TUBE Documentation (books, links, etc to get some theory about them)

[Renegadrian]

Folks, I have some tubes of various kinds now and a 22921 iron and also some 8 ohm ceiling speakers with a 70v or 100v line iron. I think I actually have everything to make a decent mini amp! but...where to start!? Even already made projects (not counting Ricks' or Sophts') are greek to me...

I guess it would be so helpful to me and to other builders too to have a list of reccomended readings about tubes, may them be links or paper books...I just want to go up one step and understand what I can do or what I do now. Say my experiments with tubes, I go by ear but no theory behind. Figure what mess I can do with little irons! I'd really like to understand what to use or when, how to calculate output impedance and use the proper iron, etc...

[demym]

Adriano, what do you mean by iron ? Transformer maybe ?

Gosh, what an ignorant i am !

[thedefog]

Folks, I have some tubes of various kinds now and a 22921 iron and also some 8 ohm ceiling speakers with a 70v or 100v line iron. I think I actually have everything to make a decent mini amp! but...where to start!? Even already made projects (not counting Ricks' or Sophts') are greek to me...

I guess it would be so helpful to me and to other builders too to have a list of reccomended readings about tubes, may them be links or paper books...I just want to go up one step and understand what I can do or what I do now. Say my experiments with tubes, I go by ear but no theory behind. Figure what mess I can do with little irons! I'd really like to understand what to use or when, how to calculate output impedance and use the proper iron, etc...

Check out the Weber Tube amp forum.
http://www.weberorders.com/forum/index.php

I have no clue what I would have done without the knowledge contained within that place.

[defaced]

Yes, iron is slang for transformers.

Alot of classic tube lit is here.  Don't hurt yourself.  
http://www.pmillett.com/tubebooks/technical_books_online.htm

No slag on this one, but join a forum geared toward tube amps.  Music Electronics Forum has alot of good discussions.  I learned most of what I know from that forum and studying schematics.

[Astronaurt]

I got Merlin Blencowe's book on Tube Pre-amp design for Christmas, and loved it so much I just went and ordered his follow-up on Power Supply design to go with it. He's pretty much the Best source I've found on anything Tube-Amp-design related. You can read a lot of stuff for free on his site:

http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard/

But I'd REALLY strongly suggest the books, which you can also order from there. Right when I get done with my 4 or 5 pedal projects I'm working at right now, (If they EVER get finished ) I'm gonna build a Tube amp.

[panterafanatic]

Googling and downloading .pdfs has worked wonders for me. With the exception of Merlin's preamp book, which helped me understand how the stuff works, I haven't found an all-in-on sorta deal. If you have a specific thing you want to know more theory about, google is awesome. Other than that, I've got a small collection of books from Alibris, which if you're paying 5 bucks per book including having it at your doorstep, it's not a bad thing, even if they aren't all gems. I've got Radiotron's designers handbook, 3rd edition; I've picked through parts of it, looks good; been meaning to buy the 4th edition for sometime.

http://tubedata.tigahost.com/tubedata/
http://www.duncanamps.com/tdsl/tubesearch.php

Those are my typical sources for datasheets. I tend to draw load-lines on print outs. For power amp designing I like Merlin's site. No one really clarified A-AB-B well for me until reading this http://www.aikenamps.com/ClassA.htm

I wanna get Richard Kuehnel's books, but I'm too damn cheap atm.

Some fun links:

http://duncanamps.com/technical/technical.html
http://sound.westhost.com/valves/index.html
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/funwithtubes/
http://www.magnequest.com/tech_article2_voltsecond.htm

Also, pm'd.

[Renegadrian]

Awesome!!! Keep on posting! I need a week off to read everything! Aahahahahahah

[davent]

These Norman Crowhurst classics are geared to HIFi but they'll help get you started. http://www.audioxpress.com/resource/audioclass/index.htm

dave

[a soBer Newt]

I downloaded a RCA tube manual a while back I am not sure where it came from, but there is some great information in it and schematics in the back.

[electrosonic]

Alot of classic tube lit is here.  Don't hurt yourself. 
http://www.pmillett.com/tubebooks/technical_books_online.htm

I second that link, specifically the Norman Crowhurst books available there.

Andrew.

[edvard]

+1 on the RCA books.
I heard the RC-30 book is a classic, somewhat of a "holy grail" of tube data books with helpful circuit examples as well.
Pick up a copy of the RC-30 book here:
http://www.tubebooks.org/tube_data.htm

I also learned quite a lot from the AX-84 project forums, since they're all about diy guitar amps:
http://ax84.com

I'd never seen the pmillet site before... 
Jeez, where have I been?
Thanks!!

[Renegadrian]

http://www.bonavolta.ch/hobby/en/audio/t_bas.htm
http://www.tpub.com/content/neets/14178/

these seem useful too!

[Moddjobbs]

Another great book on vintage tube amp design, repair, and construction, plus a lot of great info on different tubes is (aptly titled  ) The Tube Amp Book by Aspen Pittman.
great stuff, and totally worth checking out!