Tubes and Circuits

Bought this 2013 as the author had informed me after I emailed him that he would be dealing with parallel tube stages in his next book ie: this one. Well I still did not find sufficient info to help me with my 12ax7 first stage problem in a circa 1997 3 stage pp amp. As a thick film microcircuitry EE, I was sadly up to date, which means out of date for tubes. I put the book away. Now retired I have the time and picked it up again. I saw the reviews blathering about inclusion of basic circuitry ( read the title folks) and, OTL amps (B.R. is a pre eminent OTL tube designer) or lack of PP designs, basic stages and, classic designs and had to laugh. Apparently they had not heard of "Tube Audio Design" by B.R. which does cover these topics. All in all the book contains sufficient information to enhance your knowledge, an OTL design, and a tube tester ! Well done. 1 star off for not covering my 12ax7 question, but between the two books I learned how to figure it out.

I was one of the first persons to buy this book so I have had a lot of time with it. I have been involved in tube electronics for over 40 years and have built kits and modified existing tube preamps and amplifiers but never fully understood how the different components worked with each other or how to size them. This book answered almost all of my questions in a simple straight forward way. One thing about this book, a lot of information is contained in a very few words so every time I reread a section I locate information that I thought he did not cover. Worth every penny.

After reading a favorable review of this book in Vintage Guitar magazine, I ordered a copy to enhance my knowledge of guitar amplifier circuits. Upon arrival I was disappointed to find that my $32+ had purchased a rather thin paperback book a little larger than a Reader's Digest. Then, quite frankly, the text and projects disappointed even more. After a lengthy review of high school physics, the author covers some interesting material (circuits) and then digresses into (for me) less compelling topics such as output-transformerless (OTL) hi-fi amplifiers and several projects that were of absolutely no interest, including the construction of a tube tester.Perhaps an audiophile, in need of a homemade tube tester and interested in the design and construction of OTL audio amplifiers, would find this book to be a valuable asset; but to those, like me, who simply want to know more about traditional tube-amplifiers (with output transformers), its assets were greatly outweighed by its cost. At $12.95 I would have kept it......but at $32+ I returned it for a refund (which did not include postage either way).In conclusion: I strongly suggest that prior to order, you carefully study the overview of contents (available on Amazon), to be sure that this book is really what you're looking for. Even though it was reviewed in magazines like Vintage Guitar, it is primarily focused on rather esoteric OTL hi-fi amps.

The author does a great job of presenting the math of circuits then explaining it in layman’s terms. Big plus is he gives you a few of his own designs. There is enough info to scratch build them. He also sells kits on his website. I would recommend building a kit first before attempting a scratch build though.

This is an odd sort of book; the writing style is a bit on the "conversational" side with a bit of theory sometimes delving deeper than necessary, leaving more questions than answers. If you're the "studious type" the questions raised can be answered, but not in this book. It gives a lot of fundamental information at the beginning, then some tube stuff, ending with designs the author pats himself on the back for (just because the patent office issued a patent doesn't mean the idea is good). I bought this out of curiosity more than needing the theory (I'm a degreed EE and have designed my fair share of tube circuits in the last 25 years). An experienced person might raise an eyebrow a time or two when reading through this, someone starting out will get meaningful use but if serious will out grow this book in no time. The designs presented are okay for conversation but there are so many better approaches to most of what is presented one would do better looking elsewhere for a construction project (and no, I have no desire whatsoever to get into a debate about the merits of the designs one way or the other).

If you know all about electronics, tubes and electricity and only want schematics without to much explanation this book is not for you.If you want to learn, build and know why and how it works this book is for you.I build the 300B and went online too the transcendentsound forum pages for the latest updates and wow do I have a system now.Mr Rozenblit is a no no nonsense engineer who designs reasonable priced equipment which can compete with the best.A must read book and start building.

