Fundamental Amplifier Techniques with Electron Tubes

Theory and practice with design methods for self construction

Rudolf Moers • Boek • hardback

• Samenvatting
  Fundamental amplifier techniques with electron tubes
  
  This is not a DIY book with ready-made electron tube amplifier designs which one can copy, paste and eventually edit into a practical construction. No fancy tone control designs and esoteric RIAA filters are included. There are no modifications of high-fidelity tube amplifiers into guitar tube amplifiers. An OTL amplifier is mentioned once, and the use of a soldering iron starts at the end of an electron tube amplifier design.
  
  ‘Fundamental amplifier techniques with electron tubes’ is a text book that comprehensively covers the area of electron tube amplifiers. Because it contains a fair amount of technical jargon and detailed illustrations, the reader does require a knowledge of electronics and mathematics.
  
  The book seeks to address two aspects of technical books that readers appreciate.
  Namely accuracy and a pleasant readability. Those readers interested only in formulae that provide a valid 'recipe' can skip its derivation without compromising the story's readability. These ‘recipes’ are framed at the end of formula derivations, are easy to
  recognize and to apply in practice.
  
  However, there are readers who are not looking for formulae that ‘fall from the sky’ without derivation. To them, a ‘recipe’ without substantiation is unsatisfactory, and the application of the formulae is accepted only when the derivation is clearly described and understood. In this book, formula derivations are presented and proved in an easy-to-follow manner.
  
  Almost all circuits or circuit parts are translated into equivalent circuits which are analyzed using network theory and mathematics. The results of the corresponding formula derivations, which are framed as a ‘recipe’, are put to the test in practice.
  Doing so allows theory to be compared with practice, with circuit behaviors shown in several graphs. This method gives the reader an insight into the operation of several electron tube topologies.
  
  Following on from the introduction in chapter 1, chapter 2 describes the principles of electron emission. Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6 deal with the diode, triode, tetrode and pentode respectively, each of a different construction. They are covered only at mid-frequencies, minus any discussion of distortion and negative feedback. Chapter 7 discusses the limits of audio frequencies, and chapter 8 covers the topics of non-linear distortion and noise. Chapter 9 concerns negative feedback, and chapter 10 describes how to build your own electron tube amplifier. This book does cover a lot of information.
  So it is recommended to use the Table of Contents as a navigational aid.
• Productinformatie
  Fragment : Download Fragment
  Binding : Hardback
  Distributievorm : Boek (print, druk)
  Formaat : 210mm x 297mm
  Aantal pagina's : 922
  Uitgeverij : Rudolf Moers
  ISBN : 9789463451758
  Datum publicatie : 01-2018
  
• Inhoudsopgave
  Voor de inhoudsopgave zie "Fragment".
  
  For the table of contents see "Excerpt".
  
  Pour la table des matières, voir "Extrait".
  
  Für das Inhaltsangabe siehe "Auszug".
• Reviews (8,8 uit 7 reviews)
  Wil je meer weten over hoe reviews worden verzameld? Lees onze uitleg hier.

  
  

  30-01-2023
  Prachtig naslagwerk
  Indrukwekkend naslagwerk. Gedetailleerd en te volgen. Aanrader voor de buizenversterker ontwerper.
  
  

  
  Geplaatst door Robhoe uit Antwerpen , leeftijd 50-59
  Waardeert het boek met een 8 uit 10

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  28-08-2021
  The electron tube amplifier builder\'s bible
  If you happen to be one of those puritan diehards who want to build their own high-quality tube amplifiers, this is the book for you. Or better, call it a bible, with its 900+ pages and 3 kgs of weight! The author Rudolf Moers is clearly a technically skilled experimenter pur sang and has studied and investigated every detail of electron tube behaviour you can possibly think of. This work just has to be the result of a life-long devotion to the electron tube. You will find everything from basic electron emission principles, to characteristics of all known tube types, to detailed tube amplifier design and construction directions including power supplies (for HV and filament) and EMC aspects. There is a good balance between theory (math) and practice (measurements) and the author guides you how to skip those in-depth calculations or sections you might not want or need to know in case your aim is to just build your own amplifier hardware. One thing's for sure: if you want to read and understand the book from beginning to end, you definitely need time and patience. It took me 3 months but it was worth it... What I personally liked very much is the treatment of tubes with more grids, the ideas behind them, when and where to use them and their behaviour in different circuits. Recommended buy for the few that really want to know in detail what they're doing before starting their own DIY electron tube amplifier project.
  
  

     All-encompassing in tube amp design
     English not perfect (like mine..)
  
  Geplaatst door Hans Van Bruggen uit Enschede NL , leeftijd 60-69
  Waardeert het boek met een 8 uit 10

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  15-01-2021
  Excellent
  Wat ik wilde weten
  
  

  
  Geplaatst door Aart uit Gelderland , leeftijd 60-69
  Waardeert het boek met een 8 uit 10

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  31-10-2020
  Complexe materie
  Als je specifiek iets wilt weten, dan kun je dat ook vinden, en met een goede uitleg.
  
  

     Een gebonden boek!
  
