| Home | Audio Magazine | Stereo
Review magazine | Good Sound | Troubleshooting Departments | Features | ADs | Equipment | Music/Recordings | History |
|
FEATURES: A 30W PUSH-PULL 3CX300A1 MONOBLOCK: A noted Japanese designer shows us his latest amp design, which features Svetlana tubes and a Plitron transformer; By Satoru Kobayashi A PHONO PRE-PREAMPLIFIER FOR THE CD ERA, PT. 1 This former astronaut launches a small phono preamp; By Norman E. Thagard THD IS MEANINGLESS, PT. 1 Brace yourself for this proposal to toss conventional distortion measurements out the window; By Anthony New REVIEWS: REFERENCE MM DE CAPO SPEAKERS: A rear-vented two-way speaker from a longstanding loudspeaker manufacturer; By Joe D'Appolito ON ANGEL'S WINGS, PT. 1: There's something angelic about the sound of this super ribbon speaker; By Tom Perazella THE DR10 HORN: Some groundbreaking work in horn-loaded cabinet design; By Bill Fitzmaurice TILTING WITH TUBES: Build this filter circuit to add a warm sound to your tube amp; By SKR A SIMPLE GOLDEN POWERED SUB: A weekend project to enhance your system; By LM AUDIO CLASSROOM, PT. 6A: A classic text from one of the great teachers of amp design; By Norman H. Crowhurst MANLEY STINGRAY AMP--A uniquely designed push-pull 50W tube amplifier DEPARTMENTS: EDITORIAL: Facts of Life ... from a Publisher's Perspective AUDIO NEWS: What's new on the audio market MAIL: Feedback from the audience BOOK REVIEWS: GEC Tube Data Modern; High-End Valve Amplifiers AUDIO AIDS: Improving DVD and Video NEW CHIPS ON THE BLOCK AKM Semiconductors Analog Devices AD1885 Micronas MAS 3509D GLASS SHARD: Taming High Line Voltage TEST TRACKS: Readers' favorites to test audio systems CODE: Articles and letters identified with the following symbols: transistors tubes speakers 2001-02 FEATURES: A MODULAR HYBRID AMP SYSTEM: Here's an Italian amp design that combines good driving performance with the pleasing sound of tubes. By Marco Ferretti A QUICK BOOKSHELF PAIR This author finds a way to satisfy his audio needs with a basic 5” driver-in a-box design. By Lester Mertz MORE ON TL SPEAKER DESIGN This author's update on his two-way transmission-line design includes a modified crossover, along with measured responses and a revised simulation. By John Mattern A PHONO PRE-PREAMPLIFIER FOR THE CD ERA, PT. 2 This audio designer who has traveled in space shows you how to safely and efficiently navigate through the perils of phono preamp design. By Norman E. Thagard SAVE THE TUBES Here are some tips from a tube veteran on how to extend the life of your tubes. By Larry Lisle THD IS MEANINGLESS, PT. 2 Are intermodulation distortion figures far more relevant than THD figures in measuring amplifier sound ? By Anthony New ON ANGELS' WINGS, PT. 2 With the preliminaries out of the way, it's time to assemble this rib bon speaker and-the moment you've been waiting for-kick back and take a listen. By Tom Perazella AUDIO CLASSROOM, PT. 6B This noted audio teacher wraps up his discussion of which circuit to use in your amplifier design. By Norman H. Crowhurst REVIEWS B&W DM602 S2 SPEAKERS A look at an affordable two-way from the company that gave us the unique Nautilus speaker. By Joe D'Appolito LISTENING CRITIQUE By Tom Perazella NAD T550 DVD PLAYER A versatile performer in the DVD field. By Gary A. Galo DEPARTMENTS: EDITORIAL: Building beauty AUDIO NEWS: What's new on the audio market MAIL/Feedback: Readers speak out BOOK REVIEW High-Power Audio Amplifier Construction Manual By Charles Hansen .82 GLASS SHARD Experience the best features of auto and fixed bias By A. J. van Doorn NEW CHIPS ON THE BLOCK AKM Semiconductor AK4112A By Charles Hansen MUSIC CORNER Are musical impressions, like diamonds, forever ? Your chance to sound off. By Don Monroe TEST TRACKS Readers' favorites to test audio systems By Dan Martin
