Amplifier projects but not good design: a cookbook May 24, 2004

This is a smaller and more project-oriented version of this author's
earlier book on building solid-state audio amplifiers. The amplifiers
in this book are "plain vanilla" Class B direct-coupled transistor
amplifiers, which will provide reasonable performance for utility or
musical instrument use, but due to the lack of precision-matching of
semiconductors and the "more-is-better" approach to using NFB, these
are not going to compete in sound with Krell or Threshold. It's
delusional to think otherwise.

Rather than a clean sheet of paper engineering effort walking the
reader through all aspects of these designs, this is basically a
presentation of a completed design as "the one true amp". I believe
this author basically cookbooked these himself from works by Hood and
others.

More effort is made in this volume to explain the etching of printed
circuit boards. It's my belief that this is inherently an unpleasant
and messy task and that the PCB era coincided with the near-death of
hobby electronics in the U.S. for precisely that reason: much of the
renaissance in audio hobbyist equipment building is soley due to the
re-popularization of vacuum tube amplifiers built using 1950s
techniques. (No ferric chloride involved.)

Personally, I think this type of amplifier is more effectively bought
than built today, but if what he has is what you want, it will
probably work reasonably well and is at least built from common parts.
Don't delude yourself that these are truly a high-end product: compare
them to mass-production amplifiers costing a little more than the
retail price of all the parts and you won't be disappointed.

In rec.audio.tech Paul wrote:

This is a smaller and more project-oriented version of this author's
earlier book on building solid-state audio amplifiers. The amplifiers
in this book are "plain vanilla" Class B direct-coupled transistor
amplifiers, which will provide reasonable performance for utility or
musical instrument use, but due to the lack of precision-matching of
semiconductors and the "more-is-better" approach to using NFB, these
are not going to compete in sound with Krell or Threshold. It's
delusional to think otherwise.

Care to tell us who the author is? Or what his previous book was? Or
some ordering/pricing/ISBN information for this one?

A nice bonus would be if you gave us some opinions on the previous book--
it sounds more interesting to me!

Colin

In rec.audio.tech Paul wrote:

This is a smaller and more project-oriented version of this author's
earlier book on building solid-state audio amplifiers. The amplifiers
in this book are "plain vanilla" Class B direct-coupled transistor
amplifiers, which will provide reasonable performance for utility or
musical instrument use, but due to the lack of precision-matching of
semiconductors and the "more-is-better" approach to using NFB, these
are not going to compete in sound with Krell or Threshold. It's
delusional to think otherwise.

Care to tell us who the author is? Or what his previous book was? Or
some ordering/pricing/ISBN information for this one?

A nice bonus would be if you gave us some opinions on the previous book--
it sounds more interesting to me!

Colin

In rec.audio.tech Paul wrote:

This is a smaller and more project-oriented version of this author's
earlier book on building solid-state audio amplifiers. The amplifiers
in this book are "plain vanilla" Class B direct-coupled transistor
amplifiers, which will provide reasonable performance for utility or
musical instrument use, but due to the lack of precision-matching of
semiconductors and the "more-is-better" approach to using NFB, these
are not going to compete in sound with Krell or Threshold. It's
delusional to think otherwise.

Care to tell us who the author is? Or what his previous book was? Or
some ordering/pricing/ISBN information for this one?

A nice bonus would be if you gave us some opinions on the previous book--
it sounds more interesting to me!

Colin

(Paul) wrote in message om...
Amplifier projects but not good design: a cookbook May 24, 2004

This is a smaller and more project-oriented version of this author's
earlier book on building solid-state audio amplifiers. The amplifiers
in this book are "plain vanilla" Class B direct-coupled transistor
amplifiers, which will provide reasonable performance for utility or
musical instrument use, but due to the lack of precision-matching of
semiconductors and the "more-is-better" approach to using NFB, these
are not going to compete in sound with Krell or Threshold. It's
delusional to think otherwise.


Is this the putz who insists you:

1. don't need to match output, driver, or any other transistors?

2.want either pure class A or pure class B but nothing in between?
(He goes off on gM doubling without any power/distortion curves to
support his theory or any consideration that the sonic purity of the
lowest audible output, rather than full power, (First Watt Theory)
may be more critical)

(Which is no defense of single ended "hi-fi" amps.We need fidelity at
the lowest and the highest levels, **** Bender.)

(Paul) wrote in message om...
Amplifier projects but not good design: a cookbook May 24, 2004

This is a smaller and more project-oriented version of this author's
earlier book on building solid-state audio amplifiers. The amplifiers
in this book are "plain vanilla" Class B direct-coupled transistor
amplifiers, which will provide reasonable performance for utility or
musical instrument use, but due to the lack of precision-matching of
semiconductors and the "more-is-better" approach to using NFB, these
are not going to compete in sound with Krell or Threshold. It's
delusional to think otherwise.


Is this the putz who insists you:

1. don't need to match output, driver, or any other transistors?

2.want either pure class A or pure class B but nothing in between?
(He goes off on gM doubling without any power/distortion curves to
support his theory or any consideration that the sonic purity of the
lowest audible output, rather than full power, (First Watt Theory)
may be more critical)

(Which is no defense of single ended "hi-fi" amps.We need fidelity at
the lowest and the highest levels, **** Bender.)

(Paul) wrote in message om...
Amplifier projects but not good design: a cookbook May 24, 2004

This is a smaller and more project-oriented version of this author's
earlier book on building solid-state audio amplifiers. The amplifiers
in this book are "plain vanilla" Class B direct-coupled transistor
amplifiers, which will provide reasonable performance for utility or
musical instrument use, but due to the lack of precision-matching of
semiconductors and the "more-is-better" approach to using NFB, these
are not going to compete in sound with Krell or Threshold. It's
delusional to think otherwise.


Is this the putz who insists you:

1. don't need to match output, driver, or any other transistors?

2.want either pure class A or pure class B but nothing in between?
(He goes off on gM doubling without any power/distortion curves to
support his theory or any consideration that the sonic purity of the
lowest audible output, rather than full power, (First Watt Theory)
may be more critical)

(Which is no defense of single ended "hi-fi" amps.We need fidelity at
the lowest and the highest levels, **** Bender.)