Or the second edition is free and public domain, and is as good (or probably better) for a beginner.
https://www.pearl-hifi.com/06_Lit_A...Vol_16/Sec_51/4420_The_Art_of_Electronics.pdf
I have a technical education background and English is my third language, but Bob Cordell's book is easier to understand than many engineering books.
I really do recommend spending the $87 for the 3rd edition. I know it's a lot, but there are a LOT of things that have changed since the late 80s in the world of electronics. Our ways of solving problems often change with the availability of parts.
I hope you are not confusing "free and public domain" with "pirated". I'm not sure that any editions of books like this ever become "free and public domain". They are pirated, just like my first edition was. That is why my second edition will never become available in electronic form, such as Kindle. The first edition was pirated from the Kindle version, as have been many.
Cheers,
Bob
I'm saddened to hear that people have been pirating your work. You deserve every cent that book costs- Like AoE, it's an unbelievable resource and is, IMO, the best power amplifier book around.
You made a good deed to the members of this community not to mention me. Thank you rayma, thank you very much.
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I bought Doug Self's 2nd edition book Audio Power Amplifier Design Handbook, back in year 2001, really at the end of my career as a discrete power amp designer. Great book. Gratifying that a lot of my conclusions were echoed in that book, but frustrating that a lot of things I wished I'd known were finally revealed to me.
I've been an IC designer since then, a lot of that doing class-D audio amplifiers for Texas Instruments. Now I do A to D converters (not for audio) in 28 nm, 16 nm, and 5 nm IC processes. I'm starting to really miss doing power audio, especially class B (or AB as I always called them).
I just bought Doug Self's 6th edition, and it is excellent. Really expands on a lot of information he had in his earlier editions. It is over 7 years old now, but does not seem dated. If you want to know how to make an amplifier with low distortion, "this is the way."
I also just bought Bob Cordell's 2nd edition Designing Audio Power Amplifiers. It is also excellent. It doesn't go into systematically eliminating distortion like Self's book, but it gives an almost exhaustive overview of different ways to design or improve an amplifier. There is a lot of material covered by both books.
Self shows how to get the lowest THD at each stage of an amplifier. Cordell shows several of the different ways designers have done those stages. I could not find anything in Self about instability of triple-EF outputs, but Cordell covered it nicely. I found a way to stabilize them in the 1990s, but Cordell showed how others have done it. I would not have tried a diamond buffer as the 1st stage of my triple-EF except that Bob Cordell showed it in his book.
I like Cordell's extra attention to SPICE simulation and especially modeling devices, but Self is also a huge proponent of SPICE. I'm using Cordell's models from his web-site in my current LTspice simulations.
I went to college for degrees in electrical engineering, because since I was about 13, 44 years ago, I wanted to design audio amps and preamps. After I graduated, I found The Art of Electronics, by Horowitz and Hill. It was the textbook that I always wished I had as an undergrad. A few years ago, I loaned it out, and it didn't come back. My next book purchase will be the 3rd edition.
Finally, I want to mention the 2 best textbooks I ever bought. (These are grad student textbooks.) First is Analysis and Design of Analog Integrated Circuits by Gray, Hurst, Meyer, and Lewis. I have the 4th edition, but also the 1st and 2nd editions. Second is Design of Analog CMOS Integrated Circuits, by Behzad Razavi. 98% of IC design is in CMOS these days, so this book is indispensible. My actual CMOS analog textbook as a grad student was CMOS Analog Circuit Design, by Allen & Holberg, 1st edition. I do not recommend it, but I understand the latest edition is much better.
My goal right now is to build a power amplifier with THD+N so low that an Audio Precision System 2 or 24-bit sound card cannot accurately measure it.
I've been an IC designer since then, a lot of that doing class-D audio amplifiers for Texas Instruments. Now I do A to D converters (not for audio) in 28 nm, 16 nm, and 5 nm IC processes. I'm starting to really miss doing power audio, especially class B (or AB as I always called them).
I just bought Doug Self's 6th edition, and it is excellent. Really expands on a lot of information he had in his earlier editions. It is over 7 years old now, but does not seem dated. If you want to know how to make an amplifier with low distortion, "this is the way."