CONTENTS FEATURES: A 1 PPM IM DISTORTION ANALYZER--You can build this low-cost, unbelievably high-sensitivity IMD instrument to measure small amounts of distortion. By Richard Crawford AN 8W 2E24 SE AMP--This author's parallel, single-ended amp design features 8W of power and a "clean, clear" sound. By Don Kang AMPLIFIER MUSICALITY--This classic study from a respected audio authority correlates measurements and musical performance. By Jean Hiraga FRYKLEANER: AN AUDIO BURN-IN GENERATOR--An inside look behind the hardware design of a complete self contained burn-in system. By Jim Hagerman AGAINST THE WALL: AN UPGRADE--In this author's continual efforts to upgrade his speaker system, he presents an improved version of his popular "thin speaker" project published in Dec. '02. By John Mattern WHY SPEAKERS HAVE SLANTED FRONTS, PT. 4--This audio veteran concludes his extensive study with tips on positioning your tipped-front-panel enclosures and how to build them. By G. R. Koonce. REVIEWS: VIRTOS NOISE WIZARD--Improve the quality of your recordings with this digital editing software. Reviewed by Richard Honeycutt. DEPARTMENTS: OBITUARY -- PETER WALKER, 1916-2003, By Reg Williamson
NEW CHIPS ON THE BLOCK-- Bicron Transformers and Burr-Brown DSS1700 DAC. By Charles Hansen. XPRESS MAIL--Readers speak out. SHOWCASE--A Bulgarian Builds a Spencer Amp. By M. Nyssen. 2004: Battery-Powered Class A Headphone Amp (a DIY project) (Jul.) Tube Audio Construction Tips: Transformers (Jul.) High-Quality Moving Magnet (MM) IC Preamp High Power SE 6C33C Amp – A vacuum-tube DIY project Optocouplers for Audio (Sept.) Selectronic GRAND MOS Silver Design Amplifier (review) (Sept.) Loudspeaker Room Correction, Part 2 (Sept.) Filament and High Voltage Power for Vacuum Tube Electronics High-Quality Vacuum Tube (aka valve) Control Unit (Oct.) Notes on Musicality and Distortion (Oct.) Steps to Design and Build a Pair of Speakers (Oct.) Why Power Tubes (valves) Arc (Nov.) Single-Ended to Differential-Mode Vacuum Tube Projects Made Easy High-Voltage Differential Amplifier for Measurement Rebuild a Classic Heath’s W-5M Sonic Comparison of Power Amplifier Output vs. Input InterSil D2Audio Class D Audio Modules 2005: Passive Preamp: Transformer Implemented (Jan) A Shock Hazard Tester (Feb.) A Transconductance Tube Tester Test Standard Loudspeaker: Driver Parameter Assessment Using Transient Capture Analysis (Feb.) Transformers (Feb.) Build a DIY Music Library Preamp (Mar.) Capacitor Bypassing in Audio Power Supply Circuits: Proceed Carefully! (May) POOGE for eBay/Craig's List Electronics Test Gear (May) A Snail Tail Subwoofer (DIY project) (May) Electrostatic Loudspeaker Basics, Part 1 (June) All-JFET MM/MC Phono Preamp, Part 1 (June) Load Impedance and Stepped Attenuators Tubes Tube Audio Construction Tips, Part 5: Recycling Mail (Letters) Book Review (Smart Home Hacks--Meyer Review) Speakers--Diffraction Doesn't Have to Be a Problem --- --- Speakers--The Wedgehorn (July) All-FET MM/MC Phono Preamp, Part 2 Tubes--Isolator Tube Interface to Computers Electrostatic Loudspeaker Basics, Part 2 Tube Audio Construction Tips Part 6: A Coil Winder Mail (letters) USB Audio: PC Sound Amp --- --- Dynaco SCA 80 – update and rebuild (Aug.) Five Speaker Myths Undone (Aug.) A Full Bridge Tube Output Amp (Aug.) Loudspeaker Damping -- Theory + Application (Aug) Nardeux Stereomatic 602 S Vacuum-Tube Amplifier (Sept.) DIY High-Quality Solid-State Headphone Amp (Nov.) Musical Waveform Peak and Average Power Frequency Distributions (Nov.) 2006: An IM Signal