers are still the most preferred amp
designs in many cases. Their pros are simple circuit design, high output power,
and easy modifications. Their most prominent advantage is probably their
typical frequency characteristics and natural high harmonics distortion.[15]
Their cons are high price (due to mostly hand-wired and assembled THT
design and the high price of the tubes and output transformers), the overall
weight of the device (caused by the transformers), the need for a high voltage
and low power efficiency (disabling options of neglecting power transformers
and using adapter-like DC power sources). A typical example is Marshall
JCM 900 see in figure 2.1.[16, 14, 17, 18, 13]
2.1.2 Solid-state amplifiers
Solid-state amplifier states for transistor-based guitar amplifier design. Their

pros are low price, low THD of the power amplifier, low overall weight,
high reliability, and high power efficiency. Despite their pros, most musi-
cians still prefer the natural harmonic distortion caused by their tube amp
equivalents.[13, 12, 19, 11]
2.1.3 Hybrid amplifiers
Hybrid amplifiers combine the two options above. Typically having a tran-
sistor power amp for the clean power amplification and a tube preamp for
the frequency response and preferred harmonic distortion. This allows for
avoiding the output transformer with sufficient power output. Another alter-
native is to feed a tube power amplifier with a transistor-based preamplifier
which enables the simple high output power property of the tube power
amp.[14, 17, 18, 15, 13]
2.1.4 Modelling amplifiers
The development of digital technology enabled to inclusion of digital sound

processing into the guitar amplifier design. It allows the use of onboard simula-
tion of a wide range of sound effects and tones such as different room responses
(reverbs), modulation effects, and different speaker cabinet simulations. These
are called modeling amplifiers and can even simulate characteristic tones of
7
2. Research .......................................
different existing amplifiers. Their development vastly expanded during the
last two decades and is getting more and more popular even in the high-end
market. The most widespread high-end modeling amplifier currently is the
KEMPER Profiler which is used for studio sessions but also for live playing
(see figure 2.3).[12]
Figure 2.3: KEMPER Profiler modeling amp.[2]
8
9
2. Research .......................................
Part II
Schematic, PCB and mechanical

construction design
10
Chapter 3
Design preparation
The topic of this thesis is Guitar amplifier design and after a short introduction
to the problematics of the current amplifier designs, I decided to design an
amplifier that combines the different amplifier groups, taking the pros of each
group. My design will be powered by a 24VDC/60W power source with a
transistor class-D power amplifier, transistor preamplifier with bypassable
tube stage, and digital reverb (room response simulation).
Guitar amplifiers are very versatile and they differ in design. There is no exact
ideal amplifier or parameters to chase for the development. The selection
of parameters is therefore very subjective and needs to be chosen by the
designer’s taste. For this reason, many choices and selections in the following
amplifier design section cannot be explained to the last point.
3.1 Basic requirements
The main project requirement is to design the device into a form of robust
fully working unit, ready for potential production, including housing for the
electronics and the outside visuals. By that, it is meant for the electronics to
fit into a metal chassis which will be placed into a wooden shell.
11
3. Design preparation ..................................
3.1.1 Power
The goal of this project is to avoid heavy and expensive power transformers
and to make the device DC-powered by an adapter, similar to what is used
for laptops with power consumption below 3A.
3.1.2 Connectors
For an easy user-friendly amp design, it is required to use market standard

connectors, for signals 6.3mm audio jack connectors, for power supply 2.1mm
shaft DC jack connector. DC jack connector and phono jacks for the speaker
and effects loop will be placed on the back panel of the device.
3.1.3 Circuit section selection
The preamp will contain two special sections. First a bypassable vacuum
tube section, second space response emulation of Reverb. Both are sections
preferred to be designed as modules so that they can be replaceable for
example tube section with another OP amp gain section or being missed out
totally to lower the overall power consumption and reverb with some kind of
one-knob modulation (chorus, vibrato, etc.).
3.1.4 User controls
As for user controls, I decided to have this set of controls:
. Power switch - turns the amp off totally or to low-power mode
. Gain - controls gain of the first OP amp gain section
. Tube bypass switch - bypass the tube section circuit
. Bass - controls the cut/boost of bass frequencies
. Mid - controls the cut/boost of mid frequencies
12
................................ 3.2. Block diagram design
. Treble - controls the cut/boost of treble frequencies

. Reverb - controls the amount of reverb in the signal
. Master volume - controls the overall output volume of the preamp section
These controls will be placed on the front panel of the chassis.
3.2 Block diagram design
Figure 3.1: Generic guitar amp block diagram
This project follows a standard guitar amp design diagram that separates
the circuit into preamp and power amp with effects loop in between (see
figure 3.1 and 2.2).
13
14
Chapter 4
Power distribution, protection and effects

loop design
4.1 Power protection
To protect the circuit from malfunctioning it was necessary to design power

protection for the device. The schematic can be seen in figure 4.1. The fuse
F 1 protects the circuit in case of some inside shortage leading to high current
being drawn, the diode D8 1N5406 protects the circuit from the reverse
voltage source and the diode D9 BZW06-33B protects the circuit against
overvoltage. The capacitor C100 is there only to smooth out the DC voltage
source and to help power the circuit in high-power drain spikes.
Power protection VCC
AGND
Figure 4.1: Power protection schematic.
15
4. Power distribution, protection and effects loop design ...................
4.2 Power distribution
This project was decided to be powered by a standard 24VDC 60W power

source. The power amp is going to be powered directly by the 24VDC voltage,
the preamplifier will be powered by an 18V regulator (to separate voltage
sources of the power amp and preamplifier to minimize the noise generated
by the pulse power consumption characteristic of the class-D power amplifier).
The tube stage will be powered by a 12V regulator directly from the 24V
power source for the heaters (to lower the current output of the preamplifier’s
18V regulator) and with its power solution for the anode powered by the
preamplifier’s 18V regulator. The reverb stage’s analog part of the circuit
will be powered by the preamplifier’s 18V regulator and the FV-1 with its
3V3 regulator powered by the 18V. See on block diagram in figure 4.2.
Figure 4.2: Amplifier power distribution diagram.
16
.................................... 4.3. Effects loop
4.3 Effects loop
The effects loop is an alternative signal path between the preamplifier and the
power amplifier. The effects loop section allows the user to use external signal
processing devices outside the amplifier between the preamplifier and power
amplifier. It is required to be connected when unused and send and return
the signal when the cable is plugged in. The schematic can be seen in figure
4.3. The 6-pin phono jacks offer an easy solution since they contain a set of
contact pins that are shorted when cables are unplugged and unconnected
when the cable is inserted.
Effects loop
PREAMP_OUT INP/7.??
AGND
Figure 4.3: Effects loop schematic.
17
18
Chapter 5
Preamplifier design
For the preamp, I selected functional blocks as shown in figure 5.1. The
general idea of this design is to amplify the signal to a high enough level to
be usable for the musician after it gets through the final power amplification
and the speaker and to deliver sound shaping options including equalization,
gain, reverb, and master volume.
Figure 5.1: Preamplifier block diagram.
19
5. Preamplifier design ..................................
5.1 Voltage regulator for the preamplifier and main
on/off toggle switch
The power amplifier of this project is a class-D power amplifier. This means
that to achieve the efficiency of the amplification it consumes the power
in short pulses. This creates a noise on the power rails that would get
amplified in the preamplifier. For this reason, it is necessary to separate the
preamplifier’s power from the power amplifier with a voltage regulator. The
output voltage of the regulator needs to be significant enough to cancel out
the noise on the power rails but at the same time not to exceed the need for an
external heatsink. For this reason, I chose an 18V regulator which should be
low enough voltage and also with maximum estimated Ipreamplif ier = 500mA
current draw produces up to Preg = Ipreamplif ier · Udrop = 3W external heat
which is sufficient to cool with integrated copper plate heatsink of the PCB
layers.
The ON/OFF switch is required to put the device into power-saving mode
with as low a current draw as possible. The preamplifier is estimated to
draw a very low current, approximately around 200mA so the main power
consumption comes from the power amplifier which is then required to shut
down. The used TPA3106D1 power amplifier chip includes an SDZ shutdown
pin which does just that and also makes the switching ON/OFF noiseless. To
turn off the power amplifier the pin SDZ needs to be simply grounded. When
the device is on the indication LED turns on as its cathode gets grounded
with the required current-limiting resistor.
The schematic of the Preamplifier’s voltage regulator and the ON/OFF switch
can be seen in figure 5.2 below.
Voltage regulator PWR VCC
IC15
MC7818CD2TR4G
VCC LED
JP3
4 1 2
GND
VIN VOUT
3
2
SDZ
1
3
P$1 P$3
P$2
Figure 5.2: Preamplifier’s voltage regulator and the ON/OFF switch.
20
..................... 5.2. Input buffer and OP amp amplification stages
5.2 Input buffer and OP amp amplification stages
The signal needs to be strong enough to get clipped by the optional clipping
stage and the bypassable tube stage. Controlling the gain then controls
the overall distortion created. To achieve this I chose a Jfet buffer (voltage
follower) which delivers high input impedance and low output impedance.
There is also a resistor R1 = 1M Ω which takes care of voltage spikes on the
input and lowers potential clicks on the signal when for example true bypass
with a strong mechanical switch is turned on in front of the amp. [11]
Input buffer OP amp non-inverting gain stages

