Build Your Own Af Valve Amplifiers

To many people, the thermionic valve or electron tube is history. However, whether it is nostalgia, interest in the technical parameters, the appeal of a gleaming amplifier chassis with softly glowing valves, respect for the technical know-how of an earlier generation, or perhaps the firm conviction that the sound of a valve cannot be bettered, it is a fact that the valve is making a come-back. The book contains, apart from construction projects for preamplifiers, power amplifiers, and two amplifiers for musical instruments, information on the operation of electron tubes, while the first chapter gives a short history of the valve.

Building Valve Amplifiers is a unique hands-on guide for anyone working with tube audio equipment--as an electronics hobbyist, audiophile or audio engineer. This 2nd Edition builds on the success of the first with technology and technique revisions throughout and, significantly, a major new self-build project, worked through step-by-step, which puts into practice the principles and techniques introduced throughout the book. Particular attention has been paid to answering questions commonly asked by newcomers to the world of the valve, whether audio enthusiasts tackling their first build or more experienced amplifier designers seeking to learn about the design principles and trade-offs of "glass audio." Safety considerations are always to the fore, and the practical side of this book is reinforced by numerous clear illustrations throughout. The only hands-on approach to building valve and tube amps--classic and modern--with a minimum of theory Design, construction, fault-finding, and testing are all illustrated by step-by-step examples, enabling readers to clearly understand the content and succeed in their own projects Includes a complete self-build amplifier project, putting into practice the key techniques introduced throughout the book

Valve Amplifiers has been recognized as the most comprehensive guide to valve amplifier design, analysis, modification and maintenance. It provides a detailed presentation of the rudiments of electronics and valve design for engineers and non-experts. The source also covers design principles and construction techniques to help end users build their own tool from scratch designs that work. The author's approach walks the reader through each step of designing and constructing, starting with an overview of the essential working principles of valve amplifiers, the simple and complex stages, the process of linking the stages, and completing the design. The book is comprised of seven chapters all of which include a DIY guide discussion of practical aspects. The text starts with familiarization of the fundamentals of electronics, which are essential for designing and building valve amplifiers. Particular attention has been paid to providing solutions for questions that are commonly asked and faced by beginners in valve designing and construction. Valve Amplifiers is a masterful hands-on guide for both experts and novices who work with tube audio equipment, and for electronic hobbyists, audio engineers, and audiophiles. The practical guide to analysis, modification, design, construction and maintenance of valve amplifiers The fully up-to-date approach to valve electronics Essential reading for audio designers and music and electronics enthusiasts alike

Designing Power Supplies for Valve Amplifiers is a unique guide to the operation and practical design of linear power supplies, especially for valve equipment. Audiophiles, guitarists and general hobbyists alike will find this book an invaluable source of detailed information on transformers, rectifiers, smoothing, high-voltage series and shunt regulators, and much more. Although this book is not intended for the beginner, learning is encouraged through practical design, and concepts are introduced at a basic level before the reader is accelerated to the stage of high-performance design, with over 200 circuit diagrams and figures. Numerous practical circuits are included, for high-voltage stabilisers, heater regulators, optimised bias circuits, high-voltage supplies using 'junk box' parts, and even audio power control for guitar amplifiers. An essential handbook for any valve amplifier enthusiast!

Explains the whys and wherefores of toroidal output transformers at various technical levels, starting with elementary concepts and culminating in complete mathematical descriptions. In all of this, the interactions of the output valves, transformer and loudspeaker form the central theme. Next come the practical aspects. The schematic diagram of a valve amplifier often appears to be very simple at first glance, but anyone who has built a modern valve amplifier knows that a lot of critical details are hidden behind the apparent simplicity. These are discussed extensively, in connection with designs for amplifiers without output powers ranging from 10 to 100 watts. Finally, the author gives some attention to a number of special valve amplifiers, and to the theory and practice of negative feedback.

