Megatron Electrostatic Headphone Amplifier

[JoaMat]

8 hours ago, Shawn said:

What specific differences do you notice after adding the 100 µF caps?

Higher gain and in my opinion better frequency response. I haven’t tried other than the 100uF electrolytics. With the capacitors the amplifier is an absolute favorite.

[Shawn]

I haven’t really followed up on this for a while, but today I did a quick LTspice simulation of the 2A3 stage.

With a constant plate current of about 23.8 mA, a 3100 Ω cathode resistor looks like a reasonable bias point (compared to 3300 Ω previously). The operating point itself is stable, and plate dissipation comes out to roughly 7.7 W, well below the 15 W maximum for a 2A3.

The resulting plate-to-cathode voltage (Va-k) is around 329 V, which is clearly above the classic 2A3 datasheet limit of 300 V. Based on older/NOS 2A3 specs, this would be outside the safe operating range. Some modern production tubes (for example, the EH 2A3) are rated for a higher Va-k (up to ~360 V), so they may tolerate this operating point without issue.

Just wanted to share the simulation results. Please share any 2A3 running data points in reality.

[Shawn]

On 10/27/2025 at 11:48 AM, JoaMat said:

Completed servo controlled grid voltage.

@JoaMat
I have a quick question regarding the servo.

Once the servo is in place, does that mean the cathode resistor and its bypass capacitor are no longer needed, and the cathode is effectively tied directly without local bias components? Or are they still retained in some form?

Thanks.

[JoaMat]

I tie cathode direct to -HV, -400 V in my case. Works with EL34, 300B, 2A3, EML 20B-V4 and EL156.

The datasheet for my Electro-Harmonix 2A3EH Gold says 450 V maximum plate voltage.

[Shawn]

50 minutes ago, JoaMat said:

I tie cathode direct to -HV, -400 V in my case. Works with EL34, 300B, 2A3, EML 20B-V4 and EL156.

The datasheet for my Electro-Harmonix 2A3EH Gold says 450 V maximum plate voltage.

Thanks a lot, JoaMat. Much appreciated.👍

That confirms my understanding.