B_VREF
VCC
MMBFJ201
B_VREF
D
IN
Q1
G
S
B_OUT
VCC
VCC
B_VREF
B_VREF
B_VREF
Figure 5.3: Input buffer and OP amp gain stages schematic.
The two OP amp gain stages are set not to change the frequency characteristics
of the signal and the overall gain to amplify the signal so that it does not
get clipped by the OP amp due to its 18V power limitations. The signal on
the input can vary based on the signal chain in front of the amp which can
consist of some boosters or any different devices which amplify the signal. To
avoid clipping the signal by the OP amps which is overall not very desirable
by musicians, I added an optional clipping stage consisting of LED2, LED3,
LED4, and LED5 which clips the signal before the OP amps of the rest of the
preamplifier with smoother curve (based on the volt-amper characteristics of
the LEDs) then the OP amp power clipping. The overall gain varies based
on the user setup of the Gain potentiometer and equals to:
Gmin = Gf irst stage · Gsecond stage,min
100000 3300 (5.2.0.1)

= 1+ · 1+ = 22.27 · 1.33=30.19
˙
4700 10000
Gmax = Gf irst stage · Gsecond stage,max
100000 3300 + 1000000

= 1+ · 1+ = 22.27 · 100.33=2256,
˙ 61
4700 10000
(5.2.0.2)
21
5.3 Bypassable tube stage
The tube stage was designed based on two available open-source projects
Tube Driver V1.2 from TH Custom Effects and TUBE DRIVER kit ULTRA
from Guitar-Electronics.eu (emulating famous BK Butler tube driver see on
figure 5.4b). From them, I chose the analog signal path of the tube stage
part of the BK Butler Tube Driver kit and the voltage multiplier from the
Tube Driver V1.2.[20, 3]
(b) : TUBE DRIVER kit ULTRA

(a) : B.K. Butler tube driver. [21] schematic.[20]
I assembled and tested the TUBE DRIVER kit ULTRA as a proof of concept
prototype and figured that typical vacuum tube triodes start to pass the
signal from 24V DC anode to cathode voltage but since the typical operational
voltage of these components is around 300V DC it was desired to design the
power section to produce as high DC voltage as possible with as low amount
of components as possible. In the Tube Driver V1.2 schematic (see figure
5.5) we can see that they used a voltage multiplier with 40106N Schmidt
trigger chips. This is possible since the tubes need this high voltage only as
a voltage operational reference and it takes a very low current to run these
(with 100kΩ they drain at 120V around 1.2mA). The 9V DC source they use
produces around 60V (as they refer to in their documentation). In the article
Designer’s Notebook we can see that we can also use 18V power supply for
these and that it almost doubles the output voltage (see figure 5.6). The
output current of the power source is limited by the current output of the
Schmidt trigger blocks and as the Designer’s notebook it can be increased by
stacking the blocks in parallel which based on their pinout is quite an easy
22
................................ 5.3. Bypassable tube stage
Figure 5.5: Tube Driver V1.2 schematic.[3]
and effective solution. I decided to use the same amount of multiplying stages
as in the BK Butler Tube Driver kit since the component usually goes with
6 integrated blocks which will give us three stages (running two in parallel)
and I will use two chips.[3, 4, 20, 18]
Figure 5.6: Voltage multiplier table of supply voltage and output voltage
relation.[4]
To lower the output current of the preamplifier’s 18V regulator I separated

the power for heaters and connected it directly from the back PCB’s 24VDC
power source. This can be done since it is assumed that this does not produce
noise to the signal path and is even commonly powered by AC voltage. The
two projects above use either 6V DC voltage for the heaters or 12V AC. I
decided to go with 12V DC to lower the voltage drop on the regulator to
avoid the need for a heatsink. It is also a popular solution for this kind of
tube application in modern amplifiers.
23
TP5
T_VPOS
VCC
+ +
IC1G$1 IC1G$2 IC1G$3 IC3G$1 IC3G$2 IC3G$3
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6

13 12 11 10 9 8 13 12 11 10 9 8
Voltage multiplier
Tube stage Tube heater power
T_VPOS
T_VPOS
IC4
ROHM BA7812FP-E2
T_H
VCC
TH
1 1 2
GND
VIN VOUT
T_OUT 2
5
1 T2G$3
9
2
3
T2G$1 3
1
T_IN T2G$2
4
1 2
7
2
T_IN
Tube stage
3
True bypass
T_VNEG
B_OUT/1.?? T_OUT
S
BIAS
10k
3
A
T_IN
5 2
T_VNEG
EQ_IN
1
Figure 5.7: Tube stage schematic.
For testing purposes and more use flexibility (enabling an easy option of
missing out on the tube stage and lowering the overall power consumption of
the amplifier), I decided to make this stage bypassable. This will be achieved
as a true bypass situation with a DPDT toggle switch. The wiring is in
figure 5.7. This solution not only bypasses the stage with a true metallic
signal (true bypass) path but also mutes the input of the tube stage when not
engaged. This is crucial since the tube stage is designed with a high gain and
if there is some noise on floating input it would get amplified and potentially
transferred to the rest of the circuit as noise. The resistor R20 allows jumping
the necessary connection in case the preamplifier is desired to be assembled
without the tube stage. The complete schematics can be seen in figure 5.7.
24
................................ 5.4. Three-band equalizer
5.4 Three-band equalizer
(a) : Boss HM-2W [22]. (b) : Promethium Distortion high bandwidth schematic [23].
Figure 5.8: Boss HM-2W and its emulated EQ section.
For the equalizer, I decided on active equalization which means it will

be made out of active components being able to cut and boost the chosen
frequency bandwidths. The main reason for this is the Mid-bandwidth. The
two most typical frequency characteristics for guitar tones are either Mid
boost or Mid scoop. These are used in different situations based on the
musician’s selection. Active EQ naturally allows this option very easily since
as been said they deliver cut and boost options. The mid bandwidth was
inspired by the bandwidth in the very popular and famous pedal Boss HM-2W
(see figure 5.8a). The circuit comes from PedalPCB’s open-source project
Promethium Distortion [23] which emulates the Boss HM-2W. Even tho the
bandwidth in this project is labeled as high (see figure 5.8b), it is very usable
and popular as a Mid-frequency bandwidth. The circuit is built with two
individual blocks for each bandwidth (around 1kHz and 1.3kHz), each with
a gyrator that creates with the rest of the components a typical bandwidth
Figure 5.9: XB-MB Preamp EQ section schematic.[5]
25
RLC circuit.
The Bass and Treble part of the EQ is based on PedalPCB’s open-source
project XB-MB Preamp’s EQ section (see figure 5.9). The complete schematic
of the three-band EQ is in figure 5.10.
Mid control Bass and Treble section Output buffer