Generator Upgrade (Feb) Clamped Bias, AB2, RC Coupled Vacuum-Tube Amp Purist Recording Mixer--A high-performance mike preamp/mixer/monitor (Feb.) Selectronic ProFET amplifier review Dynaco 400 amplifier upgrade project (Feb) Lowering a Loudspeaker’s Mechanical Noise Floor Stands for Tiny Speakers--a simple, low-cost project (Apr.) Switchable Gain Booster Amplifier (Apr.) A Solid-State Single-Ended Power Amp (Apr.) Mighty Mouse: A PP 25L6 Amplifier Driver Interference and Display Techniques, Pt. 1, Pt. 2 (Apr./May) Renovating the H.H. Scott 222C vacuum tube integrated amplifier (May) Rehabilitating Cathode Followers (May) 6A87 Current-Balanced Push-Pull Amplifier Two-Transistor MC Phono Step-up (July) 2006 (Sept.):
Economical High-Quality Stepped Attenuators – A DIY project (Oct.) A Tube-based Balanced RIAA Amplifier for Moving Magnet Cartridges – DIY project One-Transistor MC Step-up (Nov) A DIY Phase Meter Calibrator (Nov.) Precise dB Monitoring with Eye Tubes 2007: A $450 Triode/Ultralinear Integrated Stereo Amplifier (Jan.) DIY Combination Horn Loudspeaker Project The Cathode Follower and Its Weaker Siblings (Test results confirm that cathode followers are even more capable of driving capacitive loads than equivalent common-cathode amplifiers.) A Unique Loudspeaker Crossover Design with Waveform Fidelity Build a Wide-Range Audio Sweep Oscillator Reliable Audio Engineering via Grounding and System Interlacing How Loud Is Real? Why loudness controls never worked Six-Transistor Ultra Low-Noise MC Phono Preamp (April) A Low-Noise Measurement Preamp (Apr.) Speech Intelligibility: What reverb is -- and how to calculate it Radio Shack Sound Level Meter Characteristics An Analog A/B/I Switcher + Headphone Amp The GAMP: Adaptable Power for Tube Amps Japanese IC Preamp with Electronic Level and Selector High-End 120W MOSFET IC Driven Amp The Silent Information Revolution -- Online education challenges traditional paradigms Gamma: A 10-Watt Integrated Amplifier Tweaking the Passive Inverse RIAA Network (Aug.) Calibration of the Hickok 539C tube tester (Aug.) Cascoding National’s LM12 for 140W (Aug.) Optimum Stages for Minimal Distortion (Aug.) Ultra-Low Distortion Phono Preamp: The LP-797 (Sept.) A Loudness-Compensated Level Control Stage (Oct.) The Many Uses of a Hybrid Van Scoyoc Circuit Sounds and Hearing (Oct./Nov.) Intrinsic Fidelity Testing -- Limits of conventional listening evaluations (Oct./Nov.) A Hybrid Valve/MOSFET Single-Ended Amp, Part 1 (Oct.) A Single-Ended Class-A Hybrid Amp, Part 2 (Nov.) A Mains Analyzer--How Clean Is Your Juice? (Nov./Dec.) 2008: Advantages of Wall Wart Adaptors Audio Tweaks, Mods vs. Science-based Evidence A Hybrid (Tube/Solid-State) High-Fidelity Power Amplifier (Jan.) A Minimalist Audio Amplifier Design An Inductively-Equalized Solid-State Phono Preamp The G40EP: A Flea-Powered Headphone Amp (Mar) The G40EP: A Flea-Powered Headphone Amp (and how to improve this classic design) Copper Tubing Capacitor Connections (June) Multiple “Wall-Wart” Power Supply for Audio (June) Single-Ended, Vacuum Tube, Class-A Headphone Amp (a DIY project) (Jun.) Upgrading a Belt-Drive Turntable Salvaging vintage audio (electronics) treasures -- from dumpsters, eBay, etc. Buying audio gear on the web: eBay, Craig's List, Audigon, and beyond Tips with audio projects using vacuum tubes (valves) circuits: Choosing Cathode Bypass Capacitors (Aug.) AC power methods:
Class-D amps (Nov.) 2009: Benchmark DAC1 USB [review] A Chip-Driven SE Monoblock Amplifier Balanced Audio Cable Hum: Cause and Cure (May) ezDAC -- A high-performance DIY digital-to-analog processor (May) The Unnecessarily Complex 300B Amplifier Design and Measurement of a Dipole Microphone (Jun.) Improving a Flea-Powered Headphone Amplifier (Jun.) Pre-amplifier design tips (Jun.) Maintaining Your Balance -- A DIY project to handle balanced/unbalanced devices A DIY true RMS audio AC Voltmeter An experimental error-correction power amplifier (Aug.) Regulated Power Supply for Tube Projects (Aug.) PS Audio Digital Link III -- Digital-to-Analog Converter Review of the Pioneer X-Z9 Compact Stereo System 21st-Century Cinema Design--Viewing and listening requirements for a THX-quality theater design. Review of Echo Busters Decorative Acoustical Treatments Phonograph Groove Jockey -- a unity-gain signal-conditioning module (Oct.) The Noise (Analysis) Machine -- a method to perform accurate noise measurements Distortion Meter – An Audio Interconnect Tester? Interview with the late Professor Malcolm Hawksford Chassis construction techniques for audio projects 2011 "Vanishing" Loudspeakers – a DIY project for stereo and THX surround use (Mar.) The Basics of Headphone Testing and Measurements Ultra Low-Noise Phono Preamp [theory, concept, design and DIY project] DIY DAP—A Do-It-Yourself Digital Audio Player: Build an embedded hardware/software system for 16-bit digital audio. The Willowhill Pre-amp -- A high slew-rate JFET pre-amplifier Rebuild an Old Turntable -- A simple circuit and some tinkering allow clean analog sound. All About Speaker Cones -- Let's examine loudspeaker materials, fabrication, and quality Below content adapted from Edward T. Dell, Jr.'s original Audio Electronics / Audio Amateur magazine ...
Four / 1989: About this issue: Help is arriving for those of you with 14-bit Magnavox CD machines in John Allgaier's continuing safari through that quadrant of the digital jungle (p. 8). Ronald Bauman, aware of the supposed pit falls of feedback, began an extended study of an older form of error correction called feedforward, an exotic concept used in few audio devices to date. His series, beginning on page 15, will appear at intervals. If anyone had told me I would agree to publish a return to the old PAT-4 plat form, I would have considered them ready for therapy. But when the surgeon is a Tom O'Brien and what remains of Dynaco's worst lemon is mostly the knobs, switches and the case, then the prospect (p. 22) becomes positively delicious. At the other end of the reputation spectrum ADCOM's GFA-555 is well regarded by many. Kit Ryan was unhappy enough with his to devise a way to regulate its voltage supply (p. 34) and implement it with satisfying results. A rich assortment of four Audio Aids begins on p. 46 and Contributing Editor Gary Galo reviews several basic books, a neat circuit board fabrication aid, and answers readers' questions in his Ask TAA column (p. 41). John Sunier of the popular radio show, Audiophile Auditions, is also present with a rich offering of CD and cassette reviews (p. 51). Erno Borbely's series on distortion is on hold pending completion of extensive op amp evaluations. -E.T.D. Contents: 1. Just looking 3. Feed Forward Error Calibration 4. TIME LORD (Ad) 5. The Dynaco PAT 4 Preamp Reborn 6. A Power Supply Regulator For The Adcom GFA-555 7. Pearl -- Hand Builders of Precision High Fidelity Equipment (Ad) 8. Ask TAA 9. GSI (ad) 10. AUDIO AIDS 11. Reviews: REISSUE PROJECTS, etc. 12. SHOWCASE: BORBELY PREAMPLIFIER 13. Letters (mail)
A New Outboard DAC: Part 1; By Hank Z. The Dynamic Range Potential Of The Phonograph; By Ronald B. Home Theater--A Playground For The Audio Amateur: Part 2; By David C. Book Report: Digital Projects for Musicians; Reviewed by Bill F. Just Looking Audio Aids: Capacitorless CD Output; Taming CD Stridency Letters (mail, email and feedback) Showcase; By Irving F.
