All primary coils are in series and the secondary can be connected in series and parallel thus giving the loudspeaker impedance's of 1.7, 6.8 and 15.2 Ohms. This transformer works! For those who want to try themselves to make such a transformer the author found out that it is not entirely impossible with a winding machine. The most important feature of such a machine is a reliable mechanical counter.

The transformer, although it is very good is somewhat out of time. The dimensions are not very practical, the copper losses in the primary are with 320 Ohms between the plates somewhat high and a leakage induction with 30mH is also somewhat high and last but not least, the output impedance's are impractical.

The first thing you must know about output transformers is that the square root of the impedance ratio is the turn ratio.

The second thing, leakage inductance can easily be measured with a LCR meter. Short the secondary and measure the inductance that is left over in the primary. Don't be surprised when it is much lower as 30mH. The author reached values as low as 3.8 mH.

The selfinductance of the entire transformer is not so easy to measure since it depends on the excitation of the iron core. Most LCR-meters don' t like the variable values of the cores that exceed 100H. Therefore it is more practical to calculate the inductance the following way: First determine the impedance of the entire primary coil by measuring the current through the primary with an Am-meter in series connected to a AC source of say 4 to 25 Volts. Expect values between 75000 Ohm and 250000 Ohm. Then devide the value of the impedace by ( 2.pi times the frequency of your AC source) Depending on the AC tensions the result for the UltraFine transformers was 250H at 5 volt and 500H at 25 volt.

Since the quality of core material has improved enormously over the years it is not impossible to use a smaller core of grain oriented material with somewhat less turns and still reach a higher primary inductance. Although it is possible to calculate everything of a transformer it is hard to say how a transformer performs once it is wound. The best guaranty that a do it yourself transformer works is sticking to the original Williamson design and diminish the diameter so that you reach a turn ratio of 35 when the entire secondary is connected in two parallel sections that are put in series.

The author has after years finally developed a transformer that is better then the original Williamson on a E-I 130B core of grain oriented material. It has sectional windings, has a leakage inductance of 8mH, 150 Ohms dc between the plates, 0.12 Ohm dc secondary and has a secondary impedance of 8 Ohms to a primary of 10600 Ohms. The inductance varies from 250H at 4 volts to 500H at 25 volts. Its still weighs 5.2 Kg (9lbs). The winding details are shown below.

Since the author has changed his pair of KEF Chorales for a pair of B&W DM4's the listening results of amps with yhe UltraFine output transformers are stunning. Even with the most complicated music every instrument has a place and listening means dancing!

Great advantage of this transformer is that it doens't need the C10 and R26 circuit at all to remain stable. The bass notes are just a though dryer and darker then that of the original Williamson, probably because of the lower copper losses.

The author still has a few examples of these transformers in stock. If you are interested you can visit and listen before you buy. Prices are 500 euro's a pair. For information on this subject please mail ideas@xs4all.nl mentioning OPT as subject.