Valve Amplifiers

Jones takes a very practical yet comprehensive approach to the design of valve amps and preamps. I've built quite a few over the years and was skeptical that I would get much out of this book, yet every chapter had some nuggets in it that either I didn't know or systematized previously unconnected things I did know. Hours and hours of fun. And really well-written. Excellent work, and I've recommended it to everyone I know with an interest in the subject.

Fifteen years ago, tubes (valves to the rest of the world) were not only out of style, they were almost extinct. The same went for vinyl records. But there were always a few people that didn't buy into the new technology, insisting that tube electronics sounded more in step with the music. I heard my first high end tube amp (a Conrad Johnson MV-45) in 1987 and I've been hooked on the sound ever since. Thanks to a series of events that few could have forseen, the DIY tube revolution is in full swing. The fall of Communism and China embracing capitalism opened the flood gates, making more tube types cheaply available than since the mid-sixties. Add the internet with it's flow of information, and the underground DIY audio scene was born. There's an embarassment of riches now available to the amateur Hi-Fi enthusiast, and this volume is one of the best. I've owned the first edition of this book for several years and it's absolutely great. It was a logical step up from my first DIY tube amp book, Bruce Rosenblitt's Beginners Guide to Tube Audio Design (now out of print). The first edition clocked in at 300+ information packed pages, covering everything from the performance of different electronic components used in tube amps, amp and preamp projects to chassis construction and design. When the second edition came out, I decided not to buy it thinking it maybe corrected some errors and had some new projects. Now that I've read the third edition, I have a funny feeling that I've missed out. See, the new edition is over SIX HUNDRED pages long, and that's without the amplifier construction section! The amplifier construction techniques are now covered in Mr. Jones' companion volume, Building Valve Amplifiers, in itself a 300+ page book. What this means is if you include the companion volume, there's THREE TIMES the information than in the first edition, over a thousand pages! Not only is there more, but it's better organized and edited than the first edition. Morgan Jones covers just about every tube related subject, not hesitating to offer his opinions along the way. He doesn't hide his dislike for some current tube audio trends, such as tube power supply regulators and single ended amplifiers. There's a single ended amplifier project in the book, and while it's not a 300B amp project (he rightly says there are enough of those around), he goes through the project with all the thoroughness and care we've come to expect. There are several other projects, including a tube headphone amp, the author's original EL84 amp, a more powerful push-pull amp using 13E1 output tubes, his original "practical pre amplifier" from his first edition, plus a balanced preamp and a new line preamp and phono stage. The wonderful thing about the projects in this book is that the author doesn't just present the schematic and say "build this", he goes through every step from tube and component selection to each design choice along the way. This isn't just a

I give Jones high marks for several reasons:1) Comprehensive coverage of vacuum tube phono (RIAA) preamp design and optimization, the best in or out of print as far as I know;2) Overall organization and breadth;3) Technical explanation at a useful (not excruciatingly hard but not oversimplified) level;4) Readable style.While I am not as committed a believer as Jones is to the supremacy of push-pull amplification, I recommend this book frequently and with enthusiasm.Is it perfect, the best possible book for the tube audio enthusiast ever to be written? No. Is it the best book available? A resounding yes.-j

There are very few young people today that know what a valve amplifier is, let alone having heard one. Most probably think of those humming old radiograms (seen in the movies) in the early days of radio when the valve itself was still undergoing refinement. The modern valve amplifiers give by far the warmest richest sound that can be wished for in an amplifier - and they DO NOT HUM. I am an avid suporter of valve amplifiers. I firmly believe that the transitor to take a valve's place in audio amplifiers has still to be manufactured. This book takes the novice through a wonderful discovery of the valve. This book is notable since it is one of very few current textbooks that goes to the trouble of explaining in relative detail (a full treatment would require several volumes) on how amplifiers work. I am a teacher at a technical college and have found great use for this book in my lectures. In my experience students have a greater understanding of the complexity of the transistor once they fully understand the valve.Enough said on education. What grabbed me is how this book guides one to the actual building of an amplifier - this being my hobby. I think that anyone that has heard a well designed valve amplifier in action and has a little electronic background ought to buy this book and work through it. It is immensly gratifying to design and build one's own valve amplifier. Especially because a valve is far more tolerant to the misuse of a novice designer than any transistor.

I wanted a book that would help someone build a vacuum tube amplifier who understood basic electronics but who had no prior experience with vacuum tubes (or valves as the British call them). This book was the answer to my search. Morgan Jones does a great job with the book. There were some minor (editing?) errors but these were of no great consequence. From the education in the book, I was able to build a single ended monobloc amp for about $500 which sounds a good as some commercial tube amps costing $5000 (my unbiased opinion)