Great book. Goes into fine detail on all aspects of audio power amplifier design and construction.

This book, which rested on my bookshelf for 10 years because it consistently repelled me, turned out, after mustering courage to dig into it, to be a reasonable intro of the field to the budding armature but I can only rate the book as informative in the same way that a good quality audio magazine might be with a good selection of sample circuits and art work. With the qualification that the book is intended for the novice it is a good book although it does contain a number of useful nuggets of enlighenment even for the expert. However, my chronic aprehension to read the book was vindicated when the author engaged in belabouring hand-wavy explanations. I can only suppose the author honestly believes basic algebra is beyond most armatures. A book on audio really needs the underpinning of basic circuit theory maths, attempting to write a "manual" without it, like this one, can only disappoint a good majority of technically competent armatures.
I must gripe about the authors use of RMS power when refering to rated power (a time average)as there is NO such thing as RMS power - only average, peak or instantaneous power - the term RMS only applies to volts and amps or other 'linear' quantities. Power is strictly a mean square metric. Usage of RMS power IS unfortunately incorrectly engrained in the jargon but I feel this is no excuse to propagate its usage.

The Electronics Workbench hair-thin line screen dump drawings greatly `encheapen' the book. It seems as if the editors were involved in an ink saving scheme!

Notwithstanding the book is redeemed by including a good selection of designs ( I have no comments on their functionality) but thus relegates itself into the cookbook category. It would have been enlightening had the author included a chapter dealing with first generation SS power amp techniques such the famous Lin OPS and application designs by RCA featured in their 1970s hobby and power applications handbooks. This would have paved the way nicely for a better appreciation of the reasons behind modern power amp topologies which draw heavily on the humble OPAMP paradigm.

This book, which rested on my bookshelf for 10 years because it consistently repelled me, turned out, after mustering courage to dig into it, a reasonable intro of the field to the budding armature but I can only rate the book as informative in the same way that a good quality audio magazine might be with a good selection of sample circuits and art work. However, my chronic aprehension to read the book was soon vindicated when the author engaged in belabouring boring hand-wavy explanations while affording shallow or limited insight into practically every topic considered making me regret the money spent on a dumbed down approach to audio. I can only suppose the author honestly believes basic algebra is beyond most armatures. A serious book on audio needs the underpinning of basic circuit theory maths, attempting to write a "manual" without it, like this one, can only disappoint the vast majority of technically competent armatures who deserve better. While this is a brave attempt indeed, the author falls into irritating "expression usage" traps like referring to rated power (a time average) as RMS power YES! (there is NO such thing as RMS power - only average, peak or instantaneous power - the term RMS only applies to volts and amps or other linear quantities) Electronics Workbench hair-thin line screen dump drawings are a pain to view, even if you like EWB, and greatly `encheapen' the book. It seems as if the editors were involved in an ink saving scheme! Fittingly the coverage given to some topics is also a waste of ink.

Notwithstanding the book is redeemed by including a good selection of designs but thus relegates itself into the cookbook category. It would have been enlightening - if only- had the author included a chapter dealing with first generation SS power amp techniques such the famous Lin OPS and those developed by RCA as featured in their 1970s hobby and power applications handbooks (proper manuals)This would have paved the way nicely for a better appreciation of the reasons behind modern power amp topologies which draw heavily on the humble OPAMP paradigm. No such luck though. This book lacks the technical authority and crystal clear style of e.g. D. Self - The book might be better titled an Idiots Guide to .. rather than a `manual'.

I bought this book a few years ago and have built 3 of the designs with great success. the L-mosfets are available online at "the company store". As a matter of fact, they sell all of the transistors used in sloan designs. I bought 8 sets. I am listening to one of my amps I built using Sloans design as I type this. I shelved a top of the line Pioneer Elite receiver in favor of one of my DIY amps. It cannot compare.

IT'S A GREAT BOOK! I CAN'T STOP WORKING ON THE PROJECTS, EVEN AT CHRISTMAS TIME! THE MATH'S A LITTLE CHALLENGING, BUT I CAN DO IT. THANKS!

An excellent book if you are interested in building amplifiers, or if you are just interested in learning exactly how they work. My only complaint is that it doesn't have any info on building a power supply for a car amplifier. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

This review is based on the first edition. I do not know whether there are any later editions.

The introduction material is rather derivative of authors like Douglas Self.

However some of the circuits are seriously flawed and simply will not work because the author simply does not understand some basic concepts. For example, the quiescent biasing is undefined and arbitrary in some instances. (This was pointed out to the author several years ago.) For example in figures 10.2, 10.3, 11.10, 11.12, 11.13, 11.14, 12.1 all have the same error; the current through the VAS stage may be anything, so the stage may be biased off, in which case the amplifier will oscillate, or biased on in which case the stage will suffer thermal run-away.

In addition some of the quoted distortion figures are clearly wrong and seem to be based on a spice or similar program output rather than real measurements, which will give quite different values owing to real voltage drops across PCB tracks and non-linear magnetic field feedback etc.

I have Luxman L-570 which is an integrated-amplifier
crafted by Luxman, a japanese top-level audio amplifier
maker. It is about 80 years since Luxman was established.
(since 1925)
http://www.luxman.org/
http://www.niji.or.jp/home/k-nisi/l-570.html

On the other hand, McIntosh was established in 1949, very
young maker lol. Luxman is one of greatest audio makers in
the world! (^^)

My L-570 is the greatest integrated amplifier among Luxman's
integrated amplifiers, which is a pure class A amplifier \(^^)/.

I am ordering this book because I want to maintain L-570 forever.

If you have a chance to go to Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan,
you had better have a chance to listen to Japanese audio
maker's product, for example, Luxman's amplifiers,
Accuphase's amplifiers, Sansui's amplifiers \(-^-)/.

Randy Slone writes a no nonsense discussion of the vacuum tube vs solid state controversy. He presents the rationale behind the designs presented in this book. It is fascinating reading.

This book has brought me up to date with the current state of the art in the field of solid state audio amplifiers. It got me started experimenting with simple audio circuits again, and has inspired me to build one of the designs in the book.

It was well worth the price!

