Hi everyone,
I am starting out learning about electronics with a view to buy and restore non-working vintage audio amplifiers. I am looking for some good book recommendations to help me get started. I don't have a background in electronics or engineering, so some books that start at the beginning and walk through to more complex things would be great. Any thoughts? Be very interested to hear what people have found helpful.
I am starting out learning about electronics with a view to buy and restore non-working vintage audio amplifiers. I am looking for some good book recommendations to help me get started. I don't have a background in electronics or engineering, so some books that start at the beginning and walk through to more complex things would be great. Any thoughts? Be very interested to hear what people have found helpful.
Bob Cordell and Douglas Self are renowned Guru's that have helped many get started, anything by them. However I just looked to see if I could point to a book and the prices are insane now. Designing Audio Circuits and Systems is good and Bobs book on power amps
If you can spot a second hand book by Cordell then grab it. But otherwise hitting the web for articles is the next best bet.
Repairing old Audiolab and Naim amps I had is what got me into building my own from scratch, I had experience in electronics but not really audio circuits but knowing how to use multimeters and soldering skills are important for fault finding and repair, in this case it is finding and replacing parts and checking parameters. The web is full of knowledge specific to the amp and faults you are working on.
Buy one and take a look inside but know that vintage means parts are obsolete, so asking here for recommended replacements is a good idea, knowing what a schematic means can be a huge help.
Before you buy anything maybe check around to see if there is a schematic circuit diagram for the model and any previous experience.
If you can spot a second hand book by Cordell then grab it. But otherwise hitting the web for articles is the next best bet.
Repairing old Audiolab and Naim amps I had is what got me into building my own from scratch, I had experience in electronics but not really audio circuits but knowing how to use multimeters and soldering skills are important for fault finding and repair, in this case it is finding and replacing parts and checking parameters. The web is full of knowledge specific to the amp and faults you are working on.
Buy one and take a look inside but know that vintage means parts are obsolete, so asking here for recommended replacements is a good idea, knowing what a schematic means can be a huge help.
Before you buy anything maybe check around to see if there is a schematic circuit diagram for the model and any previous experience.
Appreciate the amount of effort and thought in your response, thank you! I have already bought two ‘non working’ amps to practice on, only to find out one worked perfectly and the other just needed a fuse changing! I’ve picked up an electronics for dummies book, which looks to give some good basic insight when starting out. Will familiarise myself with many of the basic concepts before moving onto Douglas self
Agreed on Cordell and Self, but they do assume some electronics background. One that may look very advanced (it is) but does start from 0 (the very first section is "voltage, current and resistance") is Horowitz & Hill, "The Art Of Electronics". Agreed too on insane prices though, maybe try second hand and don't worry too much if it's an older edition, especially since you're interested in vintage audio.
Finally, also agreed on web articles, there's a lot of good info out there if you know where to look. Off the top of my head, Rod Elliott's page for example is a gold mine, here's a good starting point: https://sound-au.com/articles/index.htm#begl
Finally, also agreed on web articles, there's a lot of good info out there if you know where to look. Off the top of my head, Rod Elliott's page for example is a gold mine, here's a good starting point: https://sound-au.com/articles/index.htm#begl
I wouldn't start on the topic of audio electronics. That's a specialty, so it should come after learning the fundamentals of electronics.
Best for beginners is the second edition of the Art of Electronics. NOT the third edition.
https://pearl-hifi.com/06_Lit_Archive/02_PEARL_Arch/Vol_16/Sec_51/4420_The_Art_of_Electronics.pdf
https://pearl-hifi.com/06_Lit_Archive/02_PEARL_Arch/Vol_16/Sec_51/4420_The_Art_of_Electronics.pdf
start at your local communnity college. Electronic Devices & Circuit Theory Boylestad & Nashelsky.Obsolete editions with obsolete problems & solutions are $2.
Self & Cordell are fairly advanced IMHO.