EQ_VREF
EQ_VREF
R_IN/4.??
EQ_VREF
EQ_VREF
EQ_IN/2.??
EQ_VREF
EQ_VREF
VCC
Power section
+ + +
EQ_VREF
Figure 5.10: Three band EQ schematic.
26
................................. 5.5. FV-1 Reverb stage
5.5 FV-1 Reverb stage
The reverb stage was built around the FV-1 audio processor from Spin
Semiconductor. The FV-1 provides an all-in-one solution for several audio
effects with the need for only a simple circuit to complete the signal path.
Signal in this stage gets separated into two parallel signal paths. The dry
signal goes to the output unchanged and the wet signal is created by the
audio processor and is mixed with the dry signal on the output. To make this
happen it is necessary to start with an input buffer that allows the separation
of the signal into two without any signal loss, the dry signal then continues
to another buffer (labeled as a dry buffer) to avoid the feedback of the wet
signal back to the signal processing and then into output mix. The wet signal
goes after the input buffer into a reverb effect control functioning as a simple
voltage resistor divider and into the FV-1 audio processor circuit block. After
the signal processing the left and right channels get mixed and go into a
buffer to flatten the output impedance before the output mix. The output
mix is an inverting amplifier that amplifies and mixes the signal based on
values of R72, R73, and R74 which are set to the gain of Gmix,1 = −1 for
both signal paths but can be easily modified. The inverting amplifier also
flips the phase of the signals so to avoid mixing problems with signals out of
Figure 5.11: FV-1 typical application schematic. [6]
27
phase there is another inverting amplifier with Gmix,2 = −1.[24, 6]
The FV-1 effect core is created from the typical application circuit from the
FV-1 datasheet (see figure 5.11). For this application, I chose the signal
volume control of the wet path Reverb as the user-control potentiometer
and decided to use the additional FV-1 POT0, POT1, and POT2 as an
internal trimmer. For the program, I chose the pre-programmed Reverb that
is integrated into the chip under the last memory slot, therefore set the S0,
S1, and S2 to high. The complete schematic can be seen in figure 5.12.[24, 6]
Input Dry Output mix

R_VREF
R_VREF
buffer buffer
R_IN/3.??
OUT_IN
R_VREF
R_VREF
FV-1 effect core

R_VREF
IC7
1 28
LIN LOUT
2 27
RIN ROUT
3 26
MID REFP
4 25
GND0 REFN
5 24
CLIP GND4
DGND
DGND 6 23 DGND
3V3 AVDD DVDD1 3V3
7 22
FV1
GND1 POT2
3V3
8 21
Q2 DVDD0 POT1
9 20
X2 POT0
32.768 10 X1 GND3
19
11 18
GND2 S2
12 17
1
1
P0
P2
100k
100k
T1 S1
DGND 13 16 2 2 2
100k
T0 S0
14 15
P1
SCL SCK SDA SDA

3
DGND DGND DGND DGND
Power section
VCC R_VREF
IC13
+ + +
1 3
GND
VIN VOUT 3V3

R_VREF
2*2
SH1
DGND
Figure 5.12: The FV-1 reverb section schematic.
28
................................... 5.6. Output stage
5.6 Output stage
Figure 5.13: Benzin VH4 output section schematic. [7]
The output stage takes care of the overall output volume and impedance.
For this block, I chose an output block of the PCB guitar mania’s open-source
project Benzin VH4 kit, see figure 5.13. The Benzin VH4 is powered by
a symmetrical supply generated by a charge pump. Therefore the design
is modified to an asymmetrical supply with virtual ground created by R75
and R86 resistors voltage divider. The Benzin VH4 block also contains two
additional equalizations typical for guitar amplifiers, Presence (which boosts
the upper mid-range frequencies) and Depth (which boosts low frequencies).
These equalizations are not usually looked at as on standard equalizer since
these came up with tube amplifiers which often offered these controls as part
of the power amp. For this reason, they are placed in the preamplifier as
close as possible to the power amp. [7, 25]
The complete schematic of the output stage can be seen in figure 5.14.
29
OUT_IN/4.?? Output stage
OUT
OUT_VREF
DEPTH
S
10k
A
VCC
OUT_VREF
PRESENCE
OUT_VREF
10k
S
+ OUT_VREF
E A
OUT_VREF
Figure 5.14: Schematic of the preamplifier’s output stage.
30
Chapter 6
Power amplifier
Figure 6.1: FV-1 typical application schematic. [8]
For the power amplifier, I chose TPA3106D1VFPR from Texas Instruments.

This chip provides a 40W mono class-D amplifier. It can be powered by a
DC voltage power supply ranging from 10V to 26V which is sufficient for the
24V DC power source used for this project. The TPA3106D1 processor is a
high-efficiency class-D amplifier that neglects the use of a heater and the heat
dissipation then transfers into the PCB making it a simple solution for this
application. The minimal load is set as 4Ω which works for this application
since most of the guitar speakers are 8Ω or 16Ω.[8, 9, 19, 26, 27]
31
6. Power amplifier ....................................
Texas Instruments also offers an open-source example project TPA3106D1EVM
- TPA3106D1 Evaluation Module with schematic and PCB manuals. This
project includes a very specific schematic including component type informa-
tion and voltage specifications for the amplifier design. The power amplifier
schematic for this project was based on this schematic.[8, 9]
Figure 6.2: TPA3106D1EVM - TPA3106D1 Evaluation Module.[9]
Figure 6.3: TPA3106D1EVM - TPA3106D1 Evaluation Module schematic.[9]
32
................................... 6. Power amplifier
The complete schematic is on the schematic on figure 6.4 below. The

amplifier can be turned off with an SDZ (shutdown) pin which turns off
the amplifier when grounded. The shutdown mode minimizes the power
consumption and has a silent switch to ON state. TPA3106D1 can drain
up to 2A current in peaks so there are four pins as VCC for the 24V DC
and five PGND pins. There is power ground and signal analog ground
separated and connected by a short as advised in the TPA3106D1 datasheet
and evaluation board. The TPA3106D1 offers four different gain options that
can be selected by the JG0 and JG1 jumpers or can be fixed by R95 or R96
with 0Ω resistor.[8]
TPA3106D1 amplifier VCC

Connectors
INN
INP
SDZ/6.??
VCC
PA1JP PA1SP
VCC
SP_NEG
MUTE
SDZ/6.??
SP_POS
VCC
AGND PGND
PGND
PGND
AGND AGND PGND
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
IC9G$1
L1
FAULT
PVCC5
PVCC4
PVCC3
AVCC
PGND4
MUTE
SDZ
33u
1 2
1 24 SP_POS
INP INP PGND3
2 23
INN INN BSP
3 22
AGND1 OUTP2
4 21
AGND2 OUTP1
GAIN0
5
GAIN0 TPA3106D1 OUTN2
20
6 19
AGND
GAIN1 GAIN1 OUTN1 L2
7 18
VREG MSTR/SLV BSN 33u PGND
8 17
SYNC PGND2 1 2
VCLAMP
SP_NEG
AGND3
PGND1
PVCC1
PVCC2
ROSC
VREG
VBYP
9
10
12
13
14
15
16
11
AGND
GAIN0
GAIN1
VCC
VREG
JG0 JG1
1 1 PGND
2 2
PGND
SH3
AGND2
SH2
AGND AGND
AGND2
AGND PGND
PGND
Figure 6.4: Schematic of the preamplifier’s output stage.
33
34
Chapter 7
PCB and mechanical design
The PCBs are designed in Autodesk Eagle v9.6.2 and all 3D models of boards,
chassis are designed in Autodesk Fusion 360.
7.1 Chassis enclosure
Figure 7.1: Photo of the wooden tolex-coated shell.
The guitar amplifier project is aimed to fit into a wooden tolex-coated shell
of dimensions 305x160x160mm. The wooden shell is designed for a metal
chassis to fit inside with dimensions 225x128x45mm mounted with screws
35
7. PCB and mechanical design ..............................
Figure 7.2: Scatch of the chassis enclosure.
from underneath holding the amplifiers feet at the same time (see figure 7.2).
The chassis also has a space on the top for additional electronics which is
perfect for this tube design.
7.2 PCB separation and block design
The PCB design aims to deliver reliability and overall market-standard quality
of the device. Therefore it is highly limited by the selection of components
(mainly connectors and potentiometers) so it fits well in the chassis. The
device will be mainly designed for SMD assembly to lower the cost and
space requirements except for the tube stage which due to the high voltage
is required to use high voltage film capacitors and THT Schmidt trigger
comparators so it is not very convenient to design it fully SMD. [3]
For the connectors, I chose Neutrik NMJ6HCD2 for the 6.3mm phono jacks,
and the standard 3pin 2.1mm DC jack socket for the power input. For
potentiometers, I chose RK097N vertical potentiometer. For the switches, I
Dept. chose DPDT
Technical Sub Mini
reference Toggle
Created by Switch - ON/ON - PCB Mount
Approved by for the tube
bypass switch and MTS-102-F1 for the power
Jakub Turinský 14.12.2023 switch.
Document type Document status
Title DWG No.
Scatch_136
Rev. Date of issue Sheet
1/1
........................... 7.2. PCB separation and block design
(a) : Neutrik NMJ6HCD2 (b) : 2.1mm DC jack