This is a very good book as far I can tell so far (not yet finished, very, very thick/complicated book). The only downside to this book, that I can find in it, is that its not made for the regular individual. You, HAVE to have a moderate knowledge of electronics! Now when I say this, I mean that you need to know what a diode, resistor, capacitor can do. Things like this. Now I only mentioned 3 things, there are dozens more than this, but atleast if you decide to get the book, you will be somewhat prepared for what your getting into. Also, you will need to learn how to read electronic schematics and such. If your the type of person that can get past this kind of stuff, than this book is for you, otherwise, for everyone else, I would recomend to try to get atleast a basic understanding of electronics.

Generally, books on design give you an overview of the basic problem reduced to essentials, explore a few approaches, cover some necessary issues and walk one through some extant solutions. There is very little of that here, mostly, it's some disjointed ramblings on the bad ideas of "some audiophiles", and then he presents his circuit with little explanation, assuring us that it is "the best" and that others are inferior. There is then some commentary on chasing down surplus heatsinks and power transformers and building some fixturing.

Of this entire book, thirty or forty pages at the very most are useful and then only if you want to build his amplifier. I'm not even an audio engineer and just looking at his schematics I can see where the Bongiorno, Carver and Hafler designs we all studied in the 70s and 80s show those designers learned things he hasn't.

If you want a powerful audio power amp cheap my recommendation is that you find an old Phase Linear or Dyna or similar solid state amp with chassis, heatsinks and power transformer and fix it. They can be bought not working with good transformers for fifty dollars and you will spend more for surplus heatsinks alone. Building your own chassis will require a sheet metal brake and shears and possibly a vertical milling machine.

Even if you are set on building from scratch, circuitwise, a Phase Linear design is going to be a better choice than Slone's pet circuit. Others have said he cribbed the basic layout from Doug Self;I can't say, never having read any of these. As pitiful as the DIY market is in the United States, though, I have to believe that the best designs are the work of professionals as opposed to an author without industry portfolio, especially one writing for a publisher as famously lackadaisacal and cheap as TAB.

I've always enjoyed audio power amps. This book is a very good one covering a wide spectrum of anything related to power amps. Everything from raw dc power supplies to different output stage topologies. Each chapter covers a specific part and goes very detailed and will explain everything very professionally. This book has helped me a lot in audio amp design, and I'm sure it will suit for both beginners and professionals. The book also includes a couple of high quality amplifier designs ready to go, most of them also include p.c.b layouts. Simple said, it's a brilliant book if you like to know everything about audio amplification!

Most of the author's thrust in this book and in his other audio construction book is that sound quality in amplifiers is soley attributable to certain measurable parameters. The high end audio industry, as defined by small specialist product lines sold by specialist dealers and advertised and described in "Stereophile" and "The Absolute Sound" magazines, is in simple terms a scam.

Naturally, his designs provide better sound at much less cost.

Unfortunately, for hobbyists and serious music reproduction fans, he's wrong. Circuits and parts do have sonic faults and attributes test sets, as useful and ingenious as they are, just can't address. Gas spectroscopy is an incredibly useful tool for science, but it's of little use in separating truly great wines from Thunderbird. These amps and associated circuits are perhaps not audio Thunderbird, but they're not a fine Chardonnay.

Can the homebuilder build electronics to equal the best High End equipment? Given a first rate electrical engineering education, a machine shop, transformer winding fixtures, and a lot of time, effort and money-absolutely. The hobbyist of more modest skills and facilities can have fun and build stable, reliable and musically reasonably okay gear, but it's important to realize you usually have some substantial limitations. (On the other hand your time is not money and you can build around choice surplus or salvaged parts that commercial manufacturers of less than the most expensive gear can't design around.) Most people will find it hard to justify the necessary space, time, and money that need to be invested unless they are serious electronic hobbyists to begin with.

Where I find real fault with Slone is his attitude, as he obviously has a problem with the High End industry that goes past the technical. If he likes cheap table wines better than expensive ones, that's his right, but he's simply wrong to insist they are the same thing or better. If you have the skills and test equipment and want to build serious audio gear, go buy a book that at least addresses the issues involved. This is just a 500-page ad for Night Train.

This book comprises so many good features that I do not know how to start telling.I found it the best book I have ever read.If you are an electrical engineer or know nothing about electronics it is however useful for you.
I think hardly a Hi-Fi Amplifier could be costructed without reading this book.

Before i begin i must say that electronics is only my hobby and that i don't have any special education,
besides my personal experience over the years.

However despite my lack of theory i believe that this particular book is almost unique at its kind.

It takes a lot of complex theory and presents it in the most simple way possible without been confusing in any subject and behind this, is the author who keeps a very delicate balance between theory and practical applications.

In fact i own a lot of audio amplification books
(transistor based) and i have never been able to fully understand some basic things (nfb,topologies) about audio amplification in general.

Also another very important fact is that some things that are almost completely undocumented about audio amplifiers are explained with great detail.

One other thing that i really liked is that the author sets the foundations for designing and experimenting your own amplifier circuits and i personally haven't seen this approch lately in any book...

To put it simple: Anyone who has a small to medium knowledge on electronics and is not an absolute begginer
will certainly build successfull audio amplifers that will work even with the most crude situations.

I have built ALL of the book projects with great success
(even those without a PCB)
and the amplifiers are stable as a rock...
I won't even mention the performance of the projects included inside the book.
The only thing i will say is that i am rebuilding my whole audio system from scratch !

Certainly this is a serious book written by a serious person with many years of experience
in the audio field and my personal opinion is that it must be included among the best books around...

I purchased Randy Slone's "High-Power Audio Amplifier Construction Manual" three years ago. I have read it and enjoyed it and re-read it numbers of times. I have put together a number of circuits that are listed in this book and have been pleased with the performance of all of them.

I am a third year electrical engineering student and have found that this text is more practical and better written than my University texts that cost five times as much. The ideas are explained thoroughly and all aspects of audio amplification are covered in depth. The amplifier stages are all discussed and as well as the concepts involved.

The engineering design rule for an amplifier is summed up as a "wire with gain", i.e. the ideal amplifier should not distort the input signal in any way. This rule is the basis for all designs in this book. Slone talks about class A and class B amplifiers objectively, and discusses the operations of both design styles objectively.

