Designing Power Supplies for Valve Amplifiers, Second Edition

This is a really great book. The second edition is expanded and improved and to summarise gets my wholehearted recommendation. Unlike e.g. books on SMPS design where cold hard facts and measurements rule, books on audio and especially tube amplifiers (of which I own a very large number) are often high on non-quantifiable opinion. While, if you are even considering using a tube it’s for the ‘magic’ effect they have on the guitar amplifier etc., they still obey the laws of physics so knowing how to design with them and not have a great tone but that only lasts a week before something goes pop is I consider a good thing. Likewise the absence of hum or picking up air traffic control… The book does not disappoint in this respect. It covers subjects like using switching DC heater supply that may seem like the suggestion of a heretic but in all honesty if all you are after is a squeaky clean stable voltage to supply your tube heaters then why not? Analogy, fitting disk brakes to your classic car. You can still enjoy the car with the modern tech without worrying about crashing into stuff quite as much. I’ve worked designing electronics, mostly low noise sub-MHz analogue, over the last 25 years but I think anyone who can cope with well explained discrete component design could understand this book; accessible and easy to read. BTW: I purchased it in full knowledge that the pages may fall out as mentioned in the reviews. I have the others by M.B. and have the glue issue. Never mind and this one is OK so far.

Anyone into valves/tubes should own a copy of this book.

Well I bought this thinking that I knew about power supplies already, but always willing to see if there's somehting I've overlooked. This book is amazing, it's thorough and deals with the principles as well as the practicalities of making power supplies and eliminating noise and and unwanted sagging etc. It looks at HT, Screen, Bias and Heater specifics and is not afraid to use solid state when it's needed (along with tubes). Author compares and contrasts different possible designs with lots of practical wisdom. Really enjoyed the read too, it's highly reccomended.

I have all three of Merlin Blencowe's (aka the Valve Wizard) books, and I've learned more reading them than in the previous three decades of tinkering. This fella knows it all. If you're into designing and building valve kit, look no further.

Very useful

Having spent three fruitless years searching for a copy of the 1st edition, this came like manna from heaven. Building linear power supplies was a large part of my career for more decades than I care to mention, but there's a huge gulf between knowing how to stick bits together, and being able to confidently specify which bits you need, why you need them and any quirks they have. This volume is filling a massive hole in my education... If you're interested in old school electrickery, whether from a builders perspective or just merely curious, this volume covers everything between the mains socket on the wall, to what you're hooking up the PSU to, and all points in between.

Hold on to your butts...probably more detail than the advanced hobbyist needs, but if you need it the detail is there. Like the author states, you may not use the theory but it helps you understand why transformers are used in the way the are. Lots of little gems, like the size of a transformer is directly linked to its VA rating, you can test transformers with another transformer, neutral is connected to earth, etc. Ideal companion to the author's other book on designing tube preamps. Chapters on theory, transformers, chokes, hum, tube heaters, power supply smoothing and more.

This is my second Merlin Blencowe book (the other is "designing preamps") and both are worth every penny. Very nicely thought out. Subjects are well explained with examples... And it touches just about all you need to know (and more). Definitietly highly recommend unless you are already a genius and could write this book yourself.

Alles Bestens. Habe ich leider schon gehabt.

Great book on vacuum tube circuit design. Gets technical enough to do the job without putting me to sleep like a tech manual does. Sections typically have a descriptive portion followed by technical portion with equations etc... I read the descriptive portions to understand what's going on and available, then go back to technical portion as needed.

Un libro veramente interessante anche per chi è del mestiere

Other than a couple spelling error type things, this book is amazing like all of his work.