phono jack connector.[28] connector.[29]
(c) : Vertical potentiometer (d) : Power switch MTS-102-

RK097N.[30] F1.[31]
(e) : DPDT Sub Mini Toggle (f) : Tube socket Noval Belton,
Switch for bypass.[32] Print VT9.[33]
Figure 7.3: Selected connectors, switches, sockets, and potentiometers for the
design.
This selection creates some limitations for the design to maintain the
required reliability avoiding cable connections. For this reason, I decided to
separate the PCBs into several units (see in block diagram in figure 7.4). The
amplifier will be divided into six separate PCBs. The first four PCBs can be
labeled as a functioning block of the preamplifier and the other two as the
Power amplifier group.
37
Figure 7.4: PCB design block diagram.
The resulting PCBs separated into individual units in the chassis can be
seen in figure 7.5.
Figure 7.5: Amplifier PCB and chassis design.
38
............................. 7.3. Preapmlifier group of PCBs
7.3 Preapmlifier group of PCBs
This group of PCBs contains everything required for the complete functioning
of the preamplifier and for the user front interface. All of these PCBs will be
located at the front of the enclosure and will be fixed to the front panel with
the potentiometers, switches, and phono jacks. The modules are separated
and will be fixed to the top of the chassis with plastic M3 columns and screws.
Figure 7.6: Preamplifier group of PCBs.
39
7.3.1 Input PCB
The input PCB is a simple 2-layer PCB that mounts the phono jack for the
signal input of the Amplifier. The schematic can be seen in figure 7.7 below.
The amplifier is a mono amplifier which means that the ring pins remain
unused and the input PCB only uses the tip pin for the signal, the sleeve for
the ground, and the TB pin which is a pin that is shorted to the tip when
cable unplugged which I used to mute the signal input when the amplifier
stays unplugged to minimize the noise on the device when unused and still
turned on.
JP1
1
2
PINHD-1X02
JP2
1
2
AGND PINHD-1X02
J2
1
2
ORTOGON_CONN2
Figure 7.7: Scatch of the chassis enclosure.
The PCB offers three independent options for the signal to be connected to
the main preamplifier PCB, two standard 2-pin cable slots, and one set of
pads. This set of pads is designed to be paired with the preamplifier PCB
and to sit at a right angle with the main PCB positioned close to a similar
set of pads. This allows a strong and reliable connection when soldered and
also allows the phono jack connector to be in line with the potentiometers.
The PCB can be seen in figure 7.8.
Figure 7.8: Input phono jack PCB.
40
7.3.2 Main preamplifier PCB
Figure 7.9: Preamplifier PCB model.
This PCB serves as the main PCB for the preamplifier and as the user
interface. The PCB contains all controls including potentiometers, switches,
and indication LED other than connectors. The schematic includes the input
buffer and amplification stages (see figure 5.3), the true bypass switch of the
tube stage (see figure 5.7), the three-band eq (see figure 5.10), the output
stage (see on figure 5.14), the voltage regulator for the preamplifier and
indication led including the main power switch (see figure 5.2).
The main preamplifier PCB is a four-layer PCB with internal layers used for
the V CC = 18V and ground to lower noise and power trace lengths. The top
and bottom PCB have copper spilled grounded plates between components
to also reduce the emitting and receiving noise to a minimum.
41
179.65
1P J
NI_T
SW1
30.00
ECNESERP
(a) : Preamplifier PCB all layers view.

179.65
SW1
30.00
(b) : Preamplifier PCB top layer view.

179.65
1P J
NI_T
30.00
ECNESERP
(c) : Preamplifier PCB bottom layer view.
Figure 7.10: Main preamplifier PCB.
42
7.3.3 Tube section PCB module
Figure 7.11: Tube section PCB model.
The tube section PCB module is a separate PCB module that is designed
to stand parallel to the top side of the chassis and at a right angle of the
main preamplifier PCB connected to it via two 3-pin right angle pin rows.
The first pin row has one pin for the signal in and two for the ground, the
second pin row has the signal out pin and two V CC pins.
The tube stage was designed mainly from THT components because of the
high voltage which requires the use of film capacitors and 1/2W resistors which
are both difficult and expensive to make and assemble as SMD components
so I decided to design the PCB as THT components mainly with an exclusion
of the SMD 1N4148 diodes since they are easy to solder by hand and it
significantly simplifies the PCB design. Another SMD components I decided
to use were the 12V regulator and its electrolytic capacitors for the heater
since this way they fit nicely under the vacuum tube and the spilled copper
ground is sufficient as a heatsink for the regulator. Also due to the higher
voltage for the vacuum tubes, I decided not to use spilled grounded copper
plates in the whole design (other than the heatsink of the regulator) since
to fulfill the necessary spacing requirements the did not make much sense. I
decided to fix the boards to the chassis with two screws close to the tube to
limit the mechanical stress of the board when changing tubes.
43
57.00
82R
09R
32R
52R 62R
S AI B
3CI
41C
51C
HT +
2C 7C
03R
92R
5R
1R
31C
72R
42R
3R
55.00 87C
6C 97C 53C
1CI
2CI
4R
(a) : Tube stage PCB all layers view.

57.00 57.00
82R
09R
32R
52R 62R
S AI B
3CI
41C
51C
C4 HT +
2C 7C
03R
92R
5R
1R
31C
72R
42R
3R
55.00
55.00
T2
87C
D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 R2
6C 97C 53C
C3
1CI
2CI
T_OUT T_IN 4R
(b) : Tube stage PCB top layer view. (c) : Tube stage PCB bottom layer view.
Figure 7.12: Tube section PCB.
7.3.4 Reverb section PCB module
Figure 7.13: Reverb section PCB model.
44
The reverb section is located and connected to the main preamplifier PCB
in a similar way as the tube stage PCB. With a single 8pin right angle pin
row it connects to the main PCB and the pins contain from right to left an
input pin, two ground pins, one VCC pin, and three pins to connect to the
Reverb potentiometer on the main preamplifier PCB, and an output pin. The
three trimmers are placed in a way so that the user can change the setting
with a screwdriver through a placed hole in the PCB (for the two trimmers
hidden on the other side of the PCB) to keep the inside setting adjustable
without taking the PCBs from the chassis.
40.50
P2
C47
C50
IC13
38.50
P1
HT7533-1
C71
P0
3PJ
(a) : The reverb section PCB all

