To truly enjoy this hobby, I need to learn electronics. Any book recs?


I am at square zero in terms of understanding this stuff, and I am tired of navigating by Braille.

I want to find a class or a book that can give me at least the basics of how these circuits work to produce sound.

I would appreciate any suggestions of books, channels or classes that can help.

saulh

Contact Ralph Karsten at Atma-Sphere. I'm sure he can recommend some books on electronic theory, circuit design, etc. Forget about books aimed at audiophiles, like the one by Robert Harley; that's not technical information, it's hi-fi consumer advice.  

Your basic premise is flawed unless your enjoyment of the hobby is based on how things work, rather than music to be enjoyed, or used as an escape.

Try 'The art of electronics' by Horowitz and Hill.  It's a classic work that covers a lot of ground.

Also I recommend 'tube cad journal' on the net by John Broskie, this is proper electronics but not mired in jargon and maths.

Elliot Sound Products web pages are excellent.

John Linsley-Hood wrote for a number of magazines and published books on schematics for audio components, including:

  • The Art of Linear Electronics (Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann, 1993)
  • Audio Electronics (Oxford, Newnes, 1995)
  • Valve and Transistor Audio Amplifiers (Oxford, Newnes, 1997)

 

My local community college has a pretty strong electronics program that I am about 3/4 through - for me it is Macomb in Michigan. It was worth the time to really learn the stuff - not just the theories and math, but building stuff in the lab also.

-Geoff

For a few years before his tragic passing in 2019, Roger Modjeski of Music Reference was teaching a class on audio electronics in Berkeley/Oakland. If I was living in the Bay Area then I would definitely have enrolled.

For an introduction to his thinking on amplifier design, search for his talks at the annual Burning Amp Festival, held in San Francisco. There are videos of his hour-long presentations viewable on YouTube, as are those of Nelson Pass.