This is not a coffee table book, but a book amp techs, builders and designers would enjoy. Backbeat books the tube amp book deluxe revised edition. The 11 best home design books that everyone should own. Childlangmuirs lag the fact that there can flow a current at all between cathode. Classic vacuum tube phono stage mm mc tavish design. If you are down with bode plots and circuit diagrams, though, it could serve as a nice introduction to. Singleended classa tube amplifier design and construction. Sep 01, 2009 written for musicians, amp builders, and tube audio enthusiasts, design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers provides a complete yet easytounderstand explanation of how to design, modify, construct, and test tube amps. There is a computer program that comes with this page to help you. Profusely illustrated, the book uses graphic aides and basic algebra and scientific principles to teach you everything you need to know to fully understand tube guitar amp technology.
Nutube amp kit, a vacuum tube in new century rev2 from. How to design valve guitar amplifiers the valve wizard. The first design consideration is the tube s idle current and plate voltage. Books, tutorials, and technology for guitar amplifier circuit design. Already known as the bible of tubes and tube amps, the tube amp book is now even better. There are plenty of graphs to show the effects of different design methods. The monoblock power amplifier provides 52w rms for the sub woofer. The most common tube type in audio amplifiers regardless if it is in power stages or in pre amplifiers is the socalled triode svwp.
This book examines in unprecidented sic detail the inner workings and practical design of small signal stages, volume and tone controls, riaa equalisation, power supplies and more. A very important consideration in attempting to create an amplifier with a natural characteristic is. The first part of the book has a rather indepth treatment of vacuum tube operation, and details of amplifier circuit design. In contrast, designing highfidelity tube preamps is audio centric. Singleended amplifiers tend to be bigger and more expensive than pushpull, but they have a more natural transfer curve. Weve streamlined the marketing process for you so you can make the most out of the amp tools. So with a silverface fender that has been blackfaced, its often the original blackface series parts but with the same layout that led cbs to make the circuit changes, which can result in the same cbsera problems.
Z, fender, gibson, hiwatt, marshall, matchless, mesaboogie, orange, vox, watkins and many others. It was a cold january saturday night in chicago and we had big plans. It is based loosely on a design that appeared in vacuum tube valley issue number 12 a few. We setup directly under one of the pa speakers less than 15. The loudspeaker design cookbook is a very comprehensive book on loudspeaker theory and design. Very few amp techs will replace the exact parts and wires relative to each other, as this amounts to remanufacturing the amp. Books, calculators, and tutorials for guitar amplifier circuit design. Following is a list of must have books for the serious tube amplifier designer. Singleended class a operation is less efficient than pushpull.
Diy audio books and manuals speakers, vacuum tubes. A very important consideration in attempting to create an amplifier with a natural characteristic is the selection of the gain devices. Weve all seen the classic gec amp schematics, but heres the whole book. From the 12ax7s average plate characteristics graph below, i have picked a. It is intended as a companion to design and construction of guitar and bass speaker systems. Amp design solutions is a leading manufacturers in printed circuit board, electronic circuit design and electronic product design for its customers. Features online access to 800 available schematic and.
See all 5 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Tube amplifiers sound different than transistor amplifiers. The radiotron book is a great reference, but it is not very useful unless you already know a good bit about tubes. But the gain does not stop there because both the demands on the output transformer opt and the regulation of the supply gets less. I have been experimenting with this configuration for a while with good results. In a class d amp, the input is compared to a high frequency 100khz ramp waveform. Trioden it thus has three electrodes where two of them called anode and cathode reflects the diode function of the tube according to svwp. From the 12ax7s average plate characteristics graph below, i have picked a relatively linear region as the idle operation point. An approach to audio frequency amplifier design, g. Diy audio books and manuals speakers, vacuum tubes, electronics. Some of them are long out of print, and can only be obtained from used book sellers, although they are occasionally seen for sale on the internet. Written for musicians, amp builders, and tube audio enthusiasts, design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers provides a complete yet easytounderstand explanation of how to design, modify, construct, and test tube amps.
One of my goals in writing this design project was to get students experienced with class b pushpull circuits, which are more challenging to design and build than class a. See all 5 formats and editions hide other formats and. Identify the topology of each transistor stage commonemitter, commoncollector, commonbase, etc. Seventeen amplifier designs ranging from 3 to 1,100 watts are presented, along with tube data and design considerations. Tavish designs classic vacuumtube phono stage is a passivelyequalized, twogainstage design whose basic circuit topology has remained popular for more than 55 years. If you are an amp designer even if you wrote a book yourself or built a few tube amps, or plan to, this book is one you should have. The book comes bundled with some software tools to help with loudspeaker design. Your amplifier design will almost certainly require more than one stage of transistors to properly match the impedance of the microphone to that of the loudspeaker. By employing the use of tube technology and transformer coupling, a musical sounding amplifier is devised taking advantage of 2nd order harmonic distortion and a shortest possible signal path. For a certainty, i am no talented solder slinger, but the excellent instructions provided with the kit made it possible. Aspen pittman, passed away august 10, 2019 from injuries suffered from an automobile crash in southern california the day before.
