Fundamentals of tube amp design

[rokali]

I recently bought a WE91-styled amplifier kit so that I could learn about tube amps and in the process build one.

Unfortunately, the instructions for the amp are both incomplete and inaccurate, and they don't explain anything, they just show you what to do. The schematic doesn't match up with either the rest of the instructions or what actually comes in the kit.

I built the amp as best I could, and the finished product has a lot of hum. In order for me to diagnose & fix this hum, I need to learn how the amp works & why.

I've built other kits (from Bottlehead) and I know other types of eletronics well. I've done a fair amount of research but the one thing I can't find is a basic primer on the elements of tube amp.

Does anyone have any links?

And if anyone is in the NYC area, I'd be utterly grateful for some help.

Thanks!

 

[d1camero]

This is for guitar amps, specifically the AX84 P1, but it is a good guide:


http://annex.ax84.com/media/ax84_m35.pdf

 

[dsavitsk]

There is a thread just up from yours called On Line Tube Learning for newbies....

 

[d1camero]

Actually this series of articles is great. It litterally shows how to design an amp from scratch using the tube data sheets. It is in plain language.

http://www.audioxpress.com/resource/audioclass/


d1

 

[TubeHead Johnny]

I recently found this site. Lots of great stuff in pdf format!

http://www.pmillett.com/technical_books_online.htm

 

[Gordy]

http://www.tscm.com/NEETS-v06-Tubes.pdf
http://www.tpub.com/content/neets/14178/

http://www.tubecad.com/articles_2003/Grounded_Cathode_Amplifier/index.html
http://www.tubecad.com


http://www.aikenamps.com/ (go to Tech Info)

 

[ray_moth]

I would recommend the 'Valve Amplifiers' book by Morgan Jones. You can order it from several on-line vendors, including Amazon.com. I know this isn't what you asked for but in the long term it should prove to be very valuable.