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Whistle Stopper - High-Power Audio Amplifier Construction Manual

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List Price: $34.95
Our Price: $20.61
Your Save: $ 14.34 ( 41% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics
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Average Customer Rating:     

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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 621.3828 EAN: 9780071341196 ISBN: 0071341196 Label: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 476 Publication Date: 1999-05-01 Publisher: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics Studio: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:      Summary: Experienced Audio Engineer wrote this book Comment: Great book. Goes into fine detail on all aspects of audio power amplifier design and construction.
Customer Rating:      Summary: High Power Audio amplifier construction MANUAL? Hmmm Comment: This book, which rested on my bookshelf for 10 years because it consistently repelled me, turned out, after mustering courage to dig into it, to be a reasonable intro of the field to the budding armature but I can only rate the book as informative in the same way that a good quality audio magazine might be with a good selection of sample circuits and art work. With the qualification that the book is intended for the novice it is a good book although it does contain a number of useful nuggets of enlighenment even for the expert. However, my chronic aprehension to read the book was vindicated when the author engaged in belabouring hand-wavy explanations. I can only suppose the author honestly believes basic algebra is beyond most armatures. A book on audio really needs the underpinning of basic circuit theory maths, attempting to write a "manual" without it, like this one, can only disappoint a good majority of technically competent armatures.
I must gripe about the authors use of RMS power when refering to rated power (a time average)as there is NO such thing as RMS power - only average, peak or instantaneous power - the term RMS only applies to volts and amps or other 'linear' quantities. Power is strictly a mean square metric. Usage of RMS power IS unfortunately incorrectly engrained in the jargon but I feel this is no excuse to propagate its usage.
The Electronics Workbench hair-thin line screen dump drawings greatly `encheapen' the book. It seems as if the editors were involved in an ink saving scheme!
Notwithstanding the book is redeemed by including a good selection of designs ( I have no comments on their functionality) but thus relegates itself into the cookbook category. It would have been enlightening had the author included a chapter dealing with first generation SS power amp techniques such the famous Lin OPS and application designs by RCA featured in their 1970s hobby and power applications handbooks. This would have paved the way nicely for a better appreciation of the reasons behind modern power amp topologies which draw heavily on the humble OPAMP paradigm.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Great Book Comment: I bought this book a few years ago and have built 3 of the designs with great success. the L-mosfets are available online at "the company store". As a matter of fact, they sell all of the transistors used in sloan designs. I bought 8 sets. I am listening to one of my amps I built using Sloans design as I type this. I shelved a top of the line Pioneer Elite receiver in favor of one of my DIY amps. It cannot compare.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Some of the circuits simply will not work. Comment: This review is based on the first edition. I do not know whether there are any later editions.
The introduction material is rather derivative of authors like Douglas Self.
However some of the circuits are seriously flawed and simply will not work because the author simply does not understand some basic concepts. For example, the quiescent biasing is undefined and arbitrary in some instances. (This was pointed out to the author several years ago.) For example in figures 10.2, 10.3, 11.10, 11.12, 11.13, 11.14, 12.1 all have the same error; the current through the VAS stage may be anything, so the stage may be biased off, in which case the amplifier will oscillate, or biased on in which case the stage will suffer thermal run-away.
In addition some of the quoted distortion figures are clearly wrong and seem to be based on a spice or similar program output rather than real measurements, which will give quite different values owing to real voltage drops across PCB tracks and non-linear magnetic field feedback etc.
Customer Rating:      Summary: A Great Book Comment: An excellent book if you are interested in building amplifiers, or if you are just interested in learning exactly how they work. My only complaint is that it doesn't have any info on building a power supply for a car amplifier. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Design and build awesome audio amps. Amateur and professional audiophiles alike can now design and construct superior quality amplifiers at a fraction of comparable retail prices with step-by-step instruction from the High-Power audio Amplifier Construction Manual. Randy Slone, professional audio writer and electronics supply marketer, delivers the nuts-and-bolts know-how you need to optimize performance for any audio system--from home entertainment to musical instrument to sound stage. Build a few simple projects or delve into the physics of audio amplifier operation and design. This easy to understand guide walks you through: Building the optimum audio power supply; Audio amplifier power supplies and construction: Amplifier and loudspeaker protection methods; Stability, distortion, and performance; Audio amplifier cookbook designs; Construction techniques; Diagnostic equipment and testing procedures; Output stage configurations, classes, and device types; Crossover distortion physics; Mirror-image input stage topologies.
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