I'm looking for a great comprehensive book about building and repairing tube amps. Something that has great fundamental concepts as well as examples from classic amplifier circuits and to top it some excellent building tips on the whole of the amp as well as individual stages of the circuit. is this too much to ask? looking for something that can answer any of my questions as well tell me things that i don't know that i don't know yet. know what i mean? not introduction web pages written by no name john smith or pdfs on how a tube works. basically a DIY tube amp bible.
thanks.
thanks.
I second SY's response above.
There are also a bunch of resources on the web. Valve Wizard is pretty accessible, though, geared towards guitar amps. The fundamentals are the same, though.
For the theory of how tubes work, look here: Electronics 27
~Tom
There are also a bunch of resources on the web. Valve Wizard is pretty accessible, though, geared towards guitar amps. The fundamentals are the same, though.
For the theory of how tubes work, look here: Electronics 27
~Tom
There is always this page.
http://www.tubebooks.org/technical_books_online.htm
Technical books online
http://www.tubebooks.org/technical_books_online.htm
Technical books online
Apart from Radiotron the rest mentioned are not free so....Free tube books from Pete Milett
oops someone beat me to it.
oops someone beat me to it.
Last edited:
Morgan Jones meets all of your criteria, except perhaps an overview of classic circuits. Maybe the 3rd ed is more comprehensive (I have the 2nd), but he touches on three classic circuits before taking you through the design process of a new one. If you are looking for an in-depth analysis, you'll have to look elsewhere for those. They are not hard to find. If you are looking for in depth analysis of guitar amplifier circuits, I believe there are books covering those as well.
As for everything else you need to build and repair tube amps, you can't go wrong with MJ and the RCA manuals.
As for everything else you need to build and repair tube amps, you can't go wrong with MJ and the RCA manuals.
In the 3rd edition, Morgan did an in-depth analysis of Rogers, Mullard 5-20, and Williamson- as classic as it gets.
A more detailed analysis of output stages would be nice- this is handled very well in Menno Vanderveen's latest book (High End Valve Amplifiers 2), but I'd go for that after working through Jones.
A more detailed analysis of output stages would be nice- this is handled very well in Menno Vanderveen's latest book (High End Valve Amplifiers 2), but I'd go for that after working through Jones.
Not recommended. Full of errors. My favorite was the circuit with a feedback loop around the volume control stage.
Thanks, SY. 
I need to upgrade, but I'm holding out for the 4th ed. He does cover the 5-20 and the Quad 4 in some detail in the 2nd ed, but the Williamson is only discussed briefly. Enough to be convinced that you probably don't want to build one, but not enough to actually go through it. That said, you can figure it out yourself after getting through the rest of the chapter and then going back and analyzing it. Luckily, you can also read the details about the Williamson online from the original 1947 article.
I need to upgrade, but I'm holding out for the 4th ed. He does cover the 5-20 and the Quad 4 in some detail in the 2nd ed, but the Williamson is only discussed briefly. Enough to be convinced that you probably don't want to build one, but not enough to actually go through it. That said, you can figure it out yourself after getting through the rest of the chapter and then going back and analyzing it. Luckily, you can also read the details about the Williamson online from the original 1947 article.
He got off one of the cleverer comparisons: the 5-20 sacrifices linearity for stability; the Williamson sacrifices stability for linearity.
I suspect that a lot of things we've talked about on the forum will find their way into VA4.
I hope so! The 2nd ed doesn't mention FETs at all. If you don't mind a little silicon in the buttery filling, the 5-20 lets you have your cake and eat it too.
I do want the 3rd ed, but it is pricey and doesn't make sense knowing a 4th ed is coming out (I hope some time this year). I also hope the binding is improved. My 2nd ed is holding up well.
Randy Couch wrote an excellent free ebook called Designing Vacuum Tube Amplifiers. It's one of my favourites. It contains a step-by-step tutorial focused on designing amplifiers for jazz guitar which are unique and arguably closer to hi-fi amplifiers than rock guitar amps. Low distortion, but lower bandwidth than hi-fi. It's all relevant, and it's an extremely well thought out book.
This book was a legacy contribution to the DIY community (jazz guitar) by Randy, who is terminally ill with lung cancer. I hope he's hanging in there.
There are a couple links to it on the internet, but Randy had trouble finding a free host for it. Here's one:
http://www.guitarstudio.tv/documents/Designing-V-T-Amplifiers.pdf
Also, there's an accompanying spreadsheet for it that's a bit tough to find on the internet. I have a copy, so if anyone wants it, they can PM me.
..Todd
This book was a legacy contribution to the DIY community (jazz guitar) by Randy, who is terminally ill with lung cancer. I hope he's hanging in there.
There are a couple links to it on the internet, but Randy had trouble finding a free host for it. Here's one:
http://www.guitarstudio.tv/documents/Designing-V-T-Amplifiers.pdf
Also, there's an accompanying spreadsheet for it that's a bit tough to find on the internet. I have a copy, so if anyone wants it, they can PM me.
..Todd
Last edited:
If you can find them, I can highly recommend the 'Philips Technical Library' series.
There are about a dozen books in the series covering everything from RF, audio, transmitting, etc.
Book5 in the series covers audio.
IMO it gives an excellent walk-through on valves and valve amps.
I bought the original Valve Amplifiers book by Morgan Jones when it first came out (from the 1st floor of Foyles in Tottenham Court Road; there was a big pile of them, I nearly fellover, seeing a new book on valve audio for the first-time ever), my copy is a paperback.
Was it ever issued in hard back does anyone know?
There are about a dozen books in the series covering everything from RF, audio, transmitting, etc.
Book5 in the series covers audio.
IMO it gives an excellent walk-through on valves and valve amps.
I bought the original Valve Amplifiers book by Morgan Jones when it first came out (from the 1st floor of Foyles in Tottenham Court Road; there was a big pile of them, I nearly fellover, seeing a new book on valve audio for the first-time ever), my copy is a paperback.
Was it ever issued in hard back does anyone know?
Last edited:
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.