The best audio amplifier books - Overview (Google books)

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#21
So apparently the main author of the Unitrode book, Lloyd Dixon:
also slightly famous for singing "Farady's Law" song at seminars.
I don't think this recording is of Lloyd, but probably same words.

Physics Utopia (Faraday's Law Song)

I dig up the weirdest stuff some days...

----

I already bought Bob Cordell's book. The real question now, is will
he sing us the chapter on SPICE modelling?
 
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#22
Recommended books for currently Christmas - until now not mentioned here:

1) "Troubleshooting Analog Circuits" by Bob (Robert Allen/Robert A.) Pease
Troubleshooting Analog Circuits - Robert A. Pease - Google Books
(include read samples)

Overview about this author:
Analog engineering legend Bob Pease killed in car crash - 2011-06-20 17:25:32 | EDN
http://www.elektronik-kompendium.de/public/schaerer/FILES/bob_pease_nachruf.pdf
Remembering Bob Pease | National Semiconductor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Pease
http://www.eeweb.com/spotlight/interview-with-bob-pease

2) "Intuitive analog circuit design" by Marc T. Thompson
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1Tyzjmf0DI8C&source=gbs_similarbooks
http://www.amazon.de/Marc-T.-Thompson/e/B001IR3L0U (German)

Overview about this author:
http://www.thompsonrd.com/CV of Dr Marc Thompson.pdf
http://www.thompsonrd.com/Teaching/teach1.htm

overview similar books
Troubleshooting Analog Circuits - Robert A. Pease - Google Books
http://books.google.de/books/about/...ical_systems.html?id=A-1SAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y
 
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#34
The Art of Electronics: Amazon.co.uk: Paul Horowitz, Winfield Hill: 9780521370950: Books

This is the best £35 GBP ( ABOUT $50 USD ) that I ever spent on an electronics book, I see that they are changing hands for $125 now that the book is out of print! Not surprising really, it explores all areas of electronics with real depth whilst avoiding the need for advanced mathematics.

I want to go into more depth regarding the design of amplifiers, specifically the mechanisms of distortion and how to minimize it, preferably without a lot of advanced mathematics. Any recommendations?

Gordon.
 
#35
Audio Engineering: Know It All: Know It All (Newnes Know It All) eBook: Douglas Self, Ben Duncan, Ian Sinclair, Richard Brice, John Linsley Hood, Andrew Singmin, Don Davis, Eugene Patronis, John Watkinson: Amazon.co.uk: Books

I just remembered, my wife bought me this book for Christmas a couple of years ago, it has a few good chapters on amplifier circuitry, I'll need to look it out.

Also, for beginners and my first amplifier book, purchased at the tender age of 13:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Amplifier-Construction-Bernard-Publishing-Electronics/dp/085934097X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425747609&sr=1-1&keywords=audio+amplifier+construction

There was also a follow up book by the same author:

High Power Audio Amplifier Construction (BP): Amazon.co.uk: R. A. Penfold: 9780859342223: Books

The second book is probably not suited to beginners as it involves higher voltages, currents, power and hence heat dissipation, etc. Potential for serious and costly failures!
 
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#38
Early effect is most easily thought of in a simplified way as the current gain of the transistor increasing somewhat as base-collector voltage increases. Its all about base current and where it goes. Early effect is not linear and the idealized model of the extrapolated Ic vs Vbe curves converging on a single point at -VA is just that - idealized. But it is a helpful approximation for insight. Most importantly, Early Effect should not be confused with quasi-saturation effects at low values of Vce.

Because Early Effect can be seen as a potentially nonlinear change in current gain with changes in Vce, circuits whose small-signal gain is less affected by transistor current gain are less susceptible to distortion from Early Effect. For example, a 2T VAS with some emitter degeneration is far less susceptible to Early Effect distortion than a 1T VAS without emitter degeneration.

A cascode has far less Early effect distortion, but it is not gone completely, since the cascode transistor still has base current that is a function of the Vce of the cascode transistor. Follow the base current! Some circuits can "recycle" the base current of the cascode back to the emitter of the CE stage that lies below, largely reducing the "loss" of that base signal current and further increasing the output impedance of the cascode stage.

The Wilson current mirror is sometimes not all that it is cracked up to be, at least in the discrete world where transistor current gains of the 3 transistors may not be matched as well as they are in an integrated circuit implementation. The Wison current mirror achieves its very high output impedance by cancellation of various base currents in the circuit. Once again, it is based on the "follow the base currents" approach. As such, it will not function as well in the real discrete world when current gains of the devices are not matched.

In a single-ended VAS, Early effect distortion will be mainly manifested as even-order distortion. In a push-pull VAS, Early Effect distortion will typically be lower and more odd-order in nature.

Cheers,
Bob
 
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