Self on Audio

Whether you are a dedicated audiophile who wants to gain a more complete understanding of the design issues behind a truly great amp, or a professional electronic designer seeking to learn more about the art of amplifier design, there can be no better place to start than with the 35 classic magazine articles collected together in this book.

Douglas Self offers a tried and tested method for designing audio amplifiers in a way that improves performance at every point in the circuit where distortion can creep in - without significantly increasing cost. Through the articles in this book, he takes readers through the causes of distortion, measurement techniques, and design solutions to minimise distortion and efficiency. Most of the articles are based round the design of a specific amplifier, making this book especially valuable for anyone considering building a Self amplifier from scratch.

Self is senior designer with a high-end audio manufacturer, as well as a prolific and highly respected writer. His career in audio design is reflected in the articles in this book, originally published in the pages of Electronics World and Wireless World over a 25 year period.

• An audio amp design cookbook, comprising 35 of Douglas Self's definitive audio design articles
• Complete designs for readers to build and adapt
• An anthology of classic designs for electronics enthusiasts, Hi-Fi devotees and professional designers alike

1;Front cover;1 2;Title page;4 3;Copyright page;5 4;Table of contents;6 5;Introduction;9 6;Preamplifiers and related matters;16 6.1;1 Advanced preamplifier design (November 1976);16 6.2;2 High-performance preamplifier (February 1979);28 6.3;3 Precision preamplifier (October 1983);39 6.4;4 Design of moving-coil head amplifiers (December 1987);52 6.5;5 Precision preamplifier 96, Part I (July/August 1996);64 6.6;6 Precision preamplifier 96, Part II (September 1996);82 6.7;7 Overload matters (February 1997);101 6.8;8 A balanced view, Part I (April 1997);105 6.9;9 A balanced view, Part II (May 1997);118 6.10;10 High-quality compressor/limiter (December 1975);132 6.11;11 Inside mixers (April 1991);142 6.12;12 Electronic analogue switching, Part I: CMOS gates (January 2004);157 6.13;13 Electronic analogue switching, Part II: discrete FETs (February 2002);170 7;Power Amplifiers;185 7.1;14 Sound mosfet design (September 1990);185 7.2;15 FETs versus BJTs: the linearity competition (May 1995);196 7.3;16 Distortion in power amplifiers, Part I: the sources of distortion (August 1993);202 7.4;17 Distortion in power amplifiers, Part II: the input stage (September 1993);216 7.5;18 Distortion in power amplifiers, Part III: the voltage-amplifier stage (October 1993);232 7.6;19 Distortion in power amplifiers, Part IV: the power amplifier stages (November 1993);247 7.7;20 Distortion in power amplifiers, Part V: output stages (December 1993);266 7.8;21 Distortion in power amplifiers, Part VI: the remaining distortions (January 1994);280 7.9;22 Distortion in power amplifiers, Part VII: frequency compensation and real designs (February 1994);294 7.10;23 Distortion in power amplifiers, Part VIII: Class A amplifiers (March 1994);309 7.11;24 Power amplifier input currents and their troubles (May 2003);325 7.12;25 Diagnosing distortions (January 1998);333 7.13;26 Trimodal audio power, Part I (June 1995);348 7.14;27 Trimodal audio power, Part II (July 1995);362 7.15;28 Load-invariant audio pow
er (January 1997);378 7.16;29 Common-emitter power amplifiers: a different perception? (July 1994);395 7.17;30 Few compliments for non-complements (September 1995);406 7.18;31 Loudspeaker undercurrents (February 1998);415 7.19;32 Class distinction (March 1999);419 7.20;33 Muting relays (July 1999);436 7.21;34 Cool audio power (August 1999);449 7.22;35 Audio power analysis (December 1999);463 8;Index;478