The best audio amplifier books - Overview (Google books)

Jump to Latest
rayma

rayma

Moderator
Joined 2011
Last edited:
B

Bob Cordell

Member
Joined 2006
cordellaudio.com
I worked with Fred Waldhauer at Bell Labs in the 1970's. He was one of the most brilliant guys I ever worked with. He was a wonderful mentor to me. At the time, he did pioneering work on high-speed digital transmission systems on both coaxial cable and later on the first fiber optic transmission systems. He later went on to be a pioneer in the field of DSP-based hearing aids.

Cheers,
Bob
 
G

Gouthama

Member
Joined 2016
If you are a beginner and has no prior technical education but inclination to learn audio electronics, there are 2 books you must have .

1) Art of electronics by Paul Horowitz, Winfield Hill as many people mentioned before. My rating: very good.

2) Designing audio power amplifiers by Bob Cordell . This is one of the best technical book I read so far. It covers some of the very basic aspects of audio electronics and slowly graduates into more complex subject. Overall presentation is very good. I have no prior technical education but I could clearly understand most of what the author is explaining.

I also glanced over few pages of Doug self's , which also has great reviews , but i could not understand many concepts explained, may be its meant for audience with prior technical education in electronics.

Regards
Goutham
 
B

Bob Cordell

Member
Joined 2006
cordellaudio.com
Gouthama said:
If you are a beginner and has no prior technical education but inclination to learn audio electronics, there are 2 books you must have .

1) Art of electronics by Paul Horowitz, Winfield Hill as many people mentioned before. My rating: very good.

2) Designing audio power amplifiers by Bob Cordell . This is one of the best technical book I read so far. It covers some of the very basic aspects of audio electronics and slowly graduates into more complex subject. Overall presentation is very good. I have no prior technical education but I could clearly understand most of what the author is explaining.

I also glanced over few pages of Doug self's , which also has great reviews , but i could not understand many concepts explained, may be its meant for audience with prior technical education in electronics.

Regards
Goutham
Click to expand...

Hi Goutham,

Thank you for your very, very kind words about my book. You hit the nail on the head of what two of my primary objectives were in writing the book, and it sounds like, in your eyes, I was moderately successful in those two aspects. God willing, the second edition will be out soon, and hopefully it will take those objectives a bit further while bringing some new topics into the mix.

One of the things I have hoped for from the beginning was to get the book into use in some introductory electronics courses in some colleges, perhaps in some 2-year community colleges. I really believe that it is important to get more of the new generation into electronics by getting them interested in the subject in a way that is not overwhelming to them. To draw them in gradually with a topic, audio, that most of them can enjoy and relate to.

My friend, the late Marshall Leach, a professor at Georgia Tech, was very successful in doing this in conjunction with his book, where he got so very many students very much into audio. Some of his courses had labs where students actually built some audio gear, including amplifiers and loudspeakers.

Audio is a great vehicle and a good draw to get younger people into electronics. I think DIYaudio has also been a tremendous help in that regard for those of the younger generation who know about it.

Thank you again for your kind words.

Cheers,
Bob
 
W

Wyre1547

Banned
Joined 2018
Gouthama said:
If you are a beginner and has no prior technical education but inclination to learn audio electronics, there are 2 books you must have .

1) Art of electronics by Paul Horowitz, Winfield Hill as many people mentioned before. My rating: very good.

2) Designing audio power amplifiers by Bob Cordell . This is one of the best technical book I read so far. It covers some of the very basic aspects of audio electronics and slowly graduates into more complex subject. Overall presentation is very good. I have no prior technical education but I could clearly understand most of what the author is explaining.

I also glanced over few pages of Doug self's , which also has great reviews , but i could not understand many concepts explained, may be its meant for audience with prior technical education in electronics.

Regards
Goutham
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing these books. I think they will be very useful for my brother.
 
T

tommydoan84

Member
Joined 2016
Dear Bob,

I went to the Amp Camp 2019 in San Francisco for the first time and got introduced to your book! I bought the 2nd edition. The text flows very well and easy to follow. One of the best books on the audio amplifier design that I have came across.

In fact, I was the one who sit right next to you in the Firehouse. Not sure if you remembered me :)

I found your reply below fascinating in many ways. I was one of the students way back in the days taking Dr. Leach's EE audio class at GaTech. Dr Leach was a great professor. Very soft spoken and approachable. Back then I was not really into DIY Audio that much as I am now and didn't know that Dr. Leach was well known in the Audio DIY community. I remembered going to his office after class for questions and found it very fascinating surrounding by music on his home-brewed Leach amplifier and speakers.

Best regards,
Tom
Bob Cordell said:
Hi Goutham,

Thank you for your very, very kind words about my book. You hit the nail on the head of what two of my primary objectives were in writing the book, and it sounds like, in your eyes, I was moderately successful in those two aspects. God willing, the second edition will be out soon, and hopefully it will take those objectives a bit further while bringing some new topics into the mix.

One of the things I have hoped for from the beginning was to get the book into use in some introductory electronics courses in some colleges, perhaps in some 2-year community colleges. I really believe that it is important to get more of the new generation into electronics by getting them interested in the subject in a way that is not overwhelming to them. To draw them in gradually with a topic, audio, that most of them can enjoy and relate to.

My friend, the late Marshall Leach, a professor at Georgia Tech, was very successful in doing this in conjunction with his book, where he got so very many students very much into audio. Some of his courses had labs where students actually built some audio gear, including amplifiers and loudspeakers.

Audio is a great vehicle and a good draw to get younger people into electronics. I think DIYaudio has also been a tremendous help in that regard for those of the younger generation who know about it.

Thank you again for your kind words.

Cheers,
Bob
Click to expand...
 
B

Bob Cordell

Member
Joined 2006
cordellaudio.com
tommydoan84 said:
Dear Bob,

I went to the Amp Camp 2019 in San Francisco for the first time and got introduced to your book! I bought the 2nd edition. The text flows very well and easy to follow. One of the best books on the audio amplifier design that I have came across.

In fact, I was the one who sit right next to you in the Firehouse. Not sure if you remembered me :)

I found your reply below fascinating in many ways. I was one of the students way back in the days taking Dr. Leach's EE audio class at GaTech. Dr Leach was a great professor. Very soft spoken and approachable. Back then I was not really into DIY Audio that much as I am now and didn't know that Dr. Leach was well known in the Audio DIY community. I remembered going to his office after class for questions and found it very fascinating surrounding by music on his home-brewed Leach amplifier and speakers.

Best regards,
Tom
Click to expand...

Hi Tom,

Thanks for buying my second edition and for your kind words. I enjoyed meeting you at Burning Amp. Attendance there was great this year, and I hope it inspires even more to attend next year. The preamp camp workshop, where attendees were able to build a preamplifier designed by Nelson Pass was a sterling example of how to get people involved in audio and have a tremendously satisfying experience.

I encourage everyone to go to the Linear Systems (linearsystems.com) Youtube website to see the many videos made of the many great presentations.

Cheers,
Bob
 
U

U130421

Disabled Account
Joined 2015
Gouthama said:
If you are a beginner and has no prior technical education but inclination to learn audio electronics, there are 2 books you must have .

1) Art of electronics by [URL="https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Paul+Horowitz&sti
Click to expand...

The 3rd Edition is sold by Cambridge university but at what cost?
It is 1220 pages weighing 2.4kg. A real encyclopedia of electronics to be gifted on father's day.
https://www.cambridge.org/vn/academ...nics-3rd-edition?format=HB&isbn=9780521809269
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom