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

Douglas Self has a worldwide reputation as a leading authority on audio amplifier design, but it is perhaps less well known that he has devoted a good deal of study to small-signal circuitry, including many years as the chief design engineer at one of the major mixing console manufacturers, where his achievements included winning a Design Council Award. His rigorous, skeptical, and thoroughly practical approach to design has been applied to the small signal area as well, and some of the results to be found in this book.Senior designer of high-end audio amplifiers and contributor to Electronics World magazine, Douglas has worked with many top audio names, including Cambridge Audio, TAG-McLaren Audio, and Soundcraft Electronics.

1: Advanced preamplifier design2: High-performance preamplifier3: Precision preamplifier4: Design of moving-coil head amplifiers5: Precision preamplifier '96, Part I6: Precision preamplifier '96, Part II7: Overload matters8: A balanced view, Part I9: A balanced view, Part II10: High-quality compressor/limiter11: Inside mixers12: Electronic analogue switching, Part I: CMOS gates13: Electronic analogue switching, Part II: discrete FETsPower Amplifiers14: Sound mosfet design15: FETs versus BJTs: the linearity competition16: Distortion in power amplifiers, Part I: the sources of distortion17: Distortion in power amplifiers, Part II: the input stage18: Distortion in power amplifiers, Part III: the voltage-amplifier stage19: Distortion in power amplifiers, Part IV: the power amplifier stages20: Distortion in power amplifiers, Part V: output stages21: Distortion in power amplifiers, Part VI: the remaining distortions22: Distortion in power amplifiers, Part VII: frequency compensation and real designs23: Distortion in power amplifiers, Part VIII: Class A amplifiers24: Power amplifier input currents and their troubles25: Diagnosing distortions26: Trimodal audio power, Part I27: Trimodal audio power, Part II28: Load-invariant audio power29: Common-emitter power amplifiers: a different perception?30: Few compliments for non-complements31: Loudspeaker undercurrents32: Class distinction33: Muting relays34: Cool audio power35: Audio power analysis