• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

Books for Tube nOObies...

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Been working on SS gear for many years, but I would like to venture into the world of tubes. I honestly don't know much about tubes, and the few book which have been recommended to me seem to spend a lot of time on electronic basics (such as how a transformer or a capacitor works). Maybe these are good books, but if half the book is spent on 'teaching' me what a cap does, then there is that much less to go into the workings of the amps.

So...is there by chance a good book available that is suitable for someone who doesn't need at start from ground zero regarding general electronics, yet barely knows what a triode is?
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
There are lots of good online resources, but the 3 books i keep reading over & over are:

Morgan Jones' Valve Amplifiers (a new edition has just shipped -- Morgan says it is twice as thick as my 1st Edition)

Allen Wright's Pre-Amp Cookbook

Bruce Rosenblitz's entry level book (his Audio Reality i also found to be a good read)

dave
 
A free, well written and excellent primer on the most common type of configuration for tubes in audio amps.

Read and understand this before you spend a single dollar on a book (except perhaps the Jones one Dave mentions above). The author, John Broskie, really knows his stuff.

If you're desperate for something tactile, ie hardcopy, there's a pdf you can download and print.

http://www.tubecad.com/articles_2003/Grounded_Cathode_Amplifier/index.html
 
Morgan Jones' Valve Amplifiers ..I have 2nd Edition..it is one of the most useful books I have on valve amp building...

Bruce Rosenblitz's second book I don't care for...I think the first book would have been nicer for me.

Cheers,
Bas

All in all the web is great for learning...cause it is interactive but can be passive as well..If you like...

Try to mail Craig Ryder over at the AA...he is something of a librarian when it comes to online links to learning tube/valve stuff.
 
EchoWars

Welcome aboard!

As one that also spend years on SS gear I can see where you are coming from. Years ago I considered tubes as a long lost art that should have been banished. Please forgive me Frank as I knew not what I was doing. Get ready to re learn all the formulas that you probably haven't used in years.

The Morgan book is good. But probably the best learning process is to read Everything that Frank,Brett,Sy,Bas,Planet, and numerous others have to say.

As you will find out...tubes have a very pleasing sound and once you get past the fact that the distortion is somewhat higher you will accept them with open arms.

They do get hot :hot: unlike the SS gear.


Joe
 
Frank,Brett,Sy,Bas,Planet,

Hi Joe,

My name does not belong in that list. But I do know how to link to people that do! ;)

Anyway you are right about the learning process...reading the tube forums....is a brilliant way of learning plus you actually make friends (and enemies) sometimes......you can really ask anything, like what is a good starter project, where to get parts, and why you need a grid leak resistor...

Cheers,
Bas
 
Forums

Bas Horneman said:

Anyway you are right about the learning process...reading the tube forums....is a brilliant way of learning plus you actually make friends (and enemies) sometimes......you can really ask anything, like what is a good starter project, where to get parts, and why you need a grid leak resistor...

Cheers,
Bas

Hi Joe,
Bas is correct , there are a lot of helpful people out there and you may even bump into our old friend Joel at some point

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?forum=tubediy&n=37268&highlight=farts&r=&session=

:clown:

316a
 
speaker said:
Once you think you've got a handle on everything presented in the books here, get a 4th edition copy of the red book, RCA Radiotron. You'll know the true meaning of head exploding.

speaker

Do you mean the "Radiotron Designer's Handbook", by F. Langford-Smith? :lickface:

I bought it on CD-ROM :cd: from AudioXpress--it's supposed
to be fantastic: huge and extensively cross-indexed. :Present:

I haven't dared put it in my computer yet. :faint:

This is so much fun, it should be illegal.

Best,

George "Tubes--at least they're not crack!" Ferguson

PS I just got the courage to look at it. It is 1474 pages,
and the index is 21 pages. More coffee! ;)
 
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