View Single Post
  #13   Report Post  
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
[email protected] etpm@whidbey.com is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,163
Default What differentiates good audio xmfrs from bad ones?

On Fri, 11 Jan 2019 15:07:21 -0800 (PST), whit3rd
wrote:

On Friday, January 11, 2019 at 9:07:33 AM UTC-8, wrote:

Some time back I wanted to use the mains power as a frequency standard
when adjusting a generator. I was worried about connecting my 'scope
directly to 125 volts so I used a 12 volt out step down xmfr. The
wave form was really distorted.


That can happen because of saturation and remanence: the addition of a load on
the low voltage side (like, a light bulb) will help greatly. The best small-signal
audio transformers are potted in protective shells, in order to prevent
strain on the magnetic laminations (which makes the magnetic core
do those nonlinear things).

I had no idea! But I should have. So if I had loaded the xmfr down
some the wave form would have more closely resembled a pure sine wave.
Because of the tube amp I bought I have got the bug a little to learn
about audio stuff in general and tube stuff in particular. I ordered a
B&K Precision 4100 function generator last night and when it gets here
in a week or so I'll be hooking up the TEK 465B to an audio xmfr, and
some others, to see how the waveform gets distorted with frequency,
voltage, and waveform.
Thanks,
Eric