Project by: Eduardo Foltran

Layout by: Plautz (Version 1.8)

Baby Wonder
Hello Everyone

First of all I'd like to say thanks to André and Valdir Dainez for their cooperation. If it weren't for the
video they put up on YouTube this project would've never left my hard drive.

The Baby Wonder was born as a way to produce a classic tube amplifier for an affordable price. The
project was inspired by the Harmony H400A, changing a few component values to match more widely
available parts on the market.

Some members of the Handmades forums were successful in building the circuit in point-to-point
wiring, the more traditional way to build these circuits. But to anyone who's not experienced enough,
the printed circuit board version represents a true democratization of this project, and this is thanks to
Plautz for dedicating himself to design and troubleshoot this layout.

The circuit is simple, yet there's some things that should be pointed out. The working voltages are
much lower than usual, which makes this a safer project. The 127v AC, after they are rectified, will
provide the plate circuit around 140V to 170V. It's still a considerable shock, but far from deadly.
The full wave bridge rectifier allows the use of a power transformer without a center tap, which makes
it very easy to find suitable options on the market.

The power amplifier stage uses an EL90/6AQ5. It's a beam tetrode with curves very similar to a
6V6GT. The output transformer impedance isn't critical, permitting the use of a wide range of
values from anywhere between 4,5K and 5,5K. In this configuration the output power is about 1,5W.

In the preamp we used a pentode, instead of the more commonly used twin triodes. The EF94/6AU6
is a high gain preamplifier tube, constructed for audio and RF. It was very common in RF use, but
somewhat forgotten for audio applications. Some classic amps explored pentodes as preamplifiers,
but due to the high cost of these types of tubes, they decided to abandon the idea.

Another important thing to point out is the lack of a cathode resistor for the EF94. This circuit uses
a type of automatic bias called "Grid Leak Bias". The principle is very interesting and presents some
advantages over using a cathode resistor for biasing this stage. On their journey from cathode to
anode, some unlucky electrons end up hitting the control grid. This generates two things: background
noise that sounds like someone blowing air which is common in high gain tubes, be them triodes or
pentodes, and a very small flow of grid current, in the order of hundreds of nano Amperes (nA)

This current flow is always present, but since it's so small, it's often ignored in most other circuits.
However, by choosing a very high value grid resistor, this current will generate enough of a potential
difference to bias the grid. In this function, resistors around 10M to 20M are commonly used. This
project uses two 6M8 in series, R2-1 and R2-2, since they are much easier to find. Any two resistors
with values that sum over 10M in series can be used.
 Project by: Eduardo Foltran
Layout by: Plautz (Versão 1.8)

Baby Wonder
By using a grid leak resistor biasing circuit it allows us to reduce the total number of components,
since it doesn't need a capacitor and resistor on the cathode. There's also a reduction in background
noise generated by the filament on this stage, as the grounded cathode works like a shield for the
alternating current used to heat up the tube.

There are also some problems with this circuit. You'll always need to have a coupling capacitor to
guarantee that the grid leak current, wich is DC, purposely flows through the grid resistor. Direct
coupling is out of question. For that function, we have C1 with a value of 10nF. Higher values can
be implemented without any issues. Other than that the input impedance will be very high, causing
more background noise to be picked up. However both issues can be dealt with by adding a resistor
in series before the capacitor. That's the function of R1 with a value of 47k. Higher values can be
used without problems, but if values over 1M are chosen there can be background noise issues.

Capacitor C2 has the function of decoupling the EF94's screen grid. The suggested value of 2n2 is
a minimum limit. Higher values can be used if needed.

The tone control is a low-pass filter formed by P1 and C4. Playing with their values will change the
response curve of the tone control. Raising the value for C4 makes the tone control affect lower
frequencies, making the amp sound "warmer" (aka reduces treble response).

The volume control P2 also acts as the grid resistor for the EL90. It's value isn't critical, allowing for
values from 400K to 800K. Lower values will mess with the overall gain of the amplifier and higher
values might compromise the performance of the EL90.

It's recommended to ground the potentiometers' metal cases. This is done by soldering a piece of
wire to their cases and connecting it to the ground point on the board. The Output Transformer also
should be grounded.

I hope this is the first of a series of projects like it. To me it was a great pleasure to work alongside
Plautz and the rest of the members at the Handmades forum who colaborated with the Baby Wonder!

My best wishes!

Eduardo.
Project by: Eduardo Foltran
Layout by: Plautz (Version 1.8)

Baby Wonder
Schematic

145,7 VDC

93,5 VDC

152 VDC
28,4 VDC

-0,89 VDC

6,3 VDC

152 VDC

116,5 VAC 145,7 VDC

6 VAC

Note 1: Measurements taken using a digital multimeter, with +/- 10% tolerance.
Note 2: Input Voltage present during these measurements: 116,5VAC.
Project by: Eduardo Foltran
Layout by: Plautz (Version 1.8)

Baby Wonder
8,38 cm
m

Socket type for

this layout.

