So, for a while now I have been reading several different books on bass amplifiers, guitar amplifiers, and just simply audio. So far, I've looked at 3 and I'd like to summarise how effective they've been. 2 I just found while googling, the other was recommended.
The first is a book called Self on Audio by Douglas Self. The author has been writing magazine articles on amplifiers and electrical engineering for the past 30 years and I thought that this book could be helpful. However, upon picking this book up, it was far too complex, technical, and mathematical for my skill and knowledge level on the subject of amplifiers. I later found out that this book isn't really aimed at novices, but "dedicated audiophiles who want to gain a more complete understanding of the design issues of a truly great amplifier, or a professional electronic designer seeking to learn more about the art of amplifier design, there's no better place to start than with the 35 classic magazine articles collected together in this book." (One of the review's at the back of the book. All others paraphrase the exact same thing.)
I was rather disappointed with this and so I tried another book.
The first is a book called Self on Audio by Douglas Self. The author has been writing magazine articles on amplifiers and electrical engineering for the past 30 years and I thought that this book could be helpful. However, upon picking this book up, it was far too complex, technical, and mathematical for my skill and knowledge level on the subject of amplifiers. I later found out that this book isn't really aimed at novices, but "dedicated audiophiles who want to gain a more complete understanding of the design issues of a truly great amplifier, or a professional electronic designer seeking to learn more about the art of amplifier design, there's no better place to start than with the 35 classic magazine articles collected together in this book." (One of the review's at the back of the book. All others paraphrase the exact same thing.)
I was rather disappointed with this and so I tried another book.
The next book that I was skimming simultaneously with Self on Audio was Success in Electronics Volume 2 by Tom Duncan. This book was not only easier to tackle for someone of my level, but it was also focused at teaching the basic principles of electronics to novices and beginners alike. The only problem with this book is that it isn't focused on amplifiers or audio devices, just general electronics. This disappointed me because I liked this book far better than the other one. Although helpful, it wasn't exactly what I had been looking for and so after skimming through a few chapters, I gave up to move on to a new one.
The third book was recommended to me by Raphaël Sutcliffe at Sutamps after I traded a few emails to him. It's called Building Valve Amplifiers by Morgan Jones. So far, I have only read/skimmed about 50 pages, but it already is clearly superior to the others because it is focused on the audio, it's written for beginners, and most importantly, it's about the actual construction of amplifiers. It clearly demonstrates to me how to drill holes in sheet metal, how to plan out an amplifier, what equipment and materials to use, ect. I'll have to be sure to fully read the rest of this book if I'm to build a good, working amplifier.
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