The TAB Guide to Vacuum Tube Audio: Understanding and Building Tube Amps

Book excerpt: Incorporate the "tube sound" into your home audio system Learn how to work with vacuum tubes and construct high-quality audio amplifiers on your workbench with help from this hands-on, do-it-yourself resource. The TAB Guide to Vacuum Tube Audio: Understanding and Building Tube Amps explains tube theory and construction practices for the hobbyist. Seven ready-to-build projects feature step-by-step instructions, detailed schematics, and layout tips. You'll also find out how to tweak the projects, each based on a classic RCA design, for your own custom-built amps. Coverage includes: Principles and operational theory behind vacuum tubes Tube nomenclature, applications, and specifications Circuit layout, connections, and physical construction Finding and selecting the right components for the project Power supplies for vacuum tube circuits Preamplifier and power amplifier circuits Performance measurement Safety, maintenance, and troubleshooting techniques Tips on building your own tube-based system—and having fun in the process This book is intended for hobbyists interested in adding the tube sound to any audio system. (Readers looking for high-performance audiophile books are urged to consider the McGraw-Hill books by Morgan Jones.) Learn more at www.vacuumtubeaudio.info Make Great Stuff! TAB, an imprint of McGraw-Hill Professional, is a leading publisher of DIY technology books for makers, hackers, and electronics hobbyists.