I have a copy of the first edition.
I see that its now at 3rd edition - Can anyone advise if it is substantially different - that is, is it worth me buying a new copy?
Thanks,
Ian
I see that its now at 3rd edition - Can anyone advise if it is substantially different - that is, is it worth me buying a new copy?
Thanks,
Ian
I have only seen version 3 having only recently having obtained a copy. From personal discussion with the author, as I understand it there is a fair bit of new material in the 3rd edition. One example is a thorough testing and distortion analysis of the 6SN7 family which was apparently no small effort to complete. The new construction addition made the new book too unwieldly so a separate book was created.
Hi
I would absolutely get the 3rd, even if you have the first.
Lot's of new information in the 3rd edition makes it worth it.
cheers 😉
I would absolutely get the 3rd, even if you have the first.
Lot's of new information in the 3rd edition makes it worth it.
cheers 😉
I'm a bit late to this thread, but perhaps you should try hunting down a copy at a library to see if it will be useful before buying it. That's what I did.
slowmotion said:
Could you say which are these new informations?
I know that, in the third edition, Mr Jones has got rid of the construction section.
He decided to put out a separate tome on amp construction, Building Valve Amplifiers (I have just purchase it 😉 ).
On Amazon I've found a review of Building Valve Amplifiers made by BHD (he is a member of this forum 😉 ) that explain some of the differences between the first edition of Valve Amplifiers and the others:
"....Originally, the author covered amplifier construction techniques in the first edition of Valve Amplifiers, but that volume is now in it's third edition and is over six hundred pages long WITHOUT the construction section. It's understandable that Mr. Jones decided to put out a separate tome on amp construction, since the construction information is as long as the entire first edition of Valve Amplifiers....."
Mark
Morgan Jones, Morgan Jones, Morgan Jones
Probably best to get a copy from the Library first (if you can)
I hope Morgan Jones has developed his thinking since his Electronics World article of 1996 (simply to sell his book at the time) when he systematically screwed up the classic concertina push pull design. The Maths was there but the knowledge wasn't and such things like 22.7k resistors and a wrongly placed dominant pole etc. showed this, as did the raft of criticism and corrective advise that followed.
I also hope that all those that have contributed to the feedback in Electronics World get their share of the profit from the books as well as those of us who publish information and advice freely on the Internet in magazines and on forums like this.
Basically it’s a coffee table book a bit like those Supercar books that any Porsche or Ferrari owner would never have but every Ford Taurus owner has lying around. Both do well for Amazon shareholders
Morgan Jones if you read this (and I’ve put your name again to help you find yourself)
You never answered my question about the mains transformer and choke in the 1996 EW article, I believed they were from a BBC MU/51 and so would have had 6.7V and 5.3V heater windings. I subsequently found out that the transformer has a –10V tap on the input side so you most likely had a 250V winding on 240V ac (UK) which would make the heaters about 2% high.
If the above is the case and in keeping with the breath held buttocks clenched accuracy of the rest of the 1996 article you should have labelled the transformer HT winding as 302.3-0-302.3 Vac. Also as an ex-BBC engineer why did you not keep the capacitor(s) across the choke ? In fact why did you ruin a perfectly serviceable pair of Leak mono blocks to make a worse stereo amplifier ??
So I put down my copy on my glass coffee table and head to the beach in my Suzuki Swift from Andys Rent A Car and say good bye, not good buy because it isn't.
BLUE
Probably best to get a copy from the Library first (if you can)
I hope Morgan Jones has developed his thinking since his Electronics World article of 1996 (simply to sell his book at the time) when he systematically screwed up the classic concertina push pull design. The Maths was there but the knowledge wasn't and such things like 22.7k resistors and a wrongly placed dominant pole etc. showed this, as did the raft of criticism and corrective advise that followed.
I also hope that all those that have contributed to the feedback in Electronics World get their share of the profit from the books as well as those of us who publish information and advice freely on the Internet in magazines and on forums like this.
Basically it’s a coffee table book a bit like those Supercar books that any Porsche or Ferrari owner would never have but every Ford Taurus owner has lying around. Both do well for Amazon shareholders
Morgan Jones if you read this (and I’ve put your name again to help you find yourself)
You never answered my question about the mains transformer and choke in the 1996 EW article, I believed they were from a BBC MU/51 and so would have had 6.7V and 5.3V heater windings. I subsequently found out that the transformer has a –10V tap on the input side so you most likely had a 250V winding on 240V ac (UK) which would make the heaters about 2% high.
If the above is the case and in keeping with the breath held buttocks clenched accuracy of the rest of the 1996 article you should have labelled the transformer HT winding as 302.3-0-302.3 Vac. Also as an ex-BBC engineer why did you not keep the capacitor(s) across the choke ? In fact why did you ruin a perfectly serviceable pair of Leak mono blocks to make a worse stereo amplifier ??
