Audio Power Amplifier Design Handbook, Second Edition [Paperback]

Douglas Self (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 075064527X | ISBN-13: 978-0750645270 | Publication Date: November 15, 1999 | Edition: 2

This is a uniquely detailed and practical text on the design of audio amplifiers. Based on his work in Electronics World and a career at the cutting edge of audio design, Douglas Self has compiled a handbook for professionals and students that provides a clear and practical guide to the state of the art.

This new edition is more comprehensive than ever. Major new and expanded sections include:
Load-invariant power amps
Distortion residuals
Diagnosis of amplifier problems from their appearance
Reactive loads on amplifiers
How to make loudspeakers draw higher currents
The practical side of variable temperature coefficient bias generators


Douglas Self has dedicated himself to demystifying amplifier design and establishing empirical design techniques based on electronic design principles and experimental data. His rigorous and thoroughly practical approach has established him as a leading authority on amplifier design, especially through the pages of Electronics World where he is a regular contributor.


A uniquely comprehensive and practical handbook for professionals.
Scientific electronics based on empirical data.
Written by the Chief Designer of a leading company in this field.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A detailed and practical manual... a clear and practical text on the latest developments... will be useful as a text for teaching as well as a key source for engineers.' Lighting & Sound

Book Description

Renowned audio design guru Douglas Self demystifies the design, analysis and construction of the different classes of audio amplifiers in this classic handbook --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 367 pages
• Publisher: Newnes; 2 edition (November 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075064527X
• ISBN-13: 978-0750645270
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,733,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for power amplifier designers, February 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Audio Power Amplifier Design Handbook (Paperback)

A generally thorough analysis of a much-misunderstood topic. Many writers have produced books and articles on amplifier design, but only a few have explored the topic in a truly scientific fashion. Many writers instead adopt a "cookery" approach, some even citing "ingredients" as the key to a good design (e.g. special capacitors and resistors, silver wire etc.) but with no clear justification except their own (biased?) personal claims of superior sonic performance. As a professional electronics designer and at the same time an audiophile, I suspect many of these designers are using speculation to cover for their lack of clear understanding.

Love him or hate him, Self at least avoids these sort of traps and, refreshingly, confines himself to demonstrable facts. Some of his comments will inevitably be ill-received by the subjective audio community, but his challenge is simple enough: if your approach sounds better, prove it. For example, he recommends we use blind listening tests under properly controlled conditions. Hopefully someone will rise to the challenge and perhaps subjective reviews will gain a better standing.

Some of my design philosophies differ from Self's, and there is certainly no shortage of other opinions out there! But whether or not you end up agreeing 100% with Mr. Self doesn't really matter. Either way, the book remains an excellent tutorial in the nitty gritty of power amplifier design. In particular I found the breakdown of the amplifier into its key stages,and the discussion of how these stages interact, most illuminating.

Study of this book will help amplifier designers of all persuasions in understanding and optimising their work, and I throughly recommend it.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended reading for anyone who wants to design an amp, May 12, 1999

By 

Kevin Maciunas ([e-mail]) (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Audio Power Amplifier Design Handbook (Paperback)

This book is not a "cookbook" approach, but presents well researched and tested approaches. As such it is guaranteed to offend some people (evaluation of design changes and improvements is scientific, as opposed to subjective). Self uses the book to take a shot at much of the patently mumbo-jumbo in high end HiFi, which is entertaining! The book features the "blameless" amplifier and the circuit is given, but it would have been nice for the PCB layout (or a Gerber file..) to be included so that some quick experimentation can be done. The only minus (apart from that) is that there some areas not treated: Nested Differential Feeback loops being one. A very unique book, collecting together a lot of very valuable information.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bipolar Transistor Power Amplifier Bible, July 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Audio Power Amplifier Design Handbook (Paperback)

I can't imagine a better book about push-pull, audio bipolar power amplifiers. Self covers virtually every possible configuration with circuits, notes, simulations and measurements. This book includes an excellent chapter on power, heat and reliability based on many years of design , manufacturing and field service. He is truly an expert in all aspects of this amplifier topology.

He doesn't hide his disdain for MOSFETS, single-ended amplifiers and other "subjectivist" high-end concerns. Contrary to the findings of many others in this field, Self finds Total Harmonic Distortion the only measurement of amplifier quality that matters. He isn't convincing to this reviewer.

A "must have" book for anyone designing audio power amplifiers.