Tube amp repair by RJ Keen is basic & useful. Free. www.geofex.com/ampdbug/ampdebug.htm
Ron Elliot amp repair is transistors, but concentrates on bugs you have injected by building it yourself. https://www.sound-au.com/index.html
Self & Cordell are fairly advanced IMHO.
Tube amp repair by RJ Keen is basic & useful. Free. www.geofex.com/ampdbug/ampdebug.htm
Ron Elliot amp repair is transistors, but concentrates on bugs you have injected by building it yourself. https://www.sound-au.com/index.html
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While I'm here, the place online to buy used books that others have already mentioned and that I list below: http://bookfinder.com
I do have books to recommend I don't already see mentioned (and there's PLENTY of electronics books, it can get overwhelming) - "The Encyclopedia of Electronic Circuits" - there's seven or more volumes (I have the first six), each one has hundreds of small circuits including text that describes what each circuit does and how it does it. Not necessarily for a beginner, but each circuit and description fits on one page, so it's not too complicated. I've got several other handbooks of electronic circuits as well, and reading through them has given me many circuit ideas and helped me learn about circuit design.
Here's a couple by a legendary audio writer - older amplifiers don't ten to have op-amps but this is still good to know:
https://www.amazon.com/Op-Amp-Cookbook-3rd-Walter-Jung/dp/0138896011
https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Op-Amp-Applications-Walter-Jung/dp/0672224526
There's this 3-book set, the new price is pretty cheap (but I always look on bookfinder), they're by the author of MAKE: Electronics with I've paged through and can also endorse:
Encyclopedia of Electronic Components (3 book series)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075VJ4Y5...s_s_aps_series_rwt_tpbk&qid=1747459626&sr=8-2
You will want to get many or all of these Engineer's Mini Notebooks by Forest Mims, you can download them from this site, many of us grew up reading these:
https://archive.org/search?query=Engineer's+Mini+notebook
There's also Aaron Lanterman's Youtube channel. It's not a book but you may find it useful and instructive, as he often discusses audio as well as general analog electronics (which in itself is a Good Thing in a world where digital seems to be taking over). He's an EE prof at Georgia Tech (he knew famed audio designer and GT professor Marshall Leach), and since COVID started has put a lot of his class lecture videos on Youtube. As might be expected for the topic, many are heavy on algebra and such.
https://www.youtube.com/@Lantertronics
I do have books to recommend I don't already see mentioned (and there's PLENTY of electronics books, it can get overwhelming) - "The Encyclopedia of Electronic Circuits" - there's seven or more volumes (I have the first six), each one has hundreds of small circuits including text that describes what each circuit does and how it does it. Not necessarily for a beginner, but each circuit and description fits on one page, so it's not too complicated. I've got several other handbooks of electronic circuits as well, and reading through them has given me many circuit ideas and helped me learn about circuit design.
Here's a couple by a legendary audio writer - older amplifiers don't ten to have op-amps but this is still good to know:
https://www.amazon.com/Op-Amp-Cookbook-3rd-Walter-Jung/dp/0138896011
https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Op-Amp-Applications-Walter-Jung/dp/0672224526
There's this 3-book set, the new price is pretty cheap (but I always look on bookfinder), they're by the author of MAKE: Electronics with I've paged through and can also endorse:
Encyclopedia of Electronic Components (3 book series)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075VJ4Y5...s_s_aps_series_rwt_tpbk&qid=1747459626&sr=8-2
You will want to get many or all of these Engineer's Mini Notebooks by Forest Mims, you can download them from this site, many of us grew up reading these:
https://archive.org/search?query=Engineer's+Mini+notebook
There's also Aaron Lanterman's Youtube channel. It's not a book but you may find it useful and instructive, as he often discusses audio as well as general analog electronics (which in itself is a Good Thing in a world where digital seems to be taking over). He's an EE prof at Georgia Tech (he knew famed audio designer and GT professor Marshall Leach), and since COVID started has put a lot of his class lecture videos on Youtube. As might be expected for the topic, many are heavy on algebra and such.
https://www.youtube.com/@Lantertronics