So I put down my copy on my glass coffee table and head to the beach in my Suzuki Swift from Andys Rent A Car and say good bye, not good buy because it isn't.
BLUE
True it was early in the morning but chicory that's the stuff in CAMP coffee isn't it and Batman and Robin quotes.....
I hope this is not a homophobic diversion..... please stand up
Blue
I hope this is not a homophobic diversion..... please stand up
Blue
I've never seen the earlier editions of the book, but you make a good case for the 3rd versus the 1st.
Results
Thanks for all your responses - as a result I bought the third edition and spent the weekend reading it cover to cover. Lots of new information - well worth the money even if you already own a 1st edition as i did.
Cheers,
Gingertube (Ian)
Thanks for all your responses - as a result I bought the third edition and spent the weekend reading it cover to cover. Lots of new information - well worth the money even if you already own a 1st edition as i did.
Cheers,
Gingertube (Ian)
Please somebody that bought this book can tell us if in Morgan Jones' book there is something more or better explained than 4th edition of Radiotron ?
Regards,
Piergiorgio
Regards,
Piergiorgio
I would say that the Radiotron Designer's Handbook is more complete, but harder to read. They appear to be targeted at different audiences.
Valve Amplifiers appears to be intended somewhat as an introduction to audio amplifiers with valves. That being said, the Jones book makes for much nicer reading than RDH4!
Valve Amplifiers appears to be intended somewhat as an introduction to audio amplifiers with valves. That being said, the Jones book makes for much nicer reading than RDH4!
RDH is comprehensive and very valuable, an encyclopedia of tube audio design and theory.
Jones is more nuts-and-bolts, more of a "how do I specifically design xxx."
And Crowhurst's "Understanding Hifi Circuits" does a great job surveying and comparing different circuits.
I own all three and wouldn't be without any of them.
Jones is more nuts-and-bolts, more of a "how do I specifically design xxx."
And Crowhurst's "Understanding Hifi Circuits" does a great job surveying and comparing different circuits.
I own all three and wouldn't be without any of them.
Thanks to all.
It seems to me that, apart from the absolute reference of the Radiotron, the book of Crowhurst is the most valuable.
What about scan it and put it on-line, like Radiotron?
There should be no trouble of copyright and for most people is the only way to find useful information.
Piergiorgio
It seems to me that, apart from the absolute reference of the Radiotron, the book of Crowhurst is the most valuable.
What about scan it and put it on-line, like Radiotron?
There should be no trouble of copyright and for most people is the only way to find useful information.
Piergiorgio
Crowhurst
The copyright is still in force; the book has been reprinted by Audioxpress.
I'm the happy owner of the 1959 edition.
The copyright is still in force; the book has been reprinted by Audioxpress.
I'm the happy owner of the 1959 edition.
A bit off topic but does anyone else have Terman's "Radio Engineering"? Someone picked up a copy of the 1937 edition at a library sell-off and gave it to me as a joke because of my profession. It sat on my shelf for twenty years before I realized what I had. Math intensive but what an amazing compendium of the choke-loaded, transformer-coupled, single-ended circuits so popular again today. Worth a find.
audiousername said:
Whoops. I re-read that and realised I had misunderstood you. RDH4 is online but the Crowhurst book isn't.
Shouldn't post early in the morning...
I upgraded from Jones 1 to Jones 3 and found it worthwhile.... RDH4 is an excellent reference but not nearly as readable.
dave
dave
I'd got the Italian edition of the Terman's book, but in my opinion is less complete than RDH4.
A very good reference for transformer is Lee: electronic transformers and circuit 2nd edition. I wanted to scan it and put online, but now You've scared me about copyright.
There is a lawyer around that can explain us why we cannot
exchange some of the best ancient books?
Copyright is due to Author , I guess, not to the editor, so if somedoby reprints a book like Crowhurst's "Understanding Hifi Circuits" why the copyright should be renewed?
Nothing aginst Jones or all the others modern authors of tube book, but very ofter they simply re-edited these good old book, but with serious mistakes, poor print quality and also some big misunderstanding of the originals.
Piergiorgio
A very good reference for transformer is Lee: electronic transformers and circuit 2nd edition. I wanted to scan it and put online, but now You've scared me about copyright.
There is a lawyer around that can explain us why we cannot
exchange some of the best ancient books?
Copyright is due to Author , I guess, not to the editor, so if somedoby reprints a book like Crowhurst's "Understanding Hifi Circuits" why the copyright should be renewed?
Nothing aginst Jones or all the others modern authors of tube book, but very ofter they simply re-edited these good old book, but with serious mistakes, poor print quality and also some big misunderstanding of the originals.
Piergiorgio
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