layers view.
40.50 40.50
P2
C47
C50
IC13
38.50
38.50
P1
HT7533-1
C71
P0
3PJ
(b) : The reverb section PCB top (c) : The reverb section PCB bottom
layer view. layer view.
Figure 7.14: Tube section PCB.
The Reverb section PCB is a four-layer PCB with the internal layers used for
VCC and analog ground to reduce noise. The design separates analog and
digital ground at the point of the 3V3 regulator. To lower the power trace
lengths I set the top half of the PCB inner ground layer as digital ground.
The PCB is fixed to the enclosure via one M3 column with a screw.
45
7.4 Power amplifier group of PCBs
Figure 7.15: Power amplifier group of PCBs.
The power amplifier group of PCBs is supposed to take care of the power
amplification, the effects loop, power protection, power distribution to the
preamplifier, and the tube stage section and make a strong shielding connec-
tion with the chassis.
7.4.1 Back connector PCB
Figure 7.16: Back connector PCB model.
The back PCB is a two-layer PCB and is fixed to the back side of the
chassis and contains the connectors for the effects loop, a 2.1mm DC jack
power socket, and the speaker connector. The board takes care of the power
protection and two pin rows, one for the power cable connection to connect
to the preamplifier and the tube heating (two pin contacts each), a second to
connect the shutdown signal, preamplifier out signal, and ground for shielding
as it is aimed to connect to these signals with the preamplifier with coax
cable. The PCB also connects with the power amplifier with two 2x6pin rows.
46
............................ 7.4. Power amplifier group of PCBs
One pinrow is for the speaker output (6 pins for the speaker positive and 6
pins speaker negative), the second consists of 5 pins for the ground, 4 pins
for the 24V DC power input, two for the signal input (positive and negative
input) and shutdown pin. There is a copper-plated hole to fix the back PCB
to the chassis and secure a strong chassis grounding. This copper-plated hole
also aligns with the power amplifier for it to be fixed with a screw so the user
cannot easily remove it.
134.00
1C
45.00
2PJ 1PJ
1F
1AP
(a) : The connector PCB all layers view.

134.00
45.00
(b) : The connector PCB top layer view.

134.00
1C
45.00
2PJ 1PJ
1F
1AP
(c) : The connector PCB bottom layer view.
Figure 7.17: The back connector PCB.
47
7.4.2 Power amplifier PCB module
Figure 7.18: Power amplifier PCB model.
The power amplifier PCB contains the 40W class-D TPA3106D1 power amp.
The design was strictly based on recommendations in the documentation and
the evaluation board except the PCB being a four-layer PCB. The crucial
component selection is low ESR electrolytic capacitors for the DC power
source and shielded inductors on the speaker output. Another important
design feature of the design is the heatsink. The amplifier produces 40W and
even with its efficiency produces a lot of excess heat that is transferred from
the power pad on the bottom of the TPA3106D1 to the heatsink created by
grounded copper plates connected through all four layers with vias.[9]
There are several copper planes in this PCB design. The output signals from
the chip are designed as copper plane polygons to lower the noise received on
the low-impedance outputs. There are power and analog grounds separated
as advised in the datasheet. The inside layers are used as copper planes, one
as a power ground for the 24V power supply. The top and bottom layers are
used for copper plane grounds.
48
................................. 7.5. Mechanical design
43.00
C6
C8
L1
30.00
2P
(a) : The power amplifier PCB all layers

view.
43.00 43.00
C6
C8
L1
30.00
30.00
2P
(b) : The power amplifier PCB top layer (c) : The power amplifier PCB bottom
view. layer view.
Figure 7.19: The power amplifier PCB.
7.5 Mechanical design
The PCBs are designed to sit in a metal chassis as seen in figure 7.2. To
securely hold the PCBs in the chassis and also allow enough air and heat
exchange in the chassis I edited the milling of the chassis and designed the
enclosure as it can be seen in the figure 7.20 below (the complete 1:1 drawings
can be seen in the attachments). I also designed a metal plate as the main
cover of the front opening with the CTU logo which was laser cut at NC
Wega (with the chassis also) and will be fixed at the front of the wooden shell
(see figure 7.21).
49
Figure 7.20: Designed metal chassis enclosure.
50
................................. 7.5. Mechanical design
Figure 7.21: Designed metal chassis enclosure with the front CTU logo plate.
51
52
Part III
Prototype assembly, testing and

measurements
53
54
Chapter 8
Prototype assembly and testing
8.1 Prototype assembly
The PCBs were assembled based on the schematics in the design chapter.
You can see the assembled PCBs in the picture in figure 8.1. For testing
purposes and to ensure enough backup devices I assembled three pieces.
Figure 8.1: Assembled prototype PCBs.
The PCBs were fitted to the enclosure with all necessary cable connections
and right-angled pin rows. The result can be seen in the picture in figure 8.2.
55
8. Prototype assembly and testing .............................
Figure 8.2: The assembled prototype in chassis.
56
................................ 8.2. First start and testing
Figure 8.3: The assembled prototype in chassis.
8.2 First start and testing
.
To start and test if the device functions properly I followed this procedure:
1. Back PCB testing

. measured the output voltage that is supposed to power the power
. .. amplifier and preamplifier

tested the overvoltage protection and reverse voltage protection
the fuse burnout after the voltage output was shorted
2. Power amplifier PCB testing
. plugged into the back PCB and measured the voltage on individual
power source pins of the TPA3106D1 chip
57
. plugged in a signal source into the return of the effects loop and
checked the output signal on the resistor voltage divider with an
. . oscilloscope
plugged in a guitar as a signal source and 8 loudspeaker to the
speaker output and tested the functionality
3. Preamplifier PCB testing
. connected the power cables to the power protection output of the
back PCB and measured the output of the 18V linear voltage
. regulator
tested the Mute function of the main ON/OFF toggle switch by
turning it off (muting the signal path) and checked the output of
. the power amplifier is off

soldered on the input PCB and plugged in a guitar as a signal
source and check the signal output of the preamplifier via effects
loop send phono jack connector while Tube bypass switch being in
.. the bypass position and reverb section path being bypassed

set up the inside trimmers of Depth and Presence
check the proper function of the signal path from the amplifier
input with guitar as a signal source plugged in while 8Ω loudspeaker
. plugged into the speaker output

first check of the potentiometer functionality - Master is affecting the
.
overall volume from zero to full volume properly, Gain potentiometer
amplifies the signal as desired, Bass, Middle, and Treble affects the
frequency spectrum as planned (so far just by ear)
4. Reverb PCB section testing
. soldered in the reverb PCB section via right-angled pin row and
. measured the reverb section internal 3.3V regulator voltage output

plugged in a guitar as a signal source, set up the reverb potentiome-
ter to a minimum, and checked the output ensuring only a dry
. signal on the output
.
set the reverb potentiometer first on half of the range, then on full
and checked that the reverb effect is getting produced and that the
potentiometer affects the reverb signal path volume as desired
5. Tube section PCB testing
. soldered in the PCB section via right-angled pin row and measured
the voltage multiplier output before connecting the anode resistors,
then connecting them and measuring the voltages on the tube’s
. pins
connecting the cables for the tube heater and measuring the voltage
output on the 12V linear voltage regulator and visually checking if
the tube emits light and starts heating up
58
. . switching the tube bypass switch into on mode and running the
guitar signal through while the loudspeaker is plugged in
6. Overall amplifier testing

. main overall test of the individual features. Check all potentiometers
if they (by the first personal impression) do what they were designed
for. Check the effects loop if the preamplifier Dend works as the
desired preamplifier signal output, Return as an input of the power
. amplifier, and works flawlessly when cables are unplugged.

