Patent 7362180 was granted and assigned to Yamaha (yacht) on April, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A protection circuit of a digital amplifier includes a DC voltage detection circuit for detecting a DC voltage occurring in a loudspeaker output terminal; a control circuit for performing protection operation when the DC voltage detection circuit outputs a detection signal; and a midpoint potential detection circuit for detecting midpoint potential shift between a positive power supply voltage and a negative power supply voltage. Output of the midpoint potential detection circuit is connected to input of the DC voltage detection circuit and when the midpoint potential shift is detected, the DC voltage detection circuit outputs a detection signal.