Vacuum Tube Amplifier Basics [Print Replica] Kindle Edition

I am a retired electronics engineer with very little knowledge of vacuum tubes. But in my 20's I used to build vacuum tube radios and amps, Heathkits, etc. I enjoyed that hobby so much I am resuming in retirement! I am reading several books all the time in my effort to learn, I look at schematics constantly, my wife thinks I'm having an affair with my parts and vacuum tube suppliers. I keep returning to this book because of one reason. The other books don't go into the actual test procedures like this book does. For example it shows how to hook up a harmonic distortion measurement test, frequency response test, and many other test procedures,old school using bench gear. Other books give you the theory and formulas, then they give you a few projects. Skipping entirely how to utilize my bench equipment, how to hook them up, how to interpret the results. It is hard to go from theory right into a build and you learn way more when you test your builds. This book gives theory, build AND testing procedures which is the area most other books neglect.

I'm returning this book. Why did I give it 5 stars then? Because I already know electronics and this book is written for somebody with little or no knowledge of electronics, so since I already know electronics, it's the wrong book for me. But before returning it I looked through it and it looks like a really great book for somebody that isn't an expert in electronics but would like to read a book and know how to build,repair, or even just understand their own amp. If you want to learn about your amp, I highly recommend this book. If you already know electronics then this is the wrong book for you.

I’m a disabled Electrical Engineer. My career was primarily focused on wireless until an extremely rare joint disease forced me to disability...But being an Engineer, i had started my own company...mostly musical electronics repair, but I decided to start doing some design and construction of tube amplifiers...Being an Engineer, I skipped over the basic electronics section...but I HIGHLY recommend having a good understanding of electronics before trying to build or work on any amps ..Voltages can get quite high and even unplugged amps can be a hazard due to voltage stored in capacitors...This book points this out...I have a library of Amp design books but I reference this book often...Because I know where to find the information I need...It is very well laid out and doesn’t get too heavy on the math...but he does include the most vital equations and how they relate to a tube circuit..The book also covers areas of the circuit surrounding the tube and what changes in capacitance or resistance can do for your tone...This is a keeper!...Always on my bench

This book is as complete an introduction as you can find. It is suitable for readers who have no prerequisite knowledge of electrical engineering and even the mathematics start from a very basic level. Despite that, it tackles the source material in enough depth that one could design and build a Hi-fi amplifier after reading it.Warning: the information in this book is about tube amplifiers in general but the author seems to have more experience with Hi-fi amps than guitar amps. The one guitar amp design the book discusses is an odd one that mixes the clean signal with the distorted signal in parallel rather than running the input through all the tubes in series. The author said that is typical for guitar preamps because people don’t want to hear a 100% distorted sound. As far as I know, none of the major well known guitar amps are designed that way. So if you are really interested in guitar amps this book is a good start but then you will need to read other books to learn material specifically pertaining to guitar amps.

If you just want to know how to make a Tube Amp for any purpose this is the book for you. It does cover introduction into electronics and then goes into specifics behind signal amplification. After that its directly into building simple yet effective amplifiers for practical use. 8 projects total using common tubes still available with source listings for the more difficult to find items such as audio and power transformers which can be purchased online and used for the projects presented in the book. Good Project book and well worth it overall.

I am about halfway into the book and I have found it to be clearer than any of the other books I have bought. It is the only book I have that explains every component in a basic circuit and what it is doing in the circuit. I have a degree in electronics but have never got this deep into amplifiers. This book has bridged a gap for me and given me a better understanding of amplifiers in general and the specific function of each component.

Well written and concise, hobbyist DIY amp builders will learn something here. Supplement with other online video resources to nail down critical concepts and build your confidence to build a great tube amp - great stepping stone for beginner to intermediate level electronics enthusiasts with some amp building experience. Two thumbs up! Basics? Well, perhaps, but plenty of good material here to reinforce what you think you may already know. You know who you are!EDIT: INVEST in this book, learn about tube amp power supplies and tube amplification stages, then actually BUILD an amp... that's where all of the excellent information in this book is intended to take you. Understand the components, the circuits, the building blocks and then build a really great tube amp. This book will actually get you there, if you are willing to put in the work. Worth every penny. Lots of illustrations of key concepts, along with circuits and wiring diagrams of some excellent HIFI and guitar amps. It has become my most trusted reference. Understand it. Build it. Love it!

I've got several books on valve amplifiers and valve electronics in general. I was looking for a more 'hands-on' book which would give me more pointers on practical valve amp construction and refurbishing. I've done a fair bit of work with modern chip-amps and 70's/80's transistor amps but want to start working (safely) with tube amps. Having looked at the samples online and downloaded a kindle sample I decided to give 'Valve Tube Amplifier Basics' a try, so i bought the paperback version.The format is listed as 'paperback' but if you look at the dimensions you'll see that its a large-format paperback around A4 size with very clear text, black-and-white drawing and photographs. The only colour is the front cover. I'm very pleased with the size and format and the clarity of the content, although to be fair it does have a slight self-published 'photocopier' feel about it which i find enjoyably retro old-school.If I was an expert in valve amplifiers (which I'm not) and wanted to pass on my knowledge to a wider audience then this is the book I would write. The diagrams and text are clear and work well together and are pitched at just the right level for the beginner/intermediate. Its also very practical, favouring hands-on advice and construction information rather than theory. Armed with this book and some solid guidelines on electrical safety I now feel confident to have a go at my own valve amp projects.This is also great value. I'm not in a position to compare content with the other texts on valve amps (apart from 'Vacuum Tube Audio' by Whitaker - which I own and would recommend), but similar books covering the same ground are £10-£20 more expensive.

Clarity and brevity of expression are much to be commended in a work on thermionic valves, this does both. Handy for pillaging for ideas as well as for use as a cookbook. In this day and age of USB powered fluff it is nice to see real circuits. But that does bring to mind the one area where I thought this could use a little expansion, from none to a smidgeon: low voltage valves. Handy for guitar pedal pre-amps and innovative ways to fry iPODs alike. A bus powered headphone amp might make a neat introduction to some old-fangled ways for audio newbs.

I have previously read Merlin Blencoes book on PreAmps. Its a little over my head. I have high hopes after a quick scan of this book which gives a lot of space to good explanations that I had not encountered before. Best of all are the projects which I have noticed all go together to make one huge audio command centre...in stereo. I'm very happy with the purchse, the Amazon printing is well done although the front page is a little colour washed out...who even cares? Great stuff for £12.

let down by poor typesetting. Poor choice of font, but at least it was not Comic Sans. Diagrams could do with colour, especially when discussing electrical wiring. Looks like it was written on Microsoft Word!Regardless, this must be the go-to-book for anything Tube Amplifier related.

Little bit disappointed in this book. After reading the preview of this book which promised little math and simple explanation around amplifier building, it is actually full of math equations simple or not, turned out to be a boring read which I personally put to one side and don't read at all.