longer run of the amplifier to check if any part is overheating,
especially the voltage regulators and heated tube
When the testing of the individual features was done, I finished the prototype
by putting it into the wooden shell. You can see the results in figure 8.4.
After these individual tests and observations were finished, we continued with
measurements.
59
Figure 8.4: The finished prototype of the amplifier front.
60
Figure 8.5: The finished prototype of the amplifier back.
61
62
Chapter 9
Measurements
9.1 Power consumption
Power consumption was measured to better understand and determine the

power transfer inside the amplifier. The power distribution can be seen in
figure 9.1. I chose six points of the power transfer to measure current drawn
Figure 9.1: Amplifier power distribution measurements.
63
9. Measurements ....................................
..
IC at individual voltages UC :
1. The complete power consumption of the whole device with every stage
connected - measured current being drawn from the 60W power adapter
...
at 24V
2. Power consumption of the standalone preamplifier PCB and the pream-

plifier PCB
3. Power consumption of tube heater
4. Power consumption of the Reverb stage
5. Power consumption of the Tube stage (without heaters)
Since the class-D, TPA3106D1 consumes power dynamically based on the

output power I prepared the measurement with a guitar looper pedal on the
input (to simulate a typical application with plain chord strumming) and a
10Ω/20W resistor on the speaker output as an artificial load.[26, 19, 27] I
set the reverb potentiometer to the minimum (so that it is only a dry signal
going through), the gain potentiometer, and the equalizer to half of the range.
The preamplifier setting’s influence on the power consumption other than the
overall output volume is negligible and therefore not considered or measured.
I measured the power consumption over several preamplifier output volumes
by setting the Master volume potentiometer. The current drawn IC was
measured with a multimeter UNI-T UT131A measuring the voltage drop over
1Ω/20W on the DC input of the whole amplifier. This method is usable since
we are only aiming to roughly compare the power amplifier and preamplifier
power consumption. The power consumption was calculated as PC = UC · IC
and the results are in table 9.1 below:
Point of measurement Volume [%] UC [V] IC [A] PC [W]

(1) Complete power consumption 0 24.5 0.311 7.6
in off mode
Table 9.1: Power consumption measurements results for the whole amplifier
with power amplifier and artificial load.
64
................................. 9.1. Power consumption
Since the influence on the power consumption when there is a signal coming
through is negligible, the next measurements were measured without the
artificial load, with no signal going through, and without the power amplifier.
The results can be seen in the table 9.2 below. The power consumption was
calculated as PC = UC · IC . From the results, we can see that the overall
Point of measurement UC [V] IC [mA] PC [W]

(2) Preamplifier PCB group 23.6 278 6.8
(2) Preamplifier PCB (without Tube and 23.6 21.8 0.5
reverb section)
(3) Tube heater 23.6 166 3.9
(4) Reverb stage 18.3 65 1.2
(5) Tube stage (without heater) 18.3 12 0.2
Table 9.2: Power consumption measurement results for the preamplifier’s group
of PCBs.
preamplifier’s power consumption is PC = 6.8W and the heaters take 3.9W

out of that. Compared to the power consumption of the whole amplifier with
volume on maximum PC = 54.1W we can say that the power consumption of
the preamplifier is negligible other than the tube heater as assumed.
65
9. Measurements ....................................
9.2 Equalizer trasfer functions
To ensure the three-band equalizer works as requested I measured the fre-

quency characteristics of different settings. The equalizer was measured from
EQ_IN (before coupling capacitor C18) to R_IN (reverb in, past coupling
capacitor C34), see in figure 9.2
Mid control Bass and Treble section Output buffer

EQ_VREF
EQ_VREF
R_IN/4.??
EQ_VREF
EQ_VREF
EQ_IN/2.??
EQ_VREF
EQ_VREF
VCC
Power section
+ + +
EQ_VREF
Figure 9.2: Schematic of the designed three-band equalizer.
The measurement was done with Velleman PCSGU250, a two-channel PC

oscilloscope with a generator that offers in its software also a circuit analyzer.
This option generates sinus functions of different frequencies and measures
the response of the system to the output. I selected the 10% frequency step
and the results were plotted with Matlab. I measured the lowest, middle and
highest range position for bass (see figure 9.3), middle (see figure 9.4), treble
(see figure 9.5) individually (with the rest potentiometers set to the middle)
and all potentiometers at the same time (see on figure 9.6).
EQ freqency characteristics, BASS potentiometer

20
Bass low
15 Bass mid
Bass high
10
Amplitude [dB]
-5
-10
-15
102 103 104
Frequency [Hz]
Figure 9.3: Frequency characteristics of the EQ, bass changing.
66
.............................. 9.2. Equalizer trasfer functions
We can see that the bass control works as required.

EQ freqency characteristics, MID potentiometer
20
Mids low
15 Mids mid
Mids high
Amplitude [dB]
10
-5
-10
102 103 104
Frequency [Hz]
Figure 9.4: Frequency characteristics of the EQ, middle changing.
The middle potentiometer does not work as planned, we can see that the cut
option cuts the signal around 1kHz properly but does not boost the selected
frequencies as assumed. It boosts the whole frequency range by approximately
1dB which is also usable but not enough as desired.
EQ freqency characteristics, TREBLE potentiometer
20
Treble low
Treble mid
10
Treble high
Amplitude [dB]
-10
-20
-30
102 103 104
Frequency [Hz]
Figure 9.5: Frequency characteristics of the EQ, treble changing.
The Treble control works as required, we can see a boost and cut over 1kHz.
EQ freqency characteristics, all potentiometers
20
All low
10 All mid
All high
Amplitude [dB]
-10
-20
-30
-40
102 103 104
Frequency [Hz]
Figure 9.6: Frequency characteristics of the EQ, all potentiometer changing.
The equalizer works slightly differently than expected. It was expected to
67
9. Measurements ....................................
boost the frequencies at maximum, remain unchanged in the middle position,
and cut in the minimum setting. The maximum setting boosts all frequencies
as required, and the minimum setting cuts the bass, middle, and treble but
the middle position still cuts the bass and treble frequencies. But the poten-
tiometer allows all positions between minimum and maximum settings, it is
still usable in this application since we don’t require precision positioning of
the potentiometer and it can be set individually by the user.
68
............................. 9.3. THD of the power amplifier
9.3 THD of the power amplifier
The TPA3106D1 chip used for the power amplifier is specified to have a 0.2%
THD+N for a 1kHz frequency signal. To measure and verify this statement
I prepared an experiment.[8]
The total harmonic distortion (THD) is defined as a ratio of RMS amplitude
values of higher harmonics Vi , i > 1 to the RMS amplitude of the fundamental
frequency V1 :
qP qP
∞ 2 imax
i=2 Vi i=2 Vi2
T HD = · 100=
˙ · 100 (9.3.0.1)
V1 V1
The higher harmonics RMS amplitude values are descending so for calculating
purposes we only consider a limited number of harmonics imax = 20.[34, 35]
The measurement consists of a function generator 24-bit DAC converter play-
ing a prepared audio file consisting of the fixed frequency sinusoidal signal, a
sound card Zoom F6 MultiTrack Field Recorder to record the signal, and the
actual power amplifier with a 10W power resistors as an artificial load (with
10:1 ratio of 10Ω and 1Ω). The block diagram of the experiment can be seen
in figure 9.7.[13]
Figure 9.7: Block diagram of the THD measurement experiment.
To calculate the THD from the recorded signal I used fast Fourier transfor-
mation (fft in Matlab) and isolated the frequency spectrum only for half
of the sampling frequency F s/2 = 44100/2Hz = 22050Hz. Since the spec-
trum of the discrete signal stretches the energy of the individual harmonics I
calculated the RMS amplitude values for the i-th harmonic as:
i+w
X
Vi2 = vj2 (9.3.0.2)
j=i−w
where vj are the absolute amplitude values of the spectrum for frequency
j. The w is half of the chosen width of the frequency spread which I chose
as w = 10. This number says how many points total points = 2 · w of the
spectrum are considered in the calculation.[34]
The processed spectrum can be seen in figure 9.8. The fundamental frequency
points are colored yellow, the higher harmonics purple and the leftover
spectrum points (noise) blue. For better visualization there is a zoomed (in
amplitude) spectrum in figure 9.9.
69
9. Measurements ....................................
Figure 9.8: Frequency spectrum of the 1kHz signal.
Figure 9.9: Frequency spectrum of the 1kHz signal.
I processed signals and calculated THDs for 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 and
5000Hz frequencies. The results are in the table 9.3 below and on a graph in
figure 9.10.
Frequency [Hz] 100 200 500 1000 2000 5000