I also just bought Bob Cordell's 2nd edition Designing Audio Power Amplifiers. It is also excellent. It doesn't go into systematically eliminating distortion like Self's book, but it gives an almost exhaustive overview of different ways to design or improve an amplifier. There is a lot of material covered by both books.
Self shows how to get the lowest THD at each stage of an amplifier. Cordell shows several of the different ways designers have done those stages. I could not find anything in Self about instability of triple-EF outputs, but Cordell covered it nicely. I found a way to stabilize them in the 1990s, but Cordell showed how others have done it. I would not have tried a diamond buffer as the 1st stage of my triple-EF except that Bob Cordell showed it in his book.
I like Cordell's extra attention to SPICE simulation and especially modeling devices, but Self is also a huge proponent of SPICE. I'm using Cordell's models from his web-site in my current LTspice simulations.
I went to college for degrees in electrical engineering, because since I was about 13, 44 years ago, I wanted to design audio amps and preamps. After I graduated, I found The Art of Electronics, by Horowitz and Hill. It was the textbook that I always wished I had as an undergrad. A few years ago, I loaned it out, and it didn't come back. My next book purchase will be the 3rd edition.
Finally, I want to mention the 2 best textbooks I ever bought. (These are grad student textbooks.) First is Analysis and Design of Analog Integrated Circuits by Gray, Hurst, Meyer, and Lewis. I have the 4th edition, but also the 1st and 2nd editions. Second is Design of Analog CMOS Integrated Circuits, by Behzad Razavi. 98% of IC design is in CMOS these days, so this book is indispensible. My actual CMOS analog textbook as a grad student was CMOS Analog Circuit Design, by Allen & Holberg, 1st edition. I do not recommend it, but I understand the latest edition is much better.
My goal right now is to build a power amplifier with THD+N so low that an Audio Precision System 2 or 24-bit sound card cannot accurately measure it.
One thing I like about Cordell's book is that I feel like it covers a wider range of topics than Self's does. Where Self essentially says that MOSFETs don't perform well in output stages, Cordell goes into a good bit of detail on how to get around some of their limitations and exploit their advantages.
IMO, it's best to collect as many of the books as you can. They're expensive, but everyone has a slightly different perspective. I just bought a secondhand copy of Randy Slone's book as well.
IMO, it's best to collect as many of the books as you can. They're expensive, but everyone has a slightly different perspective. I just bought a secondhand copy of Randy Slone's book as well.
I did similar with my latFET-amp and soon reached the limits of my 24bit soundcard (EMU-tracker). Resolution of this class of soundcards (focurite are quite similar) is in the ballpark of 20bits. You may resolve H2:H1 downto 120dB. THD+N is even worse due to ADC noise. At the limits of my lab equipment I stopped further investigations.
This is theft, plain and simple, a ripoff of someone else's work.
I'm sure Pearl would be very upset if someone in the Far East would copy their preamp, but they have the same dishonesty themselves. Double standard.
For me an excellent reason not to purchase anything from them. They're 13 a dozen anyway.
Jan
The rule of this website forbids to poste copyrighted document, indicating where to find is not against any rule. You can find on Americanradiohistory website hundred of thousands copyrighted books magazines, there are a great number of online university libraries, you can access to any published documents all free. The content of this website is copyrighted, How about paying to access it.
Cambridge University Press, not quite the university itself. Their academic titles are expensive because of the high quality and low print runs - most end up in various university libraries, and are expected to last centuries without falling apart or the paper turning brown (hence the absense of paperback edition I guess?).
Its rather annoying because the book would be a best seller in cheap paperback.
This is my understanding that it is public, but I have contacted Winfield Hill and if he answers,
I will post his reply here.
Ray
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There is a difference in posting a link to or posting a file, in this case a file was posted. For as far as I know posting a link to is objectional and should not be allowed by moderation (e.g. DywAudio.com). Posting the file may be punishably by law (depending where your site is hosted and/or local lows), in any case posting the file should not be allowed in any circumstance.
The question is where in the moderator, please clear/explain this issue.
The question is where in the moderator, please clear/explain this issue.
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