Content: ARTICLES: A Case Study in Audio Amp Design: Part 4 DEPARTMENTS: EDITORIAL -- By Edward T. Dell, Jr. GUEST EDITORIAL -- By Gary Galo PRODUCT REVIEW -- HHB Compact Disc Recorder KIT REVIEWS: Marchand PR41 Passive Preamplifier AUDIO AID Resins for Loads -- By Mark L. Sanfilipo JUST LOOKING LETTERS 2000-03: Content: On The Mechanics of Tonearms, Part 1 A Case Study in Audio Amp Design: Part 5 DEPARTMENTS PRODUCT REVIEWS BOOK REVIEW--Elektor 300 Circuits AUDIO AID What's a VU? JUST LOOKING IN EVERY ISSUE 2000-04: Content: About this Issue JUST LOOKING EDITORIAL--My Test Tracks Improved Positive/Negative Regulators The Mechanics of Tonearms -- Part 2: Effective Mass A CASE STUDY IN AUDIO AMP DESIGN: THE A40M, PART 6 PRODUCT REVIEW A DSO Trio, Part 2 PRODUCT REVIEW--CD Repair Kits Pass Thagard A75-- Calgary Version BOOK REVIEW--The Joy of Audio Electronics LETTERS NEW CHIPS ON THE BLOCK--BURR-BROWN INA148
MAIN ARTICLES: Upgrading Monarchy's Converters and Amplifiers DEPARTMENTS: PUBLISHER ANNOUNCEMENT LETTERS PRODUCT REVIEWS: Monarchy Audio SM-70 and SE-100 Delux Power Amplifiers A DSO Trio, Part 3 NEW CHIPS ON THE BLOCK
ABOUT THIS ISSUE: Is distortion ruining the pleasure of listening to your favorite musical recordings? L. Mirabel dramatically enlarged his record library with this treble distortion filter circuit. He also expands this filter design into a complete room equalizer ("Filter for Treble Distortion" ). Add Mark Rehorst's simple circuit module to your PC board for dual voltage supplies ("Dual Voltage-Regulator Module"). Time and again, author Gary Galo has shown how a simple circuit modification can pay big dividends. This time around, his fix to an outboard phono preamp addresses an unusual power-supply configuration and improves the sound of the unit ("A Simple PP-1 Mod"). Regular contributor C. Hansen shows you how to build a piece of test equipment for measuring audio units with balanced inputs or outputs ("An Audio Balun"). Circuit guru Michael Kornacker reworks a traditional voltage-doubler circuit for use in his own configurations. Add his designs to your own circuit library ("Voltage-Doubler Circuits"). Jensen Transformers has released several products that are helpful in over coming grounding problems in your audio/video applications. Charles H. and Ed Dell tell you how they perform ("Product Review"). Thumbs up or thumbs down? Review editor Gary A. G. previews the latest in digital design kits from The Parts Connection ("Kit Review"). We kick off our AE Test Tracks column with some recollections from music fan Philippe Trolliet of Montreal. Content: A Filter For Treble Distortion In Recordings Assemblage DAC 2.6 and DAC-3.0 IN MEMORIAM NEW CHIPS ON THE BLOCK-- Linear Technology LT1468 TEST TRACKS |
|
| Home | Audio Magazine | Stereo
Review magazine | Good Sound | Troubleshooting |