THD [%] 0.056 0.034 0.015 0.021 0.036 0.076
Table 9.3: THD results for individual frequencies.
70
............................. 9.3. THD of the power amplifier
Measured THD to signal frequency

0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05
THD [%]
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
102 103 104
Frequency [Hz]
Figure 9.10: THD results for individual frequencies.
The THD of the power amplifier when amplifying 1kHz signal was measured
as T HDmeasured,1kHz = 0.21% which corresponds to the datasheet value
T HD + N = 0.2%.[8]
71
72
Part IV
Results, conclusion, and future

improvements
73
74
Chapter 10
Conclusion
10.1 Results
I designed a fully working guitar amplifier with user controls according to

the setup requirements. All controls work as required. The amplifier is
powered by a 24V DC/60W power supply and consumes when on maximum
amplification power around 55W . Most of it is drained by the power amplifier
and the tube heater. In off (power saving mode) it drains around 6.8W where
4W takes the heater and rests the preamplifier which runs all the time.
The main gain stage of two non-inverting operational amplifiers with an input
buffer works as required.
The voltage multiplier of the tube section outputs around 120V for the cath-
odes with approximately 12mA current being drawn and outputs enough
current to feed the tube without noticeable noise on the output. The tube’s
heater drains approximately 4W . The PCBs are designed in a way that for
low power consumption, the tube stage can be cut out and the device works
on quite low power consumption.
The three-band equalizer works as desired and I measured its setting’s fre-
quency characteristics for minimal/maximum setting. The Bass control at
164.81Hz (fundamental harmonic of the low E guitar string) delivers a gain
setting from 3.5dB to 16dB gain. The middle does not noticeably gain the
middle frequencies but rather amplifies the whole frequency spectrum (see
figure 9.4) but cuts the mids at 1kHz to 1.3kHz for around 5.5dB on mini-
mum. The treble cuts and boosts the 5kHz frequency from −2dB to 17dB.
See the actual measured frequency characteristics at figures 9.3, 9.4, 9.5 and
9.6.
75
10. Conclusion .....................................
The reverb stage works around the audioprocessor FV-1 and uses an inte-
grated Reverb program. It allows the user to change the reverb length, reverb
treble damping, and reverb echo bass filtering via a set of inside trimmers
and a front face control of the reverb echo amplitude.
The output stage offers outside control of the Master volume and also allows
the final frequency corrections of Depth and Presence.
The power amplifier is a class-D amplifier TPA3106D1, which offers 40W
amplification with an overall power consumption of around 50W when on
maximum. It drains power dynamically depending on the output volume and
drains << 1W when in off (Mute mode) without any heatsink other than
integrated PCB. The measurement confirmed the THD value at 1kHz as
0.2% as being said in the datasheet.
10.2 Future improvements
For future developments for example next generation prototype I would add
an option of turning off the heaters when in power-safe mode. The heaters
still take quite a considerable amount of energy and in the case of an amplifier
that is supposed to run for a long time without turning off (opposite to in
comparison a guitar pedal), it would be preferred to consume less power in
an off mode rather than the tube being heated and ready when turned on.
The preamplifier PCB group drains below 300mA current including the tube
heater. This means that the heater could be powered directly from the
preamplifier’s 18V /500mA without any considerable damage or problems but
since the heater takes almost 200mA out of that, ground loop noise should
be tested and taken care of.
Another feature to improve should be the middle control of the three-band
equalizer so that it offers a narrower bandwidth getting boosted.
A nice feature to add would be an option of integrated accumulator cells such
as 12V lead batteries running in series to produce 24V. A typical AVACOM
battery 12V 9Ah F2 HighRate [36] could run at a typical 50% volume (draining
approximately 2A at 24V ) for at least four hours.
Since the class-D amplifier works well and the voltage multiplier as well,
it creates a question of designing an all-tube preamplifier with a voltage
multiplier as a voltage source for the cathodes. Since the parallel stacking
works well with the PCB layout it creates an easy-to-integrate building block
producing with two used parallel Schmidt trigger units (CD40106BE chips)
around Iout = 2 · 6.8mA = 13.6mA output current and the dual triode tube
(typical for guitar tube preamplifiers) drains at most with 100kΩ cathode
resistors at UC = 120V around IC = 2 · 120/105 A = 2.4mA we can assume
that it could power up to five dual triode tubes which are sufficient with
most typical tube preamp designs (where most does not get higher than three
76
................................. 10.3. Overall conclusion
dual-triode tubes). For more than two dual triode tubes the power supply
would be insufficient but either raising it or lowering the output power would
work. An amplifier combining the class-D power amplifier and an all-tube
preamplifier with this voltage pump would be a good choice for the next
project.
10.3 Overall conclusion
The amplifier meets the requirements and expectations. It delivers a good-

sounding amplification with plenty of power for practicing even when playing
with a band. The outside user controls deliver a wide range of settings and
combined with the internal settings even more. The enclosure gives good
mechanical protection and housing.
Figure 10.1: Photos of the finished amplifier.
77
78
Appendices
79
80
1 2 3 4 5 6
A A
B JP1 B
1
2
PINHD-1X02
JP2
1
2
AGND PINHD-1X02
J1
1
2
ORTOGON_CONN2
C C
D D
DP_input_v1.0
08.11.2023 23:50
Sheet: 1/1
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
A A
VCC/2.1C
B_VREF
B_VREF
J1 D
1 IN IN
Q1
MMBFJ201
2 G
B S B
B_OUT
VCC/2.1C
B_OUT
C T_IN T_OUT C
1 T_IN T_OUT T_OUT
1
2 2
6
3
VCC/2.1C
3 3
B_VREF
5 2
B_VREF
T_IN
PINHD-1X03 PINHD-1X03
4
1
VCC
+
EQ_IN/2.1B
B_VREF
D D
DP_preamp_v1.5
24.11.2023 15:24
Sheet: 1/3
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
A A
EQ_VREF
EQ_VREF
R_IN/3.1A
B B
EQ_VREF
EQ_IN/1.5C
EQ_VREF
EQ_VREF
EQ_VREF
C C
VCC/1.6C
+ + +
EQ_VREF
D D
DP_preamp_v1.5
24.11.2023 15:24
Sheet: 2/3
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
OUT_IN
A A
JP3
R_IN/2.6B
1
2 OUT
AGND/2.4B
POT2
VCC/2.1C
3
POT2
4
POT1 POT1
5
OUT_VREF
OUT_VREF
POT0
6
AGND/2.4B
7
OUT_IN
8
POT0
E
S
DEPTH
10k
A
B B
VCC/2.1C
+
OUT_VREF
OUT_VREF
OUT_VREF
OUT_VREF
E A
NP
PRESENCE
OUT_VREF
C C
VCC
IC5 VCC
MC7818CD2TR4G
JP2 JP1
1 SDZ
4 V_IN 1 2
VIN VOUT
2 3
GND
D 3 OUT
2 D
1
3
SDZ
P$1 P$3
DP_preamp_v1.5
P$2
24.11.2023 15:24
Sheet: 3/3
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
VCC
TP1
T_VPOS
A A
+ +
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6

13 12 11 10 9 8 13 12 11 10 9 8
T_VPOS
T_VPOS
B VCC B
T_OUT
1
2
1
3
6
T2G$1
T_IN T2G$2
1 2 PINHD-1X03
7
2
3
T_IN
3
8
PINHD-1X03
T_VNEG
E
C C
S
BIAS
10k
A
IC3
T_VNEG
T_H
TH
1 1 2
VIN VOUT
2
GND
5
T2G$3
PINHD-1X02 9
3
4
D D
DP_tube_stage_v1.3
02.12.2023 23:57
Sheet: 1/1
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
R_VREF
A R_IN A
R_VREF
R_VREF
POT2
OUT_IN
POT1 IC4 R_VREF

