Distortion is generally accepted as a quantifier to judge the quality of audio power amplifiers. In switch-mode power amplifiers various mechanisms influence this performance measure. After giving an overview of those, this paper focuses on the particular effect of the nonlinearity of the output filter components on the audio performance. While the physical reasons for both, the capacitor and the inductor induced distortion are given, the practical in depth demonstration is done for the inductor only. This includes measuring the inductors performance, modeling through fitting and resulting into simulation models. The fitted models achieve distortion values between 0.03 % and 0.2 % as a basis to enable the design of a 200 W amplifier.
(See document for exact affiliation information.)
Click to purchase paper as a non-member or login as an AES member. If your company or school subscribes to the E-Library then switch to the institutional version. If you are not an AES member Join the AES. If you need to check your member status, login to the Member Portal.
