Talk:Amplifier

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Amplification is a basic process sometimes seen in nature, and often used in processes which involve a signal which must be made stronger.

Removed. According to basic process, saying that amplification is a basic process is to say it is "a phenomenon which is one of the elemental building blocks of reality". I don't believe there is any significant body of human thought that makes this claim. Furthermore, it seems to border on meaninglessness, unless someone cares to flesh this claim out. For example, is amplification more or less "elemental" than, say, light, or souls, or cultures, or "the market", or fundamental particles? Whether you take amplification to be "fundamental" seems to depend entirely on the question one is asking, or the area one is investigating. Why do we need to claim amplification is elemental in general? --Ryguasu 08:35 Nov 12, 2002 (UTC)

An amplifier is a device which changes a small movement into a larger movement. But this also defines transformers as well as SImple Machines, and these are not amplifiers. An amplifier amplifies, i.e. there is energy-gain.--Wjbeaty 05:43, Mar 31, 2005 (UTC)

Though you always should mention where the extra energy is coming from, or risk both confusing newcomers and inspiring crackpots. - Omegatron July 9, 2005 19:18 (UTC)

1 who invented the amplifier
2 Complete Rewrite
3 transistor amplifier
4 External Links are Bad
5 Class of amp
6 Merge with electronic amplifier
7 Rewrite.....
8 Hub Page
9 Cut from page
10 Information about high power microwave valves
11 Someone clean "linearity" up please
12 Carbon mic amplifiers

[edit] who invented the amplifier

Perhaps Thomas Edison? The Carbon microphone is an amplifier. Edison even built amplifiers for long distance phone lines by connecting a loudspeaker to a carbon microphone and battery. But I don't know if there were earlier amps before this. See: [1] --Wjbeaty 05:43, Mar 31, 2005 (UTC)

Microphones are really transducers, which convert energy in one form (mechanical air pressure) into another form (electrical signals).

[edit] Complete Rewrite

This page is not really satisfactory as it is with lots of imprecision, errors and just lack of theme. I propose to rewrite.

Any suggestios/comments? Al212.74.96.201 03:58, 1 August 2005 (UTC)

Lots of articles, not just this one, that have to do with electrical concepts are full of half truths, sometimes non-truths.

I think it is because they are written by enthusiasts, but not by actual specialists who have studied these topics and have contributed to the discipline.

You've said that on a few pages, but haven't given any examples. — Omegatron 19:35, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] transistor amplifier

Should we create an article for the different types of transistor amplifiers? We already have common base, common collector, differential amplifier, long-tailed pair, cascode and so on. Would be helpful to tie them all together. — Omegatron 18:07, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

I was thinking a nav box type thing would be handy. Three columns: FET, BJT, tube; three 'common-'s per column; and topologies along the bottom. Such a box could become bloated, though. - mako 07:27, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

Oh. I made it the other day. See Common_base#See_also. — Omegatron 12:27, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] External Links are Bad

This page explains about basic amplifier, but unneccesarily links to some 60w amplifier circuits. External links are not required for this page.

[edit] Class of amp

While it may not be written clearly it looks OK in terms of electronics design. I would suggest that as a external definative reference you use the first few chapters of the radio communication handbook published by the RSGB. This book is aimed at the radio electronics community but the ideas apply to audio equipment. I think that this page should be rewritten as an audio amp page, as it concentrates on audio equipment very much with the exclusion of things such as radio amps.

You may wish to read the page at Electronic amplifier which I suspect has been created and worked on by a different group of people who have not had much to do with this page.

Cadmium 16:41, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Merge with electronic amplifier

This entry should be merged with electronic amplifier. In particular, the discussion of amplifier classes and efficiency is not clear on this page. This could be eliminated from this page, since there is a good discussion of amplifier classes under the electronic amplifier entry.

Agree about the new classes section. There should just be a paragraph about electronic amplifiers in here with a {{main}} link to electronic amplifier. — Omegatron 22:48, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rewrite.....

I personally feel that the quality of the article is very poor......i vote to rewrite the article...... and there is no need to merge the classification of amplifiers with electronic amplifiers...

Jayant, 17 Years, India|^(Talk) 05:51, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hub Page

I intend to make this into a hub page with all different sorts of amplifer being breifly described then linked to their own main pages.--Light current 01:23, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Started tidy up. and transformation to hub page.--Light current 01:31, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

LC, the discussion is a bit too audio-centric. The audio amplifier page could use some content. - mako 02:31, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cut from page

Harmonic distortion is fairly easy to measure. The amplifier output is connected to a spectrum analyzer (a device which graphs frequency against amplitude). A pure tone -- typically a sinusoidal signal at 1 kHz -- is then applied to the amplifier input. The largest signal on your analyzer should be the input signal at 1 kHz. You will sometimes see humps at even intervals along the graph at multiples of that base signal. These are the harmonics. The total harmonic distortion (THD) is the sum of these components relative to the signal. --Light current 11:48, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Information about high power microwave valves

I added information about the continuing advantages of microwave high power valve over semiconductor in the Valve amplifier section. I also added a Reference section and cleaned up the See also secton.Gerry Ashton 18:59, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Thats good. 8-) But have you considered adding the info to Valve amplifier instead or in addition? PS dont forget to sign your posts!--Light current 18:26, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Someone clean "linearity" up please

The last paragraph there? I don't even know where to begin.

KjellElec means:

Linearity as such is easily defined, see Wiki. But this statement from the article is a horror and needs to be dealt with in detail or removed:

"Because tubes are significantly more linear than transistors, tube amplifiers do not need as much global negative feedback to achieve acceptable linearity."

Does he compare triodes, tetrodes or pentodes to bipolar, Jfet or Mosfet transistors, and are they low-power types or not? Does he compare components or practical circuits? Tube audio power amps must normally use output transformers, whose wild phase excursions at high frequencies forbid hard overall global feedback in order to stay stable. Thus tube power amps are _forced_ to use a limited amount of global feedback.

End of KjellElec meaning