books about amps

[openport]

Hi

i am new to this forum and to making electronic things.
i have done some constructors(first one was fun, next one was boring. its just soldering.. ) and repaired some amplifiers.
so i can solder mostly anything.. but i want to go a step further and design my own amplifier.

therefore my question:
can you tell me any good books that take me thru each step so a novice like me can understand.
i am mostly interested in car amps (12V) and class D amps. i study physics, so i think i can handle more complicated books as well.
i understand the principles behind any amp, but i don't know that much about designing them.

books, materials etc. anything that helps.

Thanks

 

[wakibaki]

As far as downloads are concerned the Radiotron Designers Handbook 3rd & 4th editions are both worth having (RDH3.pdf, RDH4.pdf), old stuff (valves, tubes), but a lot of stuff in there is basic, and doesn't go out of date. You can get it as a bittorrent.

Then you should have 'The Art of Electronics' by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill, ISBN 0-521-37095-7 which is not amplifiers, although it contains some stuff about them, but it will stop you going wrong in most areas and it is modern, reliable and highly though of.

If you're a modern valve guy, you want Morgan Jones' 'Valve Amplifiers' ISBN 0-7506-5694-8. If SS, then Douglas Self's 'Audio Power Amplifier Design Handbook' ISBN 0-7506-8072-5, although it's a bit hard going for a beginner. Perhaps somebody can recommend something more basic.

You probably want 'The Loudspeaker Design Cookbook', Vance Dickason, ISBN 0-9624-191-7-6.

As far as amplifier basics is concerned, online you can go to Rod Elliott's site, ESP Amplifier Basics - How Audio Amps Work. Although it says 'basics' there's a wealth of knowledge about audio in dozens of sections to which you've now got an entry point.

w

 

[openport]

Thanks!
thats just what i was looking for..
the basic first, then the more complicated stuff.

ill try to find the books.
also i hope i can get some from the library as well.

 

[openport]

ok, i got some books from the library..
and they are not exactly what you can call bedtime reading i suppose

i got:
'The Art of Electronics' by Paul Horowitz and
Morgan Jones 'Valve Amplifiers'
also i got:
"Switchmode RF Power Amplifiers" by Andrei Grebennikov and Nathan O. Sokal and
"Electronic circuts handbook" 2. edition by Michael Tooley


now is there a specific book for D-class amps that i should have? a cookbook stile one maybe?

and i found tons on books about amps and whatnot. tho i couldn't find one about D-class amps specifically..

 

[osscar]

Hello,

My favorite books:

1. Designing Audio Power Amplifiers - B.Cordell

2. Introduction to Electacoustics and Audio Amplifer Design -W.M. Leach (new edition !)

3. Audio Power Amplifier Design Handbook - D.Self

4. High-Power Audio Amplifier Construction Manual - G.Randy Slone

5. The Audiophile's Project Sourcebook - G.Randy Slone

ANd of course M.Jones books about Valves and new book from D.Self - small signal audio design.
and of course print articles from Pass labs and first watt.

good luck!

 

[Speedskater]

In general Class "D" amplifier circuits are more technical than tube or solid state Class A/B circuits. So more studying and a deeper understanding will be required.

 

[RevoliAgain]

Useful thread, does anyone have any other online recommendations for a complete novice - I have built stuff from kits but would really like to start understanding exactly what us going on and how not to electrocute myself.

 

[Speedskater]

Probably the one book anyone trying to learn anything about electronics needs is:
"The Art of Electronics" by Horowitz & Hill
It won't teach you how to design (or even build) an amplifier. But when you wonder how any circuit (big or small) works it has the answer.

 

[openport]

i have to agree..
i have been studying "the art of electronics" for some time now and it really does clear how electronics work..
great book. it takes time tho.. i average about 10-max 15 pages an hour when not just reading but learning.
so an average of 2 hours per day thats 50 days.
tho it doesn't teach how not to get electrocuted.

 

[heinz1]

A few - hopefully useful - links

- very basic stuff:

This site will help you to understand basic electronics and some electronic devices. It will, of course, also touch on car audio acoustics and car audio equipment. To make the lessons as painless as possible, you'll find hundreds of diagrams and pictures, .wav files and more than 50 javascript calculators on the 125+ individual web pages. If you make even a modest effort, you'll learn more about car audio electronics than you ever thought possible.

Basic Car Audio Electronics

- Site with links to tutorials - both covering both theoretical & practical aspects

ePanorama.net - Links

- Site containing scans (as .pdf-files) of out of print books whose copyright expired. Among tons of other stuff, you'll find the "Radiotron Designers Handbook" (3rd & 4th editions) recommended by @wakibaki there.

Preserving the Knowledge of the Ancients?

I've found that most of the technical books published before about 1964 never had their copyrights renewed, so now are in the public domain. So I am endeavoring to digitize and post some selected books relating to the "vacuum tube age" of electronics here.

tubebooks.org - Vintage info from the age of vacuum tubes

 

[RevoliAgain]

The art of electronics is available as ebook. I shall start there. Thanks.