This text does require some basic electrical theory to fully grasp the ideas. The concepts are explained very well, but I would recommend picking up an electrical devices text as well (covering active and passive components, bode diagrams, transistor theory) to compliment this book if you do not have an electrical background. Unfortunately, good texts are hard to find on this subject.

If you are truly interested in a well written, objective textbook on how to build high power audio amplifiers then this is the book for you.

Finally it appears that there have been some customer reviews that have taken to bashing the author as well as class B amplifier designs in general. I believe that this is due to the fact that book is mainly about solid state amplifiers. All of the reviews bashing the book come from what appear to be vacuum tube "technofundamentalists" as one reviewer puts it. Take those reviews with a grain of salt as they are trying to turn this into a rant forum against all things solid state.

I will be honest in that I have only built two of Slone's amps to this point (a 12 Watt and a Headphone Amplifier), but the performance of them has been very good for the price. I am sure I could go out and spend some money and get equal or better performance but if you are a competent electronics hobbyist you should have no problem matching most expensive amps in terms of performance with a limited budget. Not to mention there is a lot of pride that comes with making your own equipment. This book is well laid out and steps you through the stages of the "standard" Lin topology of audio amplification (Much like Douglas Self and his publications). Mr. Slone goes into good detail on how each stage works and performs but please note you should be familiar with electronics going in, as this is NOT a beginner's book, but rather a book made for those with some experience wanting to expand their knowledge through further experience. This isn't a replacement for a theory based text book, but rather a quick and easy way to dive into building your own amplifiers. If you like what Mr. Slone is saying and would like a little more in depth coverage of his techniques, a Douglas Self book may be in order for you.

To the potential buyer: I highly recommend this book if your interest lies in building relatively inexpensive high quality solid state amplifiers. Randy does not cover other types of amplifiers in this book (valve, chip, etc..). What you should not expect out of this book is a thorough background on electronics. For that you will need other books.

Some of the other reviewers have stated disgust with Randy Slone's bias toward DIY solid state amplifiers. I understand where they are coming from, because at some points in this book you do get the feeling he does not approve of tube based amplifiers or any high end audio equipment. But this is not to say he paints an unfair opinion. I have read this book several times and can't say I was ever taken aback by his claims. But I do think good advice in reading this book for the beginning hobbyist would be to be sure to keep an open mind about many amplifier types and classes. Throughout the book he lets you know that whatever your preference is for sound, you should go for it, but he is definately biased toward solid state (I can't say I blame him, the man built his entire career on solid state devices).

So, in short, this book has very good technical content as well as very good sections on power supply design and general construction techniques (grounding, calculations, etc), in addition to the amplifiers. I enjoyed reading this book a lot, and I feel any serious DIY audio hobbyist should give it some consideration.

I give it a 5 star rating because it is very inexpensive and presents a lot of good information, along with cookie cutter designs you can make. So far I am more than pleased with the amps I have made and this book is well worth the money it costs.

It's become a national obsession, for some reason, to read-or flip through-this book and either praise it to high heaven or declare it better printed on soft, absorbent paper so that it would have some utility in the world. I'm not going to do either one, because it's neither terribly good nor terribly evil.

If you want to cobble up some relatively inexpensive utility grade audio amplifiers at a somewhat lower cost than buying them-trading off your time, any warranty, resale, et al-which, it seems to me, is your right, this book provides schematics, PCB layouts, and enough commentary to get you going. Is that so rotten?

However, it doesn't connect the theory and practice very well. And it does contain a lot of opinion that is biased to some degree (isn't opinion always?) and marginally incorrect statements seemingly calculated to irritate the high end crowd. (Pro recording studios do use a lot of tube equipment, and not for coloration: almost all opera recordings are done on Neumann tube mics, for example.)

I would pick any of Doug Self's books or several others over this one if building these specific amps were not your primary goal. It's a hobby project book, period.

And, as a matter of interest, transistors-bipolar or FET-are not "more neutral" or "accurate" or linear than vacuum tubes. They are (relatively) low impedance devices and they come in N and P flavors, which means no output transformer is needed and therefore more, much more, negative feedback can be used to improve bandwidth and THD measurements. Alas, NFB is a tradeoff and more is not necessarily better-which is what the real pros started figuring out in 1972 (yes, the storied Russ Hamm!) and the 'subjective' backlash started. So, Slone is really being a little disingenuous,and he knows it...but then again, so are the high end tube vendors, because most of them are selling a sizzle that's out of proportion to the steak, and one that's often crudely built beneath the pretty machined front panel at that. Two wrongs don't make a right, but our entire system of commerce is built on the proposition that three lefts do.

The history of serious audio amplification-'serious' meaning a concerted effort to achieve fidelity even when mainstream thought held it superfluous-is unusual because, even more so than in Amateur Radio (hams quit building, except for purposely crude and simplistic QRP equipment,in the late sixties for the most part), it has been largely driven by hardcore, soldering-iron-wielding hobbyists. From concert violinist David Sarser to astronaut Norman Thagard, there's a big tradition of bright people wholly outside their discipline plowing new design ground and publishing their results, along with more conventional engineers and technicians whose published works drove first the do-it-yourself builders and then the industry at large. Lincoln Walsh, D.T.N. and Reg Williamson-two unrelated Englishmen twenty years apart-Hafler and Keroes, and many others founded a tradition carried on well into the solid state era: Bongiorno's Ampzilla was the first real stake in the heart of the tube amp's dominance among the hot iron cognoscenti. The "tube revival"-a misnomer because among really serious audiophiles there never was a time where everyone agreed solid state was superior or even acceptable-was, as a previous reviewer notes, a DIY-spearheaded effort with the indefatiguable Ed Dell's Audio Amateur/Glass Audio/AudioXPress magazines and later hardcore journals such as Sound Practices and Vacuum Tube Valley publishing projects, offering parts and describing the finished homebrews in glowing (no pun intended) terms. By no means was solid state abandoned, but tube amplifiers have always been more popular as homebuilt projects.

Many books have been written in the past 50 years on the building of high fidelity equipment. This one isn't the worst, but that's no excuse: it's certainly not very good. It's an unedited, disjointed bunch of facts, half-truths, outright sour grapes, and willfully misleading statements coupled to some projects with PCB artwork but little design explanation. The designs themselves look like they are straight out of Audio Amateur or Practical Wireless (UK) circa 1982. Combined with the author's Howard Cosell-like writing style and total lack of fact checking (he lists the manufacturer of Audio Precision audio test equipment as Thurlby Thandar, a Brit company about as far from Beaverton, Oregon as could be imagined!) he's far more likely to provoke High Enders to chuck the book into a river than to change their mind about anything whatsoever.