4 x 1N4007 C7 - 47µF C6 - 47µF

D3
1/2W
4K7

D1
R6
127V

D2
Transf. Saída

D4
C2 EF94/ EL90/
R4
6AU6 2M2 6AQ5
Output Transformer
Filamentos

2n2 330K
6 6
7 5 R3 7 5
Filaments V1 4 V2 4
C5
R2-1

1 3 1 3
2 2
R1
C1

C3 220µF
10nF R5
R2-2
6M8
6M8
47K

270R
C4
1nF 5W
10nF
P1 500K-B P2 500K-A
IN +
IN -

Volume
Tom

Tone Terra for

Ground Volume
Potentiometers
Potenciômetros

Layout 1:1
 Project by: Eduardo Foltran
Layout by: Plautz (Version 1.8)

Baby Wonder
4 x 1N4007 C7 - 47µF C6 - 47µF
D3

1/2W
4K7
D1

R6
127V

D2

Transf. Saída
D4
C2 EF94/ EL90/
R4
6AU6 2M2 6AQ5
Filamentos

2n2 330K
6 6
7 5 R3 7 5
V1 4 V2 4
C5
R2-1

1 3 1 3
2 2
R1
C1

C3 220µF
10nF R5
R2-2
6M8
6M8
47K

270R
C4
1nF 5W
10nF
P1 500K-B P2 500K-A
IN +
IN -

Volume
Tom

Terra
Potenciômetros

Layout 1:2,1
 Project by: Eduardo Foltran
Layout by: Plautz (Version 1.8)

Baby Wonder
8,38 cm
m

Socket type for

this layout.

4 x 1N4007 C7 - 47µF C6 - 47µF

D3
1/2W
4K7

D1
R6
127V

D2
Transf. Saída

D4
C2 EF94/ EL90/
R4
6AU6 2M2 6AQ5
Output Transformer
Filamentos

2n2 330K
6 6
7 5 R3 7 5
Filaments V1 4 V2 4
C5
1 3 1 3
R2-1

2 2
R1
C1

R2-2 R5 220µF
6M8 C3
6M8
47K

270R
C4
1nF 10nF 5W
10nF
P1 500K-B P2 500K-A
IN +
IN -

Volume
Tom

Tone Volume
Terra for
Ground
Potenciômetros
Potentiometers

Layout 1:1
 Projeto: Eduardo Foltran
Layout: Plautz (Versão 1.8)

Baby Wonder
4 x 1N4007 C7 - 47µF C6 - 47µF
D3

1/2W
4K7
D1

R6
127V

D2

Transf. Saída
D4
C2 EF94/ EL90/
R4
6AU6 2M2 6AQ5
Filamentos

2n2 330K
6 6
7 5 R3 7 5
V1 4 V2 4
C5
1 3 1 3
R2-1

2 2
R1
C1

R2-2 R5 220µF
6M8 C3
6M8
47K

270R
C4
1nF 10nF 5W
10nF
P1 500K-B P2 500K-A
IN +
IN -

Volume
Tom

Terra
Potenciômetros

Layout 1:2,1
 Projeto: Eduardo Foltran
Layout: Plautz (Versão 1.8)

Baby Wonder
External Connections
AC IN
110 / 220

6,3V 127V

4 x 1N4007 C7 - 47µF C6 - 47µF

127V

D3
1/2W
4K7

D1
R6

D2
D4 Transf. Saída
C2 EF94/ EL90/
R4
6AU6 2M2 6AQ5 +
Filamentos

2n2 330K -
6 6
7 5 R3 7 5
V1 4 V2 4
C5
R2-1

1 3 1 3
2 2
R1
C1

C3 220µF
10nF R5
R2-2
6M8
6M8
47K

270R
C4
1nF 5W
10nF
P1 500K-B P2 500K-A
IN +
IN -

Volume
Tom

Terra
Potenciômetros
 Projeto: Eduardo Foltran
Layout: Plautz (Versão 1.8)

Baby Wonder
Bill of Materials
Semiconductors Transformers

01 - EF94 ou 6AU6 (V1) 01 - Power Transformer

01 - EL90 ou 6AQ5 (V2) Primary: 110 / 220V
04 - 1N4007 (D1, D2, D3, D4) Secondaries: 127V x 30ma
6,3V x 800ma
Resistors (All 1/8W, except if otherwise 01 - Output Transformer TSS23 “Single-End” or
described) Similar (any 5K:4R/8R 3w transformer will do)

01 - 47K (yellow, violet, orange) - R1 Misc

02 - 6M8 (blue, gray, green) - R2-1 e R2-2
01 - 330K (orange, orange, yellow) - R3 02 - Sockets for the tubes
01 - 2M2 (red, red, green) - R4 02 - Knobs for the potentiometers
01 - 270R x 5W (red, violet, brown) - R5
01 - 4K7 x 1/2W (yellow, violet, red) - R6

Polyester Capacitors (All rated for 200V or more)

02 - 10nF (103 - 0.01 - .01) - C1 and C3

01 - 2N2 (222 - 0.0022 - .0022) - C2
01 - 1nF (102 - 0.001 - .001) - C4

Electrolytic Capacitors

01 - 220µF x 16V - C5
02 - 47μF x 250V (or more) - C6 e C7

Potentiometers

01 - 500K-B (Linear) - P1 - Tone

01 - 500K-A (Log) - P2 - Volume

Note: You can use 470k potentiometers if you can't find 500k ones.

Conectors:

04 - KREs 2 terminals - 127V, Output Transformer,

Filaments, IN.
 Projeto: Eduardo Foltran
Layout: Plautz (Versão 1.8)

Baby Wonder
Layouts ready for thermal transfer
For Wire Lug type sockets
 Projeto: Eduardo Foltran
Layout: Plautz (Versão 1.8)

Baby Wonder
Layouts ready for thermal transfer
For PCB Lug type Sockets