An apparatus comprising a first stage and a second stage. The first stage generally comprises a first transistor configured as a common-emitter amplifier. The second stage generally comprises a second and third transistor configured as a low voltage Darlington transistor pair. The first stage may be directly coupled to the second stage. The second transistor generally comprises a field effect (FET) input transistor. The third transistor generally comprises a bipolar output transistor. In one example, the apparatus may comprise a 2-stage RF amplifier operating from DC to microwave frequencies.