His later book is a little better, but not a lot. There are better writers working for far better publishers with far more useful things to say for anyone actually wanting to build an amplifier, so my advice is to simply avoid this book in favor of several other titles. In recent years, speakers of Japanese, German, and even French have had more quality titles to choose from than the Anglophone press has produced-Reiner zur Linde and Isamu Asano especially are most talked about-but none the less, Slone is not a preffered choice in any language.

I have built solid state and tube amplifiers as well as having worked on, listened to, and sold both kinds for both professional and home use. I think I know a little about amplifiers. Slone does too, but not as much as he thinks.

This book is just one disgruntled technofundamentalist's cranky ranting. He presents his projects after his ranting against other approaches as though they were the inerrant gift from the amplifier-deity, without any good walkthrough as to the whys and wherefores.

Unfortunately for him, some of us question all things. We question why professional mastering and mixdown engineers as well as serious listeners don't believe all amplifiers sound the same, good-measuring or otherwise. We question why THD and bandpass measurements are even considered relevant anymore when there is no correlation between them and perceived sound. And we especially call into question why his designs have not swept the DIY community and ben brought into commercial manufacture "through the back door", if they're so great, as happened with the seminal articles, first Russ Hamm's JAES paper and then Alan Douglas' article "Tubes in Japan", which was the first inkling that Japanese audiophiles and some sneaky snake audio dealers had nearly eviscerated America of the classic Western Electric theatre gear and horn speakers. Within a year Joe Roberts had introduced "Sound Practices" magazine, DIYers were cloning WE 91's, and mainstream High End makers were selling single ended amplifiers. If Slone's amp were anything but mediocre, it would have happened again. It is, it hasn't, and it won't. Phooey on you, Slone!

Before getting into my review of Randy's book I think it would be fair to mention that since my first reviews of his textbooks almost 3 years ago Randy and I have become good friends. Having visited him several times at his home I can honestly state that this man is beyond reproach as an electrical engineer and professional writer. His wife also seems to think very highly him as well. :-) The idea that any of his power amplifier designs where copied, borrowed or stolen is totally absurd. Because he worked as a process engineer for Dupont he designed "new" circuits on a regular basis that were more complicated than any piece of home audio equipment you might find. Because he is also a musician I can assure you he does in fact have an "ear". Finally, to refer to this author or any other as a "nerd" and calling his or her book "stinky" is very childish behavior. I hope that Amazon will review postings of this nature and put them in their proper place which in this case is the "recycle bin."
As I mentioned in my previous reviews of Randy's other textbooks, he has a easy to read writing style and this book is no different. I especially liked the chapters on power supplies and heat sinks. The power supply chapter makes it easy to determine component values in designing a power supply for a given application whether it be regulated or non-regulated. He plainly discusses the pros and cons of the different types of power supplies. The chapter on heat sinks allows you to take any piece of heat sink material and determine it's c/w rating for a given application. For those of you wanting to design an amplifier circuit he discusses in depth the input, VA and output stages. Different amplifier classes are also discussed and explained. Overall I found this book quite informative and would recommend it to the novice as well as the expert.

This is just another example of why McGraw-Hill made a big mistake in picking up TAB-G/L and its fifty year history of bad technical titles by people like Homer Davidson, Tom Kneitel K2AES and other so-called tech writers. Poor pay rates, lack of any editing whatsoever and a willingness by librarians and well-meaning soccer moms of nerds to buy anything on the subject kept TAB slaughtering trees for naught for most of half a century.

There is some useful information in this book, but not very much. You would do better to study schematics of seminal Hafler, Carver (Phase Linear), and Threshold designs along with articles in JAES and Audio Amateur/AudioXPress magazines. Duncan, Self, and others have written substantially better books on the subject.

As for all this "controversy" on tubes, the definitive source is indeed still Hamm's JAES paper, "Tubes vs. Transistors". That Slone doesn't cite it reveals that he just was too lazy to do his homework because it actually reinforced certain of his arguments, or too dense to perceive it. This paper has been reprinted so frequently that anyone interested will be able to find it easily.

I started out in audio electronics as a teenager building solid state Heathkit amplifiers in the 1970's. These were great products, and I was sad to see Heath go out of business. However, if you could follow directions, you could build a Heathkit. I was always hungry for more. I wanted to know the function of each part, why it was in the circuit, and how the circuit designer chose the the value of each compontent

The High Power Audio Amplifier Construction Manual was just what I was looking for! This book assumes the reader has no knowledge of electronic circuits, but does have an average level of intelligence and an eagerness to learn.

I found the book to read very easily. Some parts get a little deep, but everything comes into focus after re-reading certain sections and pausing to think about what has been said. I read it for the first time on vacation by the swimming pool. I couldn't put it down.

I have since personally built many of the amplifier designs in this book. They all have performed flawlessly. My friends all comment on the clarity of sound reproduced by these amplifiers. I have also gained considerable knowledge of audio amplification in the process. It was truly a fun learning experience.

It should be noted that the author has included his phone number and e-mail address in the book. He has been very helpful in clarifying all areas that raised questions. I've read this book over and over. It is my audio "bible". It's worth every cent!

I consider this textbook to be the best 'general-purpose' book on audio power amplifier design that has ever been written, and its production has been long overdue. It is immediately obvious that an enormous amount of experience and research went into compiling this work, with seemingly no stone left unturned. Unlike other popular textbooks written on this same topic, Mr. Slone covers virtually all of the major topology types down to a component-by-component detail, so the reader is never left wondering about the function of any component in any complete amplifier design. The in-depth coverage of the complex physics involved in audio power amplifier operation is explained in a highly illustrative manner, making this textbook useful to both engineers and novices alike. Mr. Slone's writing style is informal and easy to read, with a little dry humor mixed in to keep the reading enjoyable.

