There is a growing number of audio enthusiasts and hobbyists interested in creating their own vacuum tube amplifiers. If one has the necessary technical information, high-quality tube amplifiers can be assembled. Although it is true that accurately calculating electronic circuits can involve complicated formulas, for the electronic hobbyist it is not necessary to perform at the level of an electrical engineer. Circuit calculations in this book use various forms of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Formulas are all solvable using a standard 12-digit calculator (requires a square root key).

Vacuum Tube Amplifier Basics is a book that describes electronic circuits related to vacuum tube operation using a concise format. The book begins with 110 concise reference pages covering technical information that pertains to vacuum tube circuits. The technical sections provide reference material as needed. To see a complete list of the technical reference pages, read the index in the book sample PDF. Extra emphasis is given to the subject of resistance impedance matching of output tube plates to loudspeaker loads. As with all the math in this book, the impedance formulas are basic and solvable with a 12-digit calculator, and calculation examples are provided.

This second edition of the book has much of the original book with the addition of a more detailed example of designing and building a vacuum tube amplifier. The amplifier design example takes you through the steps of fabricating a traditional chassis layout and designing a Class A stereo amplifier (pictured on the book cover).

Project circuits with layout drawings included at the back of the book:

• Line amplifier with adjustable 0 to 25 dB gain

• Turntable preamplifier

• 6V6/6L6 Class A monoblock amplifier

• 30-watt Class AB push-pull monoblock amplifier

• Basic 5-watt guitar amplifier

The 30-watt monoblock amplifier is designed for tube rolling.

Tube rolling: plugging in different tube types of similar operating characteristics.

Book Sample PDF

Format: PDF Document/eBook
ISBN: 979-8-218-61168-2
File size: 30 MB
Price: $12.00 USWho is EJ Jurich?

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Why PDF?
PDF documents are readable on just about any device. Standard eBook reflowable formats scatter content, causing illustrations to be moved away from associated text. PDF content remains fixed, presenting content like a printed book. For technical documents, maintaining a fixed layout is best.

DiyAudio forums post of an amplifier build of the 30-watt monoblock project from the original book and still included in the second edition. You might consider registering with the DiyAudio forums. It is an excellent source of information where you can post questions.

Vacuum Tube Amplifier Basics
Amazon Book Reviews

"Finally, I found it, a book on building tube amplifiers and you do not need an advance degree in Calculus to understand the theory. Very clearly written in plain English and easy to understand."

"INVEST in this book, learn about tube amp power supplies and tube amplification stages, then actually BUILD an amp... that's where all of the excellent information in this book is intended to take you."

"This is a good book for someone who has little knowledge of electric circuits and no knowledge of how tubes do what they do."

"If you just want to know how to make a Tube Amp for any purpose this is the book for you. It does cover introduction into electronics and then goes into specifics behind signal amplification."

"This book is as complete an introduction as you can find. It is suitable for readers who have no prerequisite knowledge of electrical engineering and even the mathematics start from a very basic level."

"Concise and easy to understand... Of course you should have some basic knowledge of electronics to start and then the first section will be an excellent refresher."

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last update 06/06/2025