Writing the book....

[bruce egnater]

I guess this is something old guys do after gathering a lifetime of knowledge. You feel like it's time to share. I've always thought about writing an amp related book. What sort of information is difficult to find in other books? What subjects are most useful?

[shoggoth]

There's no great book out there (that I'm aware of) for high gain amp design.

[Randy Magee]

The main problem with most books about amp and building is the organization of the information and a lack of and index...

[John_P_WI]

Switching, more importantly developing the switching logic for channels, output tubes (mixing types), rectifiers etc... Flexibility.

Going beyond the standard 2 and 3 button "Marshall" foot switches.

[Ken Moon]

Power amp design.

It's hard to beat Merlin's preamp book, but I don't think he has any plans to do a similar book for power amps in the near future.

[Phil_S]

Ahem....cough, cough...
http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Power-S ... 0956154514

[xtian]

Ahem....cough, cough...
http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Power-S ... 0956154514

Well, that's power supplies, not power amps. Also, Merlin has disowned his own work, saying there were too many errors, and he wasn't planning to update it.

[The New Steve H]

The book I bought because everyone recommended it is full of errors?

[Ken Moon]

Yeah, he doesn't like his own PS book any more, even though there is still a lot of good stuff in there.

But I was thinking more about power amps.

There are a lot of different preamp designs out there, and plenty of info (including Merlin's excellent preamp book) describing how to design them, but everybody just seems to use one or two power amp designs, when there is much to consider, like what can be done with screen grids, cathode vs. fixed bias, OT selection, zoebel and conjunctive filtering, ultralinear operation, classes of power amps etc etc etc...

[M Fowler]

My favorite amp books are Tino Zottola how to build: In Bruce's case Marshall plexi amps hot rodded with switching and crazy stuff.

[bluefireamps]

There are plenty of books that deal with how tubes and circuits work. What is lacking is information on how to tweak circuits and how they will then sound. Along the same lines would be how layout affects the sound. Info on how the output transformer affects the tone. Primary impedance, inductance, lamination types, etc. I guess a book on the real black art of designing an amp would be helpful. It is an empirical process to be sure, but there are surely some similarities that could apply to many amps.

Dave

[statorvane]

Frankly, one of the more engaging reads I have had wasn't technical, but Ken Bran's posts several years ago on the Yahoo JTM45 group. That really provoked some interesting questions and responses, as Ken provided some insight into building the first JTM-45, working with Pete Townsend, etc.

So I would think a collaboration of amp builders / techs experiences, like your own, Dawk's, and others wrapped into a hard-back book would be a really interesting read. Ken's' posts certainly were. Think of it as a literary edition of "It Might Get Loud". Title it, "Turn That Thing Down!" or something similar.

[talbany]

What is lacking is information on how to tweak circuits and how they will then sound.

This is a VERY subjective topic and very hard to analyze as well as document and display the data.. Most of this is done through empirical testing and trial and error and years of building all kinds of different type amps.. It's also a big part of the art and interpenetration of amp building and many other things..Much of it takes years to obtain and most are very protective of this info..It's like you can follow your grandmothers recipes but it's never quite the same when she makes it in her kitchen..
IMO..after you do it long enough and find your own unique style of building and tweaking amps you can make anything sound good using any number of different parts and combination of parts,and know exactly how it will sound while your building it..Some things you just cannot get out of the books,experience is the only teacher

As far as general amp theory goes my advice there is SO much great info in the RCA Radio Design Handbook (RDH4) written by the founders of tube amps.. It's The Bible!..read it.... Read it again!

Tony

[armillary]

Ahem....cough, cough...
http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Power-S ... 0956154514

Amazon says it's out of print and they have no copies to sell....

[Jana]

+1 talbany