Mr. Slone is not highly opinionated, but he is factual - I'm sure that some of the 'high-end' audiophiles who delight in audio mythology will not be capable of telling the difference. Mr. Slone approaches the subjects of design, performance, and psychoacoustics on the basis of analytical science, with the entire focus of the book being on solid-state topologies. It is an excellent resource for understanding the controversy inherent to the audiophile community, addressing such debates as vacuum tube versus solid-state design, MOSFET versus bipolar issues, and the advantages/disadvantages of the various classes of operation. Much of the popular audio mythology is debunked.

A significant portion of this book is devoted to deeper principles of physics and theory, but if the reader simply wants to construct high-performance audio power amplifiers, a variety of 'cookbook' designs are provided. Mr. Slone also provides detailed instruction on the topics of printed circuit board fabrication and practical construction methods. For the do-it-yourself audiophile, I believe this to be the most accurate and all-encompassing textbook available. If you want to understand and/or build audio power amplifiers, this book is definitely a 'first choice.'

This book is not a systematic or comprehensive guide to anything. It's a two part collection of the author's dislike for High End audio, and the people that build it, the people that buy it: and a semi-coherent collection of designs he favors which he seems to have cobbled up from Doug Self and Ben Duncan books, commercial PA/MI designs he has probably serviced, and 70s and 80s semiconductor app manuals.

Want to build a solid state amp for quality domestic listening? Look at designs by Borbely, Pass, Thagard, and other authors in Audio Amateur/AudioXPress or Elektor magazines. Slone's amp will work, in fact it will provide reasonable efficiency and measure pretty well (though nowhere near as well as a McIntosh, if you want to impress friends with a HP 339 and a dummy load), but it will sound just like all the Class B high feedback inexpensive amps, whether marketed for home or pro use. Listen in a quiet room through good efficient speakers to quiet passages in good music, well recorded, and despite what the aforementioned HP 339-or 8903 or AP or Potomac or (yecch)Sound Tech box- says, an eight watt WE 300B amp with choke filtered plate supply and oil caps will make it sound dull, lifeless, and wrong.

Is one better than another? Horses for courses! Is either one really good compared to what's possible? Not really. But Slone is either too deaf or stubborn to understand. And that's why this book basically stinks. My advice is let it smell up someone else's bookshelf, as with most other lame, ill-edited TAB titles.

This is my 2nd book by Randy and just like his other book "Understanding Electricity and Electronics" Randy does a great job of breaking down a complicated subject so anyone can understand it. I'm not saying this book is only for beginners because this book can be enjoyed by anyone who wants to learn audiophile grade, solid state amp design. There have been a few reviews that rate this book poorly because Randy knocks tube design. If you want to learn tube design this book is not for you but if you want to learn solid state design this book, by far, is the best I've read.

Randy I thank you for writing these books. Too many times when I started this jounery of learning electronics I became frustrated and overwhelmed until I came across your books. I would not understand near as much without them.

As a DIY guide for building class-B solid state audio power amps, this book has some merit. However, the author takes a great deal of space to attack the high-end audio business, denigrate vacuum tubes, and denounce "audio subjectivism". There are those who will consider these worthy goals, but even they wil be disappointed in his eighth-grade forensics as he sets up strawmen with little facility.

His foreword clearly brings to mind William Burroughs' famous comment on which people, should one elect to do business with them, you should get any statements they make in writing!

If for some reason you want to etch circuit boards and fabricate heatsink assemblies to build a type of amp you can buy from Crown or Peavey for less than the parts would cost a hobbyist, Slone's book is somewhat useful. His presentation of the theory is less comprehensible than that of Douglas Self, and assumes a reasonable amount of solid-state theory and the basics of feedback and stability, which many project-oriented hobbyists will lack.

However, there are numerous better works on the theory and practice of solid-state amplification,should one wish to repair them or actually design one, and any discussion of the respective merits of solid-state versus tube amplifiers in audio service still starts with Russell O. Hamm's definitive JAES paper, "Tubes versus Transistors: Is There a Difference?". It's interesting that Slone does not cite or acknowledge this document anywhere in this book, or in any other.

It's worth noting that although there are many solid state amp designs hobby builders have constructed with excellent sonic reviews-published designs by Nelson Pass and Norman Thagard as well as clones of Quad and Krell commercial amps-probably twenty times as many tube amplifiers as solid-state are constructed by American hobby builders each year. I have built both and had success with both, and surprisingly, having started in hobby construction as a hard-core tube obsessive, I now think solid state has the edge. Slone's book, ultimately, does the case of solid state little good. Tube amplifiers are easier to build for most hobbyists, easier to fix, and their sonic flaws are invariably more euphonic than those of solid state amplifiers: solid state takes a lot more discipline to get right. By denying these obvious facts, Slone puts tube buffs in an even more confrontational position, which does no one any good.

For those who love audio, electronics and have a sincere desire to build extremely high performance amplifiers, I recommend the work of G. Randy Slone more highly than any other. This is state of the art material. Things get better! Randy will help in anyway he can. It is rare for people with such talent to share their Knowledge.
David Edwards Technical Officer Radio and Television Broadcasting Darwin Australia.

... Randy Slone regurgitates no one; he states in his own words, clearly and in accessible language for the non-specialist, established principles of solid state amplifier design, and places these in the context of his suggested projects. One chapter is devoted to twelve "ready-to-construct" cookbook designs, and full-size PC board artwork for several of these are provided in an appendix. In short, if you want to build and/or design your own audio power amplifiers, this is an excellent resource.
Randy Slone begins with the basics of acoustics relating to audio power amplifiers and methodically walks the reader through a variety of designs, ranging from old to new, and simple to complex. As one would expect, much of this information is founded upon well established research. There is also a significant portion devoted to new techniques and principles of amplifier physics which help to de-mystify amplifier operation and provide pathways to improved performance. Unlike many similar textbooks that focus on only one topology or design philosophy, Randy Slone examines the broad range of amplifier configurations and power capabilities, including mirror-image input stages, fully-complementary VA stages, paralleled output stages, and lateral MOSFET designs.
Randy Slone may be somewhat opinionated, but his opinions appear to be logical reflections of measurable facts; and as any good scientist knows, that what cannot be measured does not exist for the world of science and engineering. He makes short shrift of tube cult; these are devices that produce measurable distortion and can never compete with the power capacity of modern solid state systems. The writing style and technical descriptions are easy to follow although a background in electronic fundamentals is helpful. No more than high school algebra is needed. Occasional humor increases the reading pleasure. Randy Slone has the somewhat eccentric habit of discussing current flow as if it traveled from negative to positive pole, while the convention is to describe it moving the other way. Once the reader becomes accustomed to this way of thinking - not too silly for electrons do indeed travel from negative to positive - it becomes easier to read. It is a complete resource for designing and constructing your own high-quality audio power amplifier systems.
I am currently building myself six of Randy Slone's OPTIMOS kits after reading the book. The fact that Randy Slone also sells the kits from his web site is a highly positive feature. Imagine trying to source all those components and make the PCBs yourself. Furthermore, Randy Slone is always available to help with specific questions and suggestion on a one to one basis. He really does answer his e-mail.
Highly recommended.