How does speech, music, or, indeed, any sound get from the record, the CD or the cassette tape to the loudspeaker? This is a question that many people keep on asking and to which this book endeavours to give a comprehensible answer. Understanding the background of the process is a first requirement, which is why the author in the description of single components makes clear what exactly happens in the component. An understanding is also engendered of phenomena such as noise, hum, distortion, and others, as well as standards such as the decibel and the RIAA characteristic. Designing circuits is practically impossible without an understanding of the various networks involved in the conversion of the input sound to the sound emanating from a loudspeaker. To this end, the author describes four important basic circuits using an operational amplifier, a component without which modern audio circuits can no longer be imagined. Variants of these four circuits return in many of the other circuits contained in this book. Building circuits, including ancillary and special ones, form the practical parts of this book. These circuits can be applied in audio equipment as well as with certain musical instruments. There are preamplifiers, filters, output stages, power supplies, compandors, mixer panels, level meters, bandwidth limiters, headphone amplifiers, playback stages, as well as tips on construction and faultfinding.

This book is a beginner's guide that brings you, from the basic concepts of vacuum tubes, up to the design of a complete integrated push-pull vacuum tube amplifier.This book first introduces the needed principles, to designing and understanding vacuum tube amplifiers. Then, it considers all relevant aspects for designing an integrated push-pull vacuum tube amplifier, including the power supply unit. Finally, a real integrated push-pull vacuum tube amplifier is designed from scratch, using the various concepts discussed in this book.This book makes an extensive use of figures and proposes several practical examples, to design various parts of the circuits and to compute values of the needed components. This significantly contributes to simplify some possibly difficult concepts addressed.The book is structured as follows: Chapter 1: "Introduction" introduces the book itself and gives some suggestions on how to read it.Chapter 2: "Vacuum tube basics" introduces the needed concepts to understand vacuum tubes. This is a very basic introduction needed for the non-initiated. If you already know what vacuum tubes are and how they operate, you can skip this chapter.Chapter 3: "Vacuum tubes as amplifiers" discusses how vacuum tubes can be used to obtain an amplifier. It introduces the concepts of operating conditions, loadline, biasing techniques, and amplifier classes.Chapter 4: "Integrated push-pull vacuum tube amplifier" goes into the details of designing an integrated push-pull vacuum tube amplifier. It discusses the single-ended and push-pull configurations, the various needed stages (power, phase-split, and input stages), and global negative feedback.Chapter 5: "Power supply unit" discusses how to build the power supply unit for a vacuum tube amplifier. It introduces rectifier configurations and filters to reduce voltage ripple, to have a quiet amplifier. It explains how to estimate expected output DC voltage, ripple, and current delivered. It also discusses how to design power supply for the fixed bias circuit and for the filaments of the vacuum tubes.Finally, Chapter 6: "Step by step design of a push-pull tube amplifier" use all needed notions to design an entire integrated push pull vacuum tube amplifiers. It discuss the design of the power stage, the phase-split, and the input stage. It discusses the design of the global negative feedback loop. It also provides the design of the corresponding power supply unit

Vacuum tube fundamental circuit design written for the novice interested in vacuum tube amplifier construction. A brief concise book covering several factors of circuit design including bias requirements, voltage gain requirements and power supply requirements.To help understand circuit operation rather than use traditional schematic drawings pictorial illustrations are used. In several sections circuit operation is demonstrated using illustrations along with a vacuum tube breadboard. Experiments are used to correlate circuit design to actual working circuits.Circuit calculations involving fundamental electronic formulas can be performed using a standard twelve digit calculator. Examples of how to solve calculations are provided. Basic electronic knowledge of voltage, current and ohms law related to vacuum tube circuit design is included where appropriate.The 70+ pages of circuit design contain enough information to design high quality vacuum tube amplifier circuits. The last few pages of the book have related information including how to use sound pressure levels to determine amplifier power required to produce desired loudness.