1 28 R_VREF
LIN LOUT
2 27
RIN ROUT
3 26
MID REFP
4 25
GND0 REFN
5 24
CLIP GND4
DGND
DGND 6 23
3V3 AVDD DVDD1 3V3 DGND
7 22
B GND1 POT2 B
3V3
8 21
DVDD0 POT1
FV1
Q2 9 20
X2 POT0
32.768 10 19
X1 GND3
11 18
GND2 S2
1
3
1
12 17
T1 S1
P0
P2
DGND 13 16 2 2 2
T0 S0
100k
100k
SCL
14 15 SDA
SCK SDA
100k
P1
3
1
3
FV-1
JP3
DGND DGND DGND R_IN
1
DGND 2
AGND
R_VCC
3
POT2
4
POT1
5
C R_VREF
6 C
AGND
7
OUT_IN
8
PINHD-1X08
R_VREF
R_VCC
IC13
+ + + HT7533-1
1 3 3V3
D VIN VOUT D
R_VREF
GND
2*2
SH1 DP_Reverb_v1.0
01.12.2023 7:49
DGND
Sheet: 1/1
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
A A
PREAMP_OUT INP
INP
PA1JP AGND
VCC
JP2
1 SDZ
SDZ AGND
2 AGND
PREAMP_OUT
3
B PINHD-1X03
BOARD_TPA3106D1_TOP B
VCC
PA1SP
JP1
VCC 1
2
3
4
BOARD_TPA3106D1_TOP
AGND
PA1G$1
AGND P$1
BOARD_TPA3106D1_TOP
C C
AGND
D D
DP_Back_v2.0
not saved!
Sheet: 1/1
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
INN
INP
P1 VCC
SDZ
SDZ
P2
VCC
SP_NEG
MUTE
A A
VCC
PGND
SP_POS
PINHD-2X06 VCC
AGND
PINHD-2X06
PGND PGND
PGND
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
AGND AGND PGND
IC1G$1
L1
33u
SDZ
AVCC
MUTE
FAULT
B 1 2 B
PVCC5
PVCC4
PVCC3
PGND4
1 24 SP_POS
INP INP PGND3
INN
2 23
INN BSP
3 22
AGND1 OUTP2
4 21
AGND2 OUTP1
GAIN0
5 TPA3106D1 20
GAIN0 OUTN2
GAIN1
6 19
GAIN1 OUTN1 L2
AGND 7 18
VREG MSTR/SLV BSN 33u PGND
8 17
SYNC PGND2 1 2 SP_NEG
IC1G$2
ROSC
VREG
VBYP
AGND3
VCLAMP
PVCC1
PVCC2
PGND1
EXP
9
11
EXP@1
12
13
14
15
16
TPA3106D1
JG0 JG1 AGND EXP@2
VCC
GAIN0
1 GAIN1
1 EXP@3
VREG 10
2 2 PGND EXP@4
C EXP@5 C
PGND EXP@6
EXP@7
EXP@8
EXP@9
AGND AGND EXP@10
EXP@11
AGND2 EXP@12
EXP@13
SH2 EXP@14
PGND AGND2
EXP@15
SH1 EXP@16
TPA3106D1
AGND PGND PGND
D D
DP_poweramp_v2.0
18.12.2023 23:30
Sheet: 1/1
1 2 3 4 5 6
Appendix A
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89
A. Bibliography .....................................
[8] Texas Instruments. Tpa3106d1 40-w mono class-d audio power ampli-
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city.cz/marshall-dsl1cr-am0248609?gads ource = 1gclid =
CjwKCAiA0syqBhBxEiwAeN x9N 2eIF KDwEitL9n7Hh7eGt0mGI
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tube guitar amplifier. In Audio Engineering Society Conference: 50th
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[17] Thomas E. Rutt. Vacuum tube triode nonlinearity as part of the electric
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[18] Eric Barbour. How vacuum tubes work. vacuumtubes. net, 2011.
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of Technical Papers. International Conference on Consumer Electronics.
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90
.................................... A. Bibliography
[23] PedalPCB. Promethium distortion, 2024. https://www.pedalpcb.com/

product/promethium/ [Accessed: January 2024].
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product/fv1dev/ [Accessed: January 2024].
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//www.3dcontentcentral.com/download-model.aspx?catalogid=
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[30] Aliexpress. Rk097n single vertical potentiome-

ter, 2024. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/
1005003943611587.html?src=google&aff_fcid=
84e8ad3b0060401291501f6ee640624a-1702668708106-
08725-UneMJZVf&aff_fsk=UneMJZVf&aff_platform=aaf&sk=
UneMJZVf&aff_trace_key=84e8ad3b0060401291501f6ee640624a-
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91
A. Bibliography .....................................
[35] Huey Chian Foong and Meng Tong Tan. An analysis of thd in class d
amplifiers. In APCCAS 2006 - 2006 IEEE Asia Pacific Conference on
Circuits and Systems, pages 724–727, 2006.
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92

F3 DP 2024 Turinsky Jakub Diploma Thesis Jakub Turinsky

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Master Thesis

Faculty of Electrical Engineering

Guitar amplifier design

Supervisor: Prof. Ing. Jan Holub, Ph.D.

I. Personal and study details

Student's name: Turinský Jakub Personal ID number: 474618

II. Master’s thesis details

Master’s thesis title in Czech:

Name and workplace of master’s thesis supervisor:

Name and workplace of second master’s thesis supervisor or consultant:

Assignment valid until:

___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________

III. Assignment receipt

CVUT-CZ-ZDP-2015.1 © ČVUT v Praze, Design: ČVUT v Praze, VIC

Keywords: Guitar amplifier, Klíčová slova: Kytarový zesilovač,

Part I 4 Power distribution, protection and

4.1 Power protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4.2 Power distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

4.3 Effects loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

5.1 Voltage regulator for the

5.3 Bypassable tube stage . . . . . . . . . 22

5.5 FV-1 Reverb stage . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

5.6 Output stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

3.1.1 Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 6 Power amplifier 31

3.1.2 Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 7 PCB and mechanical design 35

3.1.3 Circuit section selection . . . . . 12 7.1 Chassis enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

3.1.4 User controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 7.2 PCB separation and block design 36

7.3.1 Input PCB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

7.3.3 Tube section PCB module . . 43 10 Conclusion 75

7.3.4 Reverb section PCB module . 44 10.1 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

7.4 Power amplifier group of PCBs . 46 10.2 Future improvements . . . . . . . . . 76

7.4.1 Back connector PCB . . . . . . . 46 10.3 Overall conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . 77

7.4.2 Power amplifier PCB module 48

7.5 Mechanical design . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

8 Prototype assembly and testing 55

8.1 Prototype assembly . . . . . . . . . . . 55

8.2 First start and testing . . . . . . . . . 57

9.1 Power consumption . . . . . . . . . . . 63

9.2 Equalizer trasfer functions . . . . . 66

2.1 MARSHALL 2002 JCM 900.[1] . . 5 5.9 XB-MB Preamp EQ section

2.2 Basic block diagram of guitar

2.3 KEMPER Profiler modeling 5.11 FV-1 typical application

5.12 The FV-1 reverb section

5.13 Benzin VH4 output section

4.2 Amplifier power distribution 5.14 Schematic of the preamplifier’s

4.3 Effects loop schematic. . . . . . . . . 17

5.6 Voltage multiplier table of supply

7.3 Selected connectors, switches, 7.20 Designed metal chassis enclosure. 50

7.6 Preamplifier group of PCBs. . . . 39 8.2 The assembled prototype in

7.7 Scatch of the chassis enclosure. . 40

8.4 The finished prototype of the

7.10 Main preamplifier PCB. . . . . . . 42 8.5 The finished prototype of the

7.11 Tube section PCB model. . . . . . 43

9.1 Amplifier power distribution

7.13 Reverb section PCB model. . . . 44 9.2 Schematic of the designed

7.14 Tube section PCB. . . . . . . . . . . . 45

9.4 Frequency characteristics of the

7.17 The back connector PCB. . . . . . 47 9.5 Frequency characteristics of the

_____________ _ _______________