A new principle for a high-efficiency power audio amplifier for use with a digital preamplifier

The use of class-B and class-D amplifiers for converting digital audio signals to analog signals is discussed. It is shown that the class-D amplifier is unsuitable due to distortion. Therefore a new principle involving a switch-mode power supply and a class-B amplifier is suggested. By regulating the supply voltage to the amplifier according to the amplitude of the audio signal, a higher efficiency than can be obtained by the usual principles is achieved. The regulation can be done very efficiently by generating the control signal to the power supply in advance of the audio signal, made possible by a preceding digital signal from the preamplifier. A prototype shows possibilities for further developments