Audio Engineering: Know It All

Chapter 6. Introduction to Audio Amplification

In the field of audio amplifiers there has been great interest in techniques for making small electrical voltages larger ever since mankind first attempted to transmit the human voice along lengthy telephone cables. This quest received an enormous boost with the introduction of radio broadcasts and the resulting mass production of domestic radio receivers intended to operate a loudspeaker output. However, the final result, in the ear of the listener, although continually improved over the passage of the years, is still a relatively imperfect imitation of the real-life sounds that the engineer has attempted to copy. Although most of the shortcomings in this attempt at sonic imitation are not because ...