The 300 beast is a 300b push pull amp that i designed and built several years ago. The quad power amplifier is made up of four tube amplifiers built into one chassis providing 80w rms each for the front r and l speakers and the rear r and l speakers. Designing and building of a triode preamplifier the menu plan tube amplifier components placement and housing it is often a long way from a nice and easy schematic to the final amplifier. The output of the comparator is a pulse width modulate pwm signal where the width of the pulse is the relative to the amplitude of the original signal the pwm signal drives high capacity output devices. That aside, vox has also leveraged the digital expertise of parent company korg to create a new and improved digital preamp using vet virtual element technology to emulate every component inside a real valve amp. Combine the tools on amp to promote shows, singles, and more. Valve amplifiers, third edition morgan jones isbn 9780750656948 the valve amplifiers book is widely recognized as the most complete guide to valve amplifier design, modification, analysis, construction and maintenance written for over 30 years. Keep those filaments lit, design your own vacuum tube audio. Books about guitar amplifier electronics usually focus on individual circuits. The intention of this book is to show the world in as simple manner as possible how tubes work and how to use them for amplifiers. The first design consideration is the tubes idle current and plate voltage. If you want to build a tube amplifier and you dont want to just copy someone elses circuit it might be a good idea to learn how to design it. May 20, 2010 this 7 page chapter on valve amps is centred on understanding the operation of the williamson ultra linear 100 watt valve amp.
The slides are pretty heavy on engineering design terms, but give a good feel for what it takes to construct and tune an audio amplifier using vacuum tube technology. It focuses primarily on the design phase, where decisions must be taken with regard to the purpose and requirements of the amplifier, and it addresses the following questions. New amplifier the spud based on glowing reports from owners of the spud amplifier i decided to try my hand at building this vacuum tube amplifier kit. A bibliography of must have tube electronics books. The stainless steel tube amp is a functioning prototype, but may eventually be put in limited production.
The solution to the above problem may well be the socalled pushpull pp design. Even if you dont design an amp, you will have a better understanding of designs. The ultimate tone series, tonnes of tone, ready set go. This is the first in a multipart series exploring the design of a guitar pedal for amplification and distortion, going all the way from project start to a finished working design and making use of the korg nutube. Gives that legendary warm distortion effect naturally. How do these aspects relate to subjective and objective. This 7 page chapter on valve amps is centred on understanding the operation of the williamson ultra linear 100 watt valve amp. The difference in building a 200w amp being a beefier power supply but in concept the same supply, a beefier output transformer wired exacty as you would a 50w, and the fact that the pushpull power amp has multiple tubes in parallel instead of just one tube for each side. If you are down with bode plots and circuit diagrams, though, it could serve as a nice introduction to building a class ab amplifier circuit.
There is also a handy design template at the back of the book, which provides a stepbystep guide to dreaming up and sketching out design plans. This deluxe revised edition contains 40% new material, with a comprehensive az section covering all the great tube amp manufacturers, with histories, photos and information. Get money off my book at, find todays voucher code on the lulu home page. This book, in print from 2008 until 2020, has been updated, expanded, reorganized, and replaced by guitar amplifier electronics.
Keep those filaments lit, design your own vacuum tube. Are the new tube amplifiers better than digital ones. A 200w amp will really only be marginally more difficult than a 50w amp. Glowka is a graduate of the industrial design department at the academy of fine arts in. Vacuum tube circuit design guitar amplifier power amps. Chapter 1 introduces basic audio engineering concepts used in tube amps, which are used throughout the book. Abstractthe design and construction of a singleended classa amplifier is presented. Similar equations have been developed in other books, but the presentation here emphasizes material required for speedy op amp design.
Apr 29, 2011 the stainless steel tube amp is a functioning prototype, but may eventually be put in limited production. Pittmans the tube amp book has sold more than 140,000 copies worldwide which is a strong testament on the value of this book. Oct 27, 2017 design of a korg nutube amplifier part 1. Jun 04, 2014 it was a cold january saturday night in chicago and we had big plans. Electronic circuit designelectronic product design. Tube amp design wikibooks, open books for an open world. Valve and electronics department, 1957, 126 pages thanks to eric santanen. Lots of good schematics, primarily fenderoriented, but some other amps as.
Mar 11, 2008 very few amp techs will replace the exact parts and wires relative to each other, as this amounts to remanufacturing the amp. Design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers provides a complete yet easytounderstand explanation of how to design, modify, construct, and test tube amps. Preamp 55 db power amp 70 db preamp 58db power amp 81db preamp 55 db power amp 70 db integrated 55 db 1. Each circuit is presented as a definitionbyexample. They include stepbystep instructions, like a recipe, with formulas enabling you to adapt the circuit to meet your design goals. Question 4 explain how you plan to test for and eliminate if necessary any crossover distortion from your amplifier circuit. How to start a singleended design most audiophiles fall into two groups. Campaigns makes it easy for you to utilize multiple amp tools at once in order to optimally support your new music and career on pandora. The vt100x preamp features a real 12ax7 valve for authentic drive and distortion effects, so its a hybrid design.
My design is a single gain stage triode tube with cathode follower. With this solution you may double the output power with very few extra components except another tube, that is. A bibliography of must have tube electronics books aiken amps. If you want a decent amp that gives the warm vacuum sound but want a small and low power package system get this thing. The artist group avoids math, algorithms, and detailed procedures whenever possible, preferring to follow their instincts and subconscious whims. Pre amp 55 db power amp 70 db pre amp 58db power amp 81db pre amp 55 db power amp 70 db integrated 55 db 1. With easytoread explanations, minimal math and over 250 diagrams and figures, it is the essential handbook for any tube amp enthusiast.