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Rating: 
Summary: 6 Great Projects Plus a Good Read
Review: Audio Reality is a worthwhile investment for anyone interested in DIY valve audio. Half of the book is devoted to an examination of 6 amplifier designs created by the author, and includes construction and testing advice, parts lists and schematics. The most interesting of the 6 projects featured are the author's well-known "grounded-grid" preamplifier and his 80W/channel output transformerless power amplifier. Any DIY enthusiast who is looking for something a bit more challenging than usual would find these designs fascinating.
The first half of the book is a series of articles which set out to debunk some commonly held opinions amongst audio enthusiasts. Whilst the author is not totally