G. Randy Slone has written a truly wonderful book on the science behind audio. Most consumers know little about audio; and sales people know even less. Read this book and you will understand a great deal - and you'll be able to apply your knowledge in purchasing or making your own audio gear. Some have given unfavourable reviews, but I feel they are unjustified. The author does indeed cover complex issues of amplifier design, but one does not really need to understand these concepts in order to build a very high-end, high-performance amplifier. One does not even need to understand the schematics. All that would be required is to put the correct components in the correct positions on a printed circuit board (which I highly recommend you purchase from the author). Beyond all this is the real question: How does the finished amplifier sound? Well, whether you believe in the author's view on say tube amps or not makes very little difference. Again it all boils down to the performance of the amp. One doesn't merely stumble onto extreme audio performance! It takes hard work, and in-depth knowledge and experience of sound electronic principles. I have had the utter delight and priviledge to audition and compare a finished OPTI-MOS design with a very well known and respected high-end amp. The purity, clarity, and three-dimensionality of the sound-stage was staggering! The OPTI-MOS was one of the most perfect amps I have ever heard. Tremendous low-end power coupled with majestic and rivetting mids and highs puts this amp in a class of its own. You can't fake good audio. Actually, you can't fake outstanding audio either. In fact, I cannot think one negative comment whatsoever to criticize the OPTI-MOS. It is truly an amazing peice of audio equipment. I have listened to expensive tube amps, and I must say that the tube sound was very pleasant. However, the OPTI-MOS takes you far beyond tubes! The OPTI-MOS actually sounds closer to a perfect tube amp - without any of the tube's shortcomings. What more could one ask for? If Mr. Slone's concepts, theories, and final circuit topologies were even the slightest bit off the mark, this would show up a hundred-fold in the final sound reproduction. I for one hold Mr. Slone and his brilliant designs in even greater respect; for not only has he proven that he is a world-class audio designer, he has shared his secrets with the world. Now there is no excuse for anyone not to own a superior audio amplifier and enjoy audio that was once reserved for those select few that could afford to spend huge dollar amounts on audio gear. Thank-you Mr. Slone!

This book covers most of the topics needed to sucessfully design and build a conventional transistor power amplifier. While the reading is technical in nature, it is kept to a level suitable for the majority of electronics amateurs. In this respect, it is a decent book.

HOWEVER, if you are truly serious about power amplifier design, and technically inclined, this book falls short of these glowing reviews. Years ago, I read the work of Douglas Self, presented in a series of articles entitled "Distortion in Power Amplifiers", and published in Electronics World and Wireless World magazine 1993-1994. Sloan's book is just a poor regurgitation of the original articles by Doug Self.

So if you have the technical inclination, and want to really understand the material well, do yourself a favour and skip this book. The original articles by D. Self are far more insightful. What's more, they are now available, along with a wealth of other good articles, in a single compilation entitled "Self on Audio" ISBN 0-7506-4765-5. Self also has another book, "Audio Power Amplifier Design Handbook", which I have not read.

WARNING: the content of this book is extremely opinionated! What's more, these opinions are generally veiled behind a facade of "objectivity", lending them false authority. Some people may like Mr. Slone's strong stance, but I find it closed-minded and counter productive. It took me many years to learn that absolute objectivity does not exist in the world of Audio, admirable as the goal may be. Mr. Slone has a tendancy to make highly opinionated or misleading statements, cleverly worded and presented as FACT. Even D. Self suffers the same affliction, though to a lesser degree. For the amateur who has not yet the design experience to distinguish the opinions from genuine engineering objectivity, this is bound to lead to "tunnel vision", which I find highly objectionable. It closes a lot of doors and avenues for exploration which are an important component of the well rounded experience which is the hallmark of a true Master audio designer. Sloan is good, but clearly not a Master.

If you want better technical explanations, with less opinion sharing, get the REAL goods, and buy Douglas Self's book instead.

And if you do buy this book, or any other for that matter, always remember to remain open minded!

by an experienced audio hobbyist and Electrical Engineer...

This book covers most of the topics needed to sucessfully design and build a conventional transistor power amplifier. While the reading is technical in nature, it is kept to a level suitable for the majority of electronics amateurs. In this respect, it is a decent book.

However, if you are truly serious about power amplifier design, and technically inclined, this book falls short of these glowing reviews. Years ago, I read the work of Douglas Self, presented in a series of articles entitled "Distortion in Power Amplifiers", and published in Electronics World and Wireless World magazine 1993-1994. Sloan's book is just a poor regurgitation of the original articles by Doug Self, along with a collection of amp designs ready-to-go... basically an advertisement for the kits he sells through his website.

So if you have the technical inclination, and want to really understand the material well, do yourself a favour and skip this book. The original articles by D. Self are far more insightful. What's more, they are now available, along with a wealth of other good articles, in a single compilation entitled "Self on Audio" ISBN 0-7506-4765-5. Self also has another book, "Audio Power Amplifier Design Handbook", which I have not read.

WARNING: apart from the obvious commercial motivations, the content of this book is very opinionated! What's more, these opinions are often veiled behind a facade of "objectivity", lending them false authority. There is a dangerous allure in his idealistic opinions. Mr. Slone has a tendancy to make questionable, even misleading statements, worded and presented as FACT. Even D. Self suffers the same affliction, though to a lesser degree. Some people may like Mr. Slone's strong stance, but I find it closed-minded and counter productive. For the amateur who has not yet the experience to distinguish the opinions from genuine engineering objectivity, this book is bound to cause a certain degree of "tunnel vision". If you do buy this book, always remember to remain open minded, and don't take everything he says as Gospel!

