Contents

bass extension for surround sound

AMPL(dBr) vs FREQ(Hz)
10.000
5.0000
0.0
-5.000
-10.00
-15.00
-20.00
-25.00
-30.00
-35.00
-40.00
10

100

1k
974038 - 12

The extension is intended primarily

for surround-sound installations
that need some boosting of the
bass frequencies but where an additional subwoofer cannot be afforded. It is based on a disused
mono a.f. amplifier and loudspeaker. If these provide reasonable
bass performance, they can be conK4

verted into a fairly good subwoofer

with the aid of an active low-pass
filtersee Figure 1.
The input signals for the lefthand and right-hand channels are
applied to audio sockets K1 and K2
respectively. They are output via
audio sockets K3 and K4 to which
the surround-sound decoder is

connected.
The signals of the two channels
are summed in IC1a, which also
functions as input amplifier. The
amplification, and therefore the
sensitivity of the subwoofer, can
be adjusted with P1.
The output of IC1a is applied to
a 2nd-order Butterworth low-pass
filter. The cut-off frequency of this
active filter can be set between
40 Hz and 120 Hz with stereo potentiometer P2. The response char-

C1

R
22p

K3

P1

C2

C3

220n

180n

L
47k

K1
L

2
R2
47k

IC1a

P2a

R3

P2b

4k7

IC1b

R4

10k

K6

R6

10k

100
C4

C5

100n

100n

IC1 = TL072

Tr1

C15

K7

IC2
47n

15V

7815

B1
C14

C13

47n

47n

Resistors:
R1, R2 = 47 k
R3, R4 = 4.7 k
R5, R6 = 100
R7 = 8.2 k
P1 = 47 k logarithmic potentiometer
P2 = 10 k, linear stereo potentiometer
Capacitors:
C1 = 22 pF
C2 = 220 nF
C3 = 180 nF
C4C7 = 100 nF
C8, C9 = 4.7 F, 63 V, radial
C10, C11 = 22 F, 40 V, radial
C12C15 = 47 nF ceramic
Semiconductors:
D1 = LED, high efficiency

C12

47n

Parts list

4k7

8k2

100

47k

K2

K5

R5

R1

acteristic of the filter at both these

frequencies is shown in Figure 2.
The actual cut-off point depends
on individual taste.
The said mono amplifier is connected to audio output sockets K5
and K6.
The power supply for the circuit is simple and consists of a
small mains transformer, Tr1, a

R7
C10

C8

C6

22
40V

47
63V

100n

C11

C9

C7

47
63V

100n

Integrated circuits:
IC1 = TL072CP
IC2 = 7815
IC3 = 7915

D1
2x 15V
1W5

B80C1500
POWER

Miscellaneous:
K1K6, K8K9 = audio socket for
board mounting
K7 = 2-way terminal block, pitch 7.5
mm
B1 = B80C1500
Tr1 = mains transformer, 2 15 V
secondaries, 1.5 VA

IC1

22
40V

IC3

7915

62

974038 - 11

15V

Elektor Electronics

12/97

Contents

H2

bridge rectifier, B1, antihunt capacitors C12C15, a number of

smoothing and decoupling capacitors, and two integrated voltage
regulators, IC2 and IC3.
The filter circuit is best built on
the printed-circuit board shown in
Figure 3, which is, however, not
available ready made.
The filter should be housed in
a metal case. Moreover, P1 and P2
should preferably be types with a
metal enclosure. Hum is prevented
by earthing the case and the enclosures.
The harmonic distortion, with
two input signals of 200 mV and a
bandwidth of 22 kHz, is 0.0016%
at 30 Hz.
Although not of prime importance at low frequencies, the polarity of the subwoofer should be
the reverse of that of the remainder
of the system since the present circuit inverts the signals.

K1

K2

K4

IN2

K3

R
R2
C6

K6

IN4

974038-1
1-830479

IN5

R6

C8 C15
C10

R4

IC1

R1

IC2

C4
C5

C12

H7

B1

K7

C1

C3

C11
P2

H1

C14

IC3
H5

TR1

C9

C13
R7

H6

H4

C7
P1

D1

[974038]

ELEKTOR
240V

50Hz

No. 974038

974038-1

P = 1VA5

Elektor Electronics

H3

R5
C2

R3

K5

IN3

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