I built two ACA's this winter and am considering taking on a more ambitious build that includes it's own power supply next winter, like a J5 or J6
But I would like to better understand what actually is going on in the amplifier circuits. I have no formal electronics training. I know the basics of electricity and circuits but struggle to really understand what is happening when I look at a simple amp schematic. My questions include basic stuff like how the audio signal is carried on the current flowing through the circuit. Voltage fluctuation? Current fluctuation? How to conceptualize the changes of current and voltage and the interaction with resistors, capacitors and transistors. Does part of the amp have AC current or is it all DC. Stuff like that.
You can see I kind of need to be taken by the hand and taught some basics.I have found some good stuff on the web like https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/ and How Amplifiers Work | HowStuffWorks , but perhaps there are better resources that the experienced folks on this site would know.
While I'm at it I'd also like to better understand the use of inductance and capacitance in speaker crossovers.
I find I feel like I really understand something electrical if I can picture what is going on with the electrons. So can anyone point me to some appropriate educational resources? If so I would be much obliged.
But I would like to better understand what actually is going on in the amplifier circuits. I have no formal electronics training. I know the basics of electricity and circuits but struggle to really understand what is happening when I look at a simple amp schematic. My questions include basic stuff like how the audio signal is carried on the current flowing through the circuit. Voltage fluctuation? Current fluctuation? How to conceptualize the changes of current and voltage and the interaction with resistors, capacitors and transistors. Does part of the amp have AC current or is it all DC. Stuff like that.
You can see I kind of need to be taken by the hand and taught some basics.I have found some good stuff on the web like https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/ and How Amplifiers Work | HowStuffWorks , but perhaps there are better resources that the experienced folks on this site would know.
While I'm at it I'd also like to better understand the use of inductance and capacitance in speaker crossovers.
I find I feel like I really understand something electrical if I can picture what is going on with the electrons. So can anyone point me to some appropriate educational resources? If so I would be much obliged.
Hello I have posted this link on many pages, it is a good place to start and not just for electronics.
Internet Archive Search: electronics
Take care
Colin J. Wonfor
Internet Archive Search: electronics
Take care
Colin J. Wonfor
This is a very big ask.
Have you considered a book? (However all I can think of at this level are very old.)
Try: Technical books online
Basic Audio, Norman Crowhurst, 1959 - --- about 1/3 way down page
Volume 1 (114 pages) Download full text with index, 4.2MB PDF file
Volume 2 (122 pages) Download full text with index, 4.1MB PDF file
Volume 3 (113 pages) Download full text with index, 3.2MB PDF file
> if I can picture what is going on with the electrons.
There are no electrons-- there is a book which argues this point. They are generally a distraction. Water in a pipe is another analogy of some use. Money in/out of your wallet may be a great analogy because it goes both ways and you are forced to keep track of sign.
Have you considered a book? (However all I can think of at this level are very old.)
Try: Technical books online
Basic Audio, Norman Crowhurst, 1959 - --- about 1/3 way down page
Volume 1 (114 pages) Download full text with index, 4.2MB PDF file
Volume 2 (122 pages) Download full text with index, 4.1MB PDF file
Volume 3 (113 pages) Download full text with index, 3.2MB PDF file
> if I can picture what is going on with the electrons.
There are no electrons-- there is a book which argues this point. They are generally a distraction. Water in a pipe is another analogy of some use. Money in/out of your wallet may be a great analogy because it goes both ways and you are forced to keep track of sign.
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Thanks PRR and Root2.
"This is a very big ask. "
LOL, of course it's a big ask, but this is a group one asks big things from 🙂
"There are no electrons.."
I think I kind of get whatyou are saying, but I need some kind of metaphor that is serviceable for thought experiments. I don't do well with total abstraction except when the subject has no practical application anyway. I am astounded by what I have read that in 2021 there still appears to be an argument over the direction of flow in a DC circuit. ("Conventional Current" flowing from + to -; and electrons flowing from - to +.) Come on, people, electrical engineering is a profession that has transformed the modern world and we still don't have a nice clear way to explain what is going on in a wire?
Maybe I'm just being impatient. So another way to ask my question is how does an experienced person "read" an electrical circuit? Is it possible they can't and just have to build it, measure it, and see what it does?
"This is a very big ask. "
LOL, of course it's a big ask, but this is a group one asks big things from 🙂
"There are no electrons.."
I think I kind of get whatyou are saying, but I need some kind of metaphor that is serviceable for thought experiments. I don't do well with total abstraction except when the subject has no practical application anyway. I am astounded by what I have read that in 2021 there still appears to be an argument over the direction of flow in a DC circuit. ("Conventional Current" flowing from + to -; and electrons flowing from - to +.) Come on, people, electrical engineering is a profession that has transformed the modern world and we still don't have a nice clear way to explain what is going on in a wire?
Maybe I'm just being impatient. So another way to ask my question is how does an experienced person "read" an electrical circuit? Is it possible they can't and just have to build it, measure it, and see what it does?
PS- PRR, thanks the books look good. I love old books like this anyway. This should keep me quite for a while 🙂
The current direction is a convention, and either way works, if one is consistent.
Current flow though a conductor is actually rather complex, needing a good grounding in physics.
Circuit analysis is in the language of mathematics, as presented in EE101 level circuits books.
You have to start at the beginning and go forward, since everything builds on what came before.
Of course, any theory must be confirmed by experiment.
Circuit analysis | Electrical engineering | Science | Khan Academy
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