Since the subject matter is just a rehash of other, better publications, and since this book has a heavily unbalanced view of high-end audio, I can only give it 2 stars despite some good construction advice, and some decent technical discussion.

If you want better technical explanations, with less opinion sharing, get the REAL goods - buy Douglas Self's book instead.

My review of this book should be seen in the context of my background.
This book is not "right for everyone." I like dabbling with electronics
kits and a soldering iron. I have never read any book on power amplifiers
before. The only test equipment I own is a digital multimeter. I _loved_
this book.

NOTE: This book is devoted purely to power amplifiers, and that too,
solid state power amps. If the reader does not know the difference
between an integrated amplifier and a power amplifier, he should start
elsewhere.

This book is not for the absolute beginner to electronics. The author
simply assumes you know what a FET, BJT or an opamp is, for instance.
It _is_ possible to extract great value from this book without knowing
about degenerative feedback, for instance, but knowing all this would
help.

The author has strong opinions, something I really enjoyed. I have
always learnt the most from people with strong opinions, provided they
show me how they have arrived at those opinions. Randy Slone's opinions
about valve amps and the "valve sound", for instance, are a must-read.

The author's standards of good performance are superlative. The "good"
designs here are probably comparable to the best amps commercially
available, provided you agree with the author's yardsticks on quality
in a power amp.

This book is well thought through for the amateur constructor. The
author gives you a list of transistors on page 13 which he then
uses in all his designs. His PCB designs are all single-sided,
allowing easy home fabrication, and are a bit sparse, allowing easy
soldering. This sparseness also allows photocopying the PCB layouts
directly to transparent acetate sheets to make the "positive artwork" for
PCB fabrication, without running the risk of errors. There are sections
on the pragmatics of looking for the "low-tech" components like heatsinks,
how to put things together mechanically, eliminating hum and ground loops,
soldering, PCB making, etc.

Chapter 10 is probably the most insightful and interesting chapter of
all, holding the entire book together. It takes the reader through the
actual design of a new amplifier, starting with a set of objectives.
The author goes about plugging pieces into a design, one by one, to
build a no-compromise top-end design, showing the reader at each step
why he chooses each piece.

Chapter 11 is a collection of ready-to-build designs. Most of the 12
designs in it are no-compromise designs. Design 11 is an ultra-high-end
Class A amp rated at 40W into 8 ohms. Design 3 is a bipolar-OPS design
giving second harmonic distortion less than 0.0001%. Design 12 is for
a MOSFET OPS amp with MOSFET-based reliability and a THD of 0.0038%.

The author's writing style is conversational, laced with humour, and easy
to read. Also, this book cannot be read --- it has to be studied. Each
sentence in this book potentially carries a new idea or insight, which may
not be re-visited subsequently. The first time I encountered Kernighan
and Ritchie's "The C Programming Language," I remember feeling that _all_
essential concepts about C (a tough programming language for the beginner)
were stated explicitly in that slim book, if only the reader would read,
think, and absorb _each_ sentence. This book almost
reaches the same levels of richness of content.

Where the book ends, the author's personal interaction begins. Over the
last few months, I've asked dozens of questions to the author on email,
and have been rewarded with insightful and friendly replies each
time. This enormously helps in giving the reader confidence to try his
hand at the designs.

Is this the "perfect" book on audio power amplifiers? Are there flaws?
I'll be nit-picking, but here goes:

1. There are typographical errors in circuit diagrams. They do detract
from the smooth study of the (fairly involved) material. Two Q4's
occur in Figure 4.8a, on page 85, in the very first chapter attempting
any circuit analysis.

2. I would have liked sections which would start with transistor
characteristics and device selection, and then synthesize an input
stage, a VA stage and an OPS from the ground up. In other words,
this book alone is not enough for me to start with an assortment
of transistors and passive components and synthesize my own current
mirror or fully complementary input stage or emitter-follower OPS, for
instance. To be fair, many places do discuss the rationale behind the
value of passive components, but not always, and for a novice like me,
not enough. I'd have liked a Chapter 10 twice its current length.

3. I would have liked a list of substitutes for the transistors the
author uses in his designs. Not all of them are easy to find,
specially where I live.

All in all, I find this a five-star book, and a must for any amateur or
professional amplifier designer or constructor's bookshelf.

This book is targeted on people with a basic knowledge of electronics, which, unfortunately I don't have...... But still I fully enjoyed the first couple of chapters where it explained a lot about why building your own amp is better than buying a commercial brand. For now, I'm actually searching for an electronics basics book so I can go back to this book and really enjoy it, and perhaps, build my own power amp!!

I have read the complete book and enjoyed the very readable and informative content. It is nice to know that someone has approached Audio with a large degree of common sense. The book is very readable and anyone with a minimum of electronics background will gain alot of information in a short amount of time. I highly recommend this book if you have the slightest interest in Audio Amps and especially if you want to build your own high quality Amps! Not to mention the savings in $$$.

G. Randy Slone has written a truly wonderful book on the science behind audio. Most consumers know little about audio; and sales people know even less. Read this book and you will understand a great deal - and you'll be able to apply your knowledge in purchasing or making your own audio gear. Some have given unfavourable reviews, but I feel they are unjustified. The author does indeed cover complex issues of amplifier design, but one does not really need to understand these concepts in order to build a very high-end, high-performance amplifier. One does not even need to understand the schematics. All that would be required is to put the correct components in the correct positions on a printed circuit board (which I highly recommend you purchase from the author). Beyond all this is the real question: How does the finished amplifier sound? Well, whether you believe in the author's view on say tube amps or not makes very little difference. Again it all boils down to the performance of the amp. One doesn't merely stumble onto extreme audio performance! It takes hard work, and in-depth knowledge and experience of sound electronic principles. I have had the utter delight and priviledge to audition and compare a finished OPTI-MOS design with a very well known and respected high-end amp. The purity, clarity, and three-dimensionality of the sound-stage was staggering! The OPTI-MOS was one of the most perfect amps I have ever heard. Tremendous low-end power coupled with majestic and rivetting mids and highs puts this amp in a class of its own. You can't fake good audio. Actually, you can't fake outstanding audio either. In fact, I cannot think one negative comment whatsoever to criticize the OPTI-MOS. It is truly an amazing peice of audio equipment. I have listened to expensive tube amps, and I must say that the tube sound was very pleasant. However, the OPTI-MOS takes you far beyond tubes! The OPTI-MOS actually sounds closer to a perfect tube amp - without any of the tube's shortcomings. What more could one ask for? If Mr. Slone's concepts, theories, and final circuit topologies were even the slightest bit off the mark, this would show up a hundred-fold in the final sound reproduction. I for one hold Mr. Slone and his brilliant designs in even greater respect; for not only has he proven that he is a world-class audio designer, he has shared his secrets with the world. Now there is no excuse for anyone not to own a superior audio amplifier and enjoy audio that was once reserved for those select few that could afford to spend huge dollar amounts on audio gear. Thank-you Mr. Slone!