The author certainly knows what he is talking about, and he explains the basics quiet well. So great for beginners and/or to re-read some basic stuff which has been forgotten since high school :-)On the other hand I often had the feeling that the author is quiet arrogant and not open at all to other concepts and he often does not explain the reason for his choice (example: tube vs solid state rectifiers, there is no engineering information given at all).There are two designs with schematics in the book, both designs of the author and both of them OTL amps. He claims several times that he resolved all issues using OTL amps and that he has a patent (US) on his findings. Even if his findings were true, why does he constantly has to mention it? Furthermore, talking esthetics, the amps he shows in the book are not really nicely made. No transformer covers, no really clean cabling.I have mixed feelings about this book.

....as long as it's a OTL triode one that will require 8 tubes in parallel consuming humongous amounts of energy and heating your entire house in the process, just to drive a speaker to an acceptable level.Joking aside, there are some good parts to the book (notably the part about interpreting tube constants and graphs) but it's mainly a hodgepodge of electrical theory and topics that sometimes go too much in depth and sometimes barely scratch the surface. Then suddenly it's all over and circuits are treated. As I said, the author specialises -via his company- in OTL amplifiers. I'm not a fan but they merit mentioning and it's only normal that a couple of circuit examples are treated. But it's not normal that the same information is not provided for push-pull amplifiers, output transformers, feedback mechanisms....I would not recommend this book, the good parts can be found in open source works such as the Radiotron handbook. Save the money and invest it in more complete and didactic works such as those by Morgan Jones, also available on Amazon.

I never thought I'd have to say this, but it spends TOO long on the fundamentals. Out of 268 pages, 148 cover elementary phyiscs and electronics, starting with stuff like speed, velocity, force, and work. It eventually gets up to a fairly lengthy discussion of the construction of valves, even going on to cathode chemistry and solid state conduction, and the potential distribution inside various valves. Interesting, I suppose, but practically useless.Finally on page 149 he gets to the good stuff -some basic valve circuits, but it's a whistle-stop tour that lasts 55 pages. Power supplies get a whole 7 pages.Then he presents his pride and joy -a couple of OTL projects (although the interior photos look distinctly amateur -all rats nests). Also a simple tube tester is included. I wouldn't dare connect my speakers to one of his OTLs mind you; they have no offset protection at all.Anyway, it's a weird book. It seems like a beginner's physics/electronics book that suddenly has a couple of exotic tube amp circuits bolted on the end! With precious little valve electronics in the book, it certainly is NOT "the most up to date and comprehensive vacuum tube design book currently available."And all his battery symbols are backwards.

I purchased this book when it was originally published, primarily for the excellent circuit designs that the author includes in the latter sections of the book; I am an audiophile who has been building their own amplifiers and loudspeakers for quite a while now and my last two amplifier builds have both been designed by the author and both have delivered truly audiophile performance and great value for money. I plan to build the 300B design from this book shortly.Recently I have been re-reading parts of the book and it is certainly helping to develop my understanding of this technology. I have no formal training or background in electronics and the author's approach and style certainly presents topics in an easily digestible style and manageable chunks. I already own the author's earlier book on valve amplifiers, which is also an excellent introduction to this topic and the titles complement each other well.I recommend both of the author's titles if you want a good grounding in valve amplifier technology and an insight into the designs of one of the world's leading amplifier designers.

Realmente el peor de todos los que he comprado en esta materia. De hecho, el único malo.Más de medio libro explica la física básica de la materia, la del electrón y por fin, a más de medio libro, empieza a hablar de algo parecido a un amplificador a válvulas. casi sin información sobre fuentes de alimentación.... Montajes protegidos intelectualmente, con presumiblemente falta de información sobre los componentes necesarios y, probablemente con algún dato erróneo... No voy a conectar ninguno de mis altavoces a estos esquemas. La mayoría son OTL sin protección... no ha complido en absoluto las expectativas que indicaba.No es en absoluto recomendable, ni para usuarios avanzados ni para principiantes.

It takes a while to get into this book mostly talk about circuits and applications.This one is not for me and above what I expected from author.This takes a lot of understanding in tubes & circuits to get through this one.The book is not written for the Hobbyist who is looking for schematics or wiring diagrams.It gave an insight in the tube and circuits aspect.