  Geplaatst door Paul Schurink uit Nijmegen , leeftijd 60-69
  Waardeert het boek met een 8 uit 10

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  24-08-2019
  Dikke pil over buizentechniek - Een aanrader
  Voor iedereen die zich uitgebreid wil verdiepen in de theorie en de praktijk van LF versterkertechniek met buizen, en geen oud stoffig tweedehands boek wil, is dit een echte aanrader. Het boek bevat meer dan 900 pag. en weegt ruim 2,5 kg. Het behandeld alle buizen die bij LF techniek worden gebruikt, van de diode (voor gelijkrichtschakelingen) via de triode, tetrode naar de pentode. Voorversterker en eindversterker schakelingen komen aan bod. Niet zozeer complete ontwerpen, maar (over het algemeen) schakelingen met één of twee buizen die een bepaalde funktie vervullen, waar het er om gaat dat je leert waarom en hoe het werkt, zodat je daarna zelf je eigen schakelingen kunt opzetten. Waar andere (oudere) boeken soms erg snel gaan, gaat dit boek echt stap voor stap, met voorbeeldschakelingen (die de auteur zelf heeft opgebouwd) en de meetgegevens die er uitgekomen zijn. Het boek is in het Engels, vertaald uit het Nederlands, en dat is soms goed te merken De vertaling is in steenkolen Engels, en dat is een beetje jammer. Het doet geen afbreuk aan de inhoud, maar het verdient echt een betere vertaling. Verder zou het fijn zijn als het in twee delen zou worden gedrukt: 2,5 kg op schoot is echt zwaar. Als afsluiting: Ik heb bewondering voor mensen die zoveel tijd en energie steken in het maken van zo'n specialistisch boek voor wat een kleine markt zal zijn. Het past in het rijtje van boeken als van Rodenhuis, van Engelshoven, Dieleman en Van der Veen. Het krijgt daarom van mij een 9,5!
  
  

     Zeer uitgebreid
     Stap voor stap
     Erg zwaar
     Verdient betere vertaling
  
  Geplaatst door Arjen uit Nederland , leeftijd 50-59
  Waardeert het boek met een 9.5 uit 10

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  28-09-2018
  Examining F.A.T.w.E.T., 2nd Edition
  When Rudolf Moers’ first edition of Fundamental Amplifier Techniques with Electron Tubes was published in 2010, this mammoth volume (822 pages in an 8” × 11” format) only cost about 50 cents/cubic inch. In my review of Moers’ first edition in the April 2012 issue of audioXpress, I stated that the author “presents a 21st-century perspective on the science of hollow-state design as applied to amplifiers and power supplies. Beginning with the principles of electron emission, the book progresses through standard vacuum tube varieties: diodes, triodes, tetrodes, and pentodes, after which it covers such general principles as frequency-dependent behavior, nonlinear distortion, noise, and negative feedback. The book concludes with a chapter on the construction of electron tube amplifiers.” In his second edition (922 pages in an 8.5” × 12” format), which at a price of under 28 cents/cubic inch, the same summary is true. Moers describes the aim of his second edition as being able “to give you useful knowledge about electron tube technology in the application of audio amplifiers, including their power supplies, for the design and DIY construction of these electron tube amplifiers yourself.” In this aim he completely succeeds. The author discusses the physics underlying electron tube operation far more comprehensively than did any of his predecessors. He does this in a way that maximizes presentation of principles while minimizing unnecessary mathematics. In many cases, the physical explanations can be skipped by those whose only interest is design methods. For the reader who does take advantage of the physical explanations, Moers’ inclusion of an eight page listing/definition of mathematical symbols makes the explanations easy to follow. The author assumes that the reader knows basic AC and DC circuit theory and algebra, although the novice can understand the thrust of the explanations even in the absence of these basics. As is often true when reading the works of authors whose native language is not one’s own, the reader must become accustomed to some differences from common American- and British-English terminology. For example, what Americans and Brits call a “common-cathode” or “grounded-cathode” amplifier stage is identified by Moers as a “basic cathode” stage. What we call a “phase splitter” is called a “phase shifter” in this book. But such minor linguistic issues are few and easily handled. The additional 86 pages in the second edition include more extensive coverage of vacuum diodes, incorporating formulae more accurate than the common ones for output voltage of a loaded capacitor-input filter driven by a half- or full-wave rectifier. The chapter on pentodes now contains extensive analysis of David Hafler and Herb Keroes’ ultralinear amplifier circuit (more descriptively named — as Moers reminds us — the “screen grid negative feedback amplifier”). In this analysis, the book clarifies whether the screen-grid tap of the output transformer, variously given as a “40%” or a “43%” tap, is referring to the percentage of primary turns or the percentage of primary impedance. The book then examines the effect on output-stage linearity for both interpretations of the percentage, as well as discussing whether maximizing this linearity also minimizes distortion. He does this using a single-ended model, which can be generalized to predict the behavior of push-pull output stages. The new edition of Fundamental Amplifier Techniques with Electron Tubes concludes with six appendices containing the anode characteristic and dynamic transconductance characteristic curves for the pentodes EL84, EL34 and KT88 in ultralinear mode for several values of the screen-grid tap in percentage of primary turns. As I stated in concluding my review of the first edition, “anyone who wants to go beyond the Heathkit level of tube amplifier understanding owes it to him/herself to buy and study this excellent volume.” To this recommendation, I now add the comment that even if you have the first edition, the new material in the second edition is more than worth the price. For the complete review see: http://www.audioxpress.com/article/book-review-examining-fundamental-amplifier-techniques-with-electron-tubes-2nd-edition
  
  

  
  Geplaatst door Richard A. Honeycutt, Ph.D.
  Waardeert het boek met een 10 uit 10

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  09-05-2018
  Best book regarding electron tubes
  This is really the most complete book about electron tubes I have ever seen. I consider it to be the bible of tubes. I reccommend it to every one who likes to know the ins and outs of this classic but certainly not forgotten technology.
  
  

     Very complete
     Easy to read
  
  Geplaatst door Walter uit Eindhoven , leeftijd 40-49
  Waardeert het boek met een 10 uit 10