As a learning audiophile, thought this book would give me some electronic knowledge. WRONG, book is useless for anything less than an electronic engineer. Schmatics lost me. Author has an ugly attitude about tube gear. Author contradicts every audio specification I have every learned, may be right, but hard to believe a single voice.
I purchased this book in October, 2001. My copy now on sale ...
Hope it will be a valuable reference for your library.

Sloan delivers authoritative guidance in building quality high-current transistor amplifiers. This is not a step-by-step set of instructions, as one would expect with an kit. Its loaded with practical information for anyone with at least a basic knowledge electronics who wants to better understand audio amplifiers.

I found that unless you've taken courses in basic electronics (transistors, diodes, amplifiers) which is basically 3rd year undergrad EE classes, you won't understand the book as easily.

It has sample circuits in the back and covers some fundamental steps to creating an amplifier (making your own PCBs) but I find that the author assumes too much (you already know a lot about electronics and non-linear circuits).

As a former student of electrical engineering, specifically analog amplifier design, I can honestly say that this text is invaluable to anyone wishing to explore the realm of high power amplifier construction.

Easy to understand, very helpful even to those who has not finished a degree in electronics. Book was written so that reader who really wants to built a professional type of audio amp can enjoy building one!

One of a kind audio amp book, hope Mr. Randy Slone (author) will keep on writing books like it!

This is a fantastic book. It describes a lot of differents amplifiers. If you want to know about amplifier design this book teach you so much. I love this book, thanks Randy.

I have built power amplifiers for over 30 years and have never found a manual so clear, explicit and honestly written as this. What I found especially refreshing was the complete demystification of the usual mumbo-jumbo one finds so often in manuals like this. Right through the book Mr Slone cuts through all the hype with clearly reasoned logic and makes the subject refreshing and even funny in parts - all without sacrficing the science of the matter.

Persons completely new to the subject may be a bit disappointed in some areas - such as the assumption that one can read circuit diagrams etc. - so this may not be a good start for the really green novice. For persons familiar to the subject, it is a treasure. Mr Slone also has a web site - sealelectronics.com - which can supply all the parts, circuit boards etc.

Full marks for an excellent production, Mr Slone.

This book is it. The real deal. Look no further if you are looking to build your own amp, or just understand what is going on in most audio amps, this is the one. Randy, like all us, has his points of view, but in no way does he attack any one elses differing opinions on items such as the Tube vs. Solid State. He simply gives you the facts. You are free to use his knowledge or not. No tube lover, and I consider myself a guitar tube amp lover, will dispute that solid state is cleaner to the point of sterility vs the color of rectifier sag, and plate voltages variations on a 6l6 tube. Solid is sterile and Randy points out that coloring belongs in the preamp stages.In solid state, the amp is just to boost the preamp and its colors,Tubes are different. Randy knows that a solid state will not mimic a tube amp, nor does he try. This book is excellent in presentation and the material. I plan on building several of the completed designs.

The author explains what is really good audio power amplifier in scientific point of view in first three chapters. The information and experiences you can learn from this book are very helpful to know what is truth and what is myth when reading so many articles in audio forums and magazines. This knowledge is very useful not only for people who want to build and upgrade your own amps but also for people who want to buy audio amps. The other chapters go into the circuit design, operation and construction of audio amps. Following the projects in this book, you can build your own power amps with good to excellent performance in low cost. The author sells many electronic components you may need when constructing your amps and I bought some devices from him. He also answered me many questions in detail about the amp circuit and construction by e-mail when I built my own amp by myself. Anyway, for now, I have my own audio power amp with excellent performance. With the excellent speakers I bought I feel almost all of my CDs become much more wonderful than before.

I began reading this book simply with the desire to "see how it works". I had little knowledge about electronics and less about amplifiers. I had tested all of mine (for power output only) with a scope and signal generator. The book lays out absolutely every component of a power amp in explicit detail, without "losing the plot" or stating the obvious. Every section is thorough and witty, leaving no stone unturned and no opportunity for humor missed. I read it end to end twice for the simple purpose of trying to absorb more detail. Each time i pick it up i learn something new, infact i picked up my flatmates copy so much that i thought i'd better buy him a new one. Excellent not only as a good specific read but also as a fine piece of reference material. I look forward to any further offerings from Randy Slone. Mr Slone has been more than helpful answering email on questions that i possibly could have answered myself, and hasn't for a moment lost patience with me. A remarkable book, good for everyone interested in audio, from driving one sub to filling an entire concert hall.

This has got to be the single best book I have read on building high-power amplifers! Many other publications do not go into the level of theory that is needed, or, go to the extreme. This book has a nice balance between theory and application. An extra bonus is the pcb artwork is included for several designs in the book (complete with parts placement diagram). G. Randy Slone does a great job of "debunking the myths" of audio amplification; in an almost humorus way! I would not advise a pure electronics beginner get this book, unless they simply want some basic information povided in the early chapters and some complete power-amp designs. There is some discussion requiring basic knowledge of tranistor/mosfet (and the like) theory. G. Randy Slone does indicate that he did not write the book for the pure novice. That being said, I have had only two, very basic, EE classes (about 9 years ago), and I don't have much trouble with the book. :-) I highly encourage anyone who is interested in building and designing power-amps to get this book.

From this book, I have learned more on amplifiers than from anything I have ever read before. Sometimes a little categoric: Single transistor stages are inferior, period!