Book Review: Examining Fundamental Amplifier Techniques with Electron Tubes, 2nd Edition

Richard Honeycutt reviews the second and more extensive edition of this electronics classic, Fundamental Amplifier Techniques with Electron Tubes. He gives high marks to this massive tome that provides useful information about electron tube technology, including their power supplies, for the design and DIY construction of these electron tube audio amplifiers.

Waves Audio' new Abbey Road Chambers plugin recreates a defining part of Abbey Road Studios' legendary sonic signature – the echo chamber used by Abbey Road’s engineers, to create exciting reverbs, delays and other unique spatial effects on countless classic recordings by the Beatles and beyond. Developed together with Abbey Road Studios, the Chambers plug-ins allows users to explore the Studio Two echo chamber, complete with the original valve Neumann KM53 microphones and Altec 605 speaker, as used on almost every pop recording done at Abbey Road during the ‘60s.

Solid State Logic announced the release of the new SSL Native v6 plug-in bundle. SSL Native V6 plug-ins replace SSL’s acclaimed Duende Native plug-in collection with completely re-written versions. The fundamental audio characteristics of the plug-ins remain unchanged but there have been a range of improvements which include new higher resolution user interfaces, improved Preset management, and expanded purchase and subscription options to suit the needs and pockets of a wider range of users.

Following the publication of its original SE 6C33C amplifier in audioXpress July 2004, Ari Polisois returned with more information on how to further simplify the whole construction and reduce the costs. The results, as the author describes, "combine the advantage(s) of the push-pull (mainly power) to the wonderful character of the SE: sensitivity, smoothness, simplicity, and warmth (due to the 2nd harmonic content, easily tolerated by our ears, as against the third, fifth, seventh, and so on harmonics produced by the push-pull)." This article was originally published in audioXpress, February 2008.

This article from respected author Ari Polisois deals with a single-ended amplifier with enough power to drive even the most difficult speaker systems - delivering 50W per channel. This is a project that quickly became the focus in lots of tube-oriented forums and has inspired long threads and many iterations, including further articles published in audioXpress from the author himself. This article was published in audioXpress, July 2004.

Where do tubes come from? In this article Richard Honeycutt revisits the history of tube electronics, from its early invention to the widespread adoption in radios and television receivers. And because familiarity simplifies tube selection, the article explains where some of the most common tube types can be applied in todays designs on power amplifiers and pre-amplifiers and tube stages. This article was originally published in audioXpress, April 2013 as part of the Hollow-State Electronics monthly column by Richard Honeycutt.

The May edition of audioXpress continues to be a favorite among tube and audio electronics aficionados. For this Glass Audio Special issue, Menno van der Veen, details his fifth 300B-SE amplifier, Patrick Brunner discusses DIY Tube Amp Heat Management, and Gerhard Haas shares what he knows about output transformers for tube amplifiers. We interviewed Jason Stoddard, the heart and mind of Schiit Audio, and Richard Honeycutt compares Tubes, FET, and BJT circuits. Also in this edition, Andy Lewis looks at Back EMF in loudspeakers, and Ron Tipton finds a way to measure the high-frequency content of Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) recordings. Download your May issue now.

In this article, Richard Honeycutt provides a brief description of the main tube types used in audio applications, from triodes to tetrodes and pentodes, describing its uses, features and potential benefits. If you are looking for a quick reference reading about tubes that have been used in audio amplification this article is a great start. This article was originally published in audioXpress, May 2013 as part of the Hollow-State Electronics monthly column by Richard Honeycutt.

Now launched on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, the PLASMA Pedal is an interesting innovation in an area where there's hardly been any for decades. The idea for the PLASMA comes from a young Latvian company, Gamechanger Audio, dedicated to infuse new ideas into the musician market. And the PLASMA is certainly new in the fact that instead of the traditional circuits, it sends continuous high-voltage discharges within a xenon-filled tube. In essence - playing a bolt of electricity!

Reedsburg, Wisconsin-based Sound Devices announced the recent acquisition of Audio Limited, the UK manufacturer and developer of high-performance wireless microphone systems. Audio Ltd., now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sound Devices, will continue to operate out of its Watford, UK offices with Kishore Patel and Lee Stone continuing as managing director and technical director, respectively.