Posted: 7/1/2014 8:12:14 AM EDT
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I'm interested in doing some stuff with circuits to better understand them (taking a course in it) and I figure what's more useful than a guitar amp?
I know there's a lot of kits and schematics out there that I can find, and I'd probably end up doing something already made, but I'm looking for resources to better understand WHY I'm putting things together the way they are. So far, I've found lots and lots and lots of pre-made schematics and nothing that really explains the theory. Anybody have anything helpful? |
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I suggest looking at http://ax84.com web site - they have some good info there, plus helpful forum. I started building guitar amps thanks to that web.
Also if you would like to get more information how the stuff works, check this web site http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/ . Again it has a lot of very useful information, plus for not a lot of money you can get his book with plenty of theory around how guitar amp works. |
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Quoted:
I'm interested in doing some stuff with circuits to better understand them (taking a course in it) and I figure what's more useful than a guitar amp? I know there's a lot of kits and schematics out there that I can find, and I'd probably end up doing something already made, but I'm looking for resources to better understand WHY I'm putting things together the way they are. So far, I've found lots and lots and lots of pre-made schematics and nothing that really explains the theory. Anybody have anything helpful? find a used copy of this: http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz/dp/0521370957 This is the thoroughly revised and updated second edition of the hugely successful The Art of Electronics. Widely accepted as the authoritative text and reference on electronic circuit design, both analog and digital, this book revolutionized the teaching of electronics by emphasizing the methods actually used by circuit designers -- a combination of some basic laws, rules of thumb, and a large bag of tricks. The result is a largely nonmathematical treatment that encourages circuit intuition, brainstorming, and simplified calculations of circuit values and performance. The new Art of Electronics retains the feeling of informality and easy access that helped make the first edition so successful and popular. It is an ideal first textbook on electronics for scientists and engineers and an indispensable reference for anyone, professional or amateur, who works with electronic circuits. honestly, as a EE and tinkerer extraordinaire, this is the single most useful electronics text you will ever find. read the reviews on Amazon and at other sites. i would add this -- electronics is broken down into two major sub-fields: analog and digital. there is a fuzzy area where they crossover, that is for sure. but if you want to get good, really good at analog electronics (including amps) then you should read -- and read a lot. bob pease and jim williams are two authors you should seek out. they died within a week of each other a few years back but those two guys forgot more about analog design than the last two decades of graduating EE's from MIT know now. they published tons of practical info. and with humor as well. jim william's tome on using the meat scale at a local supermarket to select switching power supply inductors is a classic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Pease http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Williams_%28analog_designer%29 http://www.linear.com/designtools/app_notes.php additionally, see if you can find a copy (hard or online) of the National Semiconductor Linear Applications handbook; this is invaluable when learning about how all things analog work. there are tons of app notes in there on amplifiers, and how to do them right. the app note on deciphering amplifier noise specs is very useful in and of itself. https://archive.org/details/NationalSemiconductorLinearApplicationsHandbook1994 moreover, see if you can find a used/abused oscilloscope of some type. for audio projects (up to ~20KHz) you can even use an inexpensive USB-based 'scope dongle, and have the display up on your PC or laptop. it will double as a spectrum analyzer as well, since FFT is just software math. i suggest this because building an amplifier quite often results in an oscillator, and you'll need to see a bit about what is going on before you can figure out what to do about it. many, many monolithic integrated silicon amplifiers are stable when driven into stupid loads and very tolerant of casual board layout -- but don't worry you will eventually find the one amp that oscillates in your end application. it is a rite of passage to have an amp design melt down in front of you due to self-oscillation from parasitic leakage or other maladies. finally, realize that amplifier design is also about a) power supply noise, current, output impedance, dynamic response, etc, and b) thermal management. regarding the former, you can take the best amplifier design using the best parts and completely kill it with a noisy, underpowered, etc power supply. power supplies are where the money is in a good amplifier. big magnetics and big capacitance. open up any nelson pass-designed class A audio amplifier if you want an example. or any mark levinson or krell amp. while you have the covers off, you'll note that an amplifier has to dissipate quite a bit of power internally; dealing with the watts that weren't delivered to the speakers is another design challenge. ar-jedi 
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lol - that's funny Several credible reviews of that book say it is not for beginners and difficult to learn from if you do not have the background (it's light on the analytical methods; questions but no answers, etc). |
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I think what you want to do is not for beginners. Learning basic R/C circuits is one thing, but getting into amplification is a lot farther advanced.
With that said, I don't think you should stop digging for the knowledge you are looking for. The will to learn goes a long way to actually learning. Some people in electronics or engineering school go through the classes and are not thirsty enough for the knowledge and are not successful. |
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Quoted:
I think what you want to do is not for beginners. Learning basic R/C circuits is one thing, but getting into amplification is a lot farther advanced. With that said, I don't think you should stop digging for the knowledge you are looking for. The will to learn goes a long way to actually learning. Some people in electronics or engineering school go through the classes and are not thirsty enough for the knowledge and are not successful. There's a lot of truth in that. It's not just the technical knowledge but also a bunch of specialized equipment is needed. Still, it is probably not the right answer for someone who wants to learn. Audio amplifiers are reasonably easy to understand in terms of circuit functionality - DC power supply, filters, compensation/equalization, amplification, ... You could always break it down and work the "pieces". Perhaps, start with the power supply. There are thermal design issues to be explored. How about getting an old audio amp and its schematic. Then get AR Jedi's recommended book and studying those. Get an oscilloscope and work your way thru it. |
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Quoted:
There's a lot of truth in that. It's not just the technical knowledge but also a bunch of specialized equipment is needed. Still, it is probably not the right answer for someone who wants to learn. Audio amplifiers are reasonably easy to understand in terms of circuit functionality - DC power supply, filters, compensation/equalization, amplification, ... You could always break it down and work the "pieces". Perhaps, start with the power supply. There are thermal design issues to be explored. How about getting an old audio amp and its schematic. Then get AR Jedi's recommended book and studying those. Get an oscilloscope and work your way thru it. Quoted:
Quoted:
I think what you want to do is not for beginners. Learning basic R/C circuits is one thing, but getting into amplification is a lot farther advanced. With that said, I don't think you should stop digging for the knowledge you are looking for. The will to learn goes a long way to actually learning. Some people in electronics or engineering school go through the classes and are not thirsty enough for the knowledge and are not successful. There's a lot of truth in that. It's not just the technical knowledge but also a bunch of specialized equipment is needed. Still, it is probably not the right answer for someone who wants to learn. Audio amplifiers are reasonably easy to understand in terms of circuit functionality - DC power supply, filters, compensation/equalization, amplification, ... You could always break it down and work the "pieces". Perhaps, start with the power supply. There are thermal design issues to be explored. How about getting an old audio amp and its schematic. Then get AR Jedi's recommended book and studying those. Get an oscilloscope and work your way thru it. Maybe I oughta do that. I have this thing called a myDAQ for my circuits course, it has a 2-channel software-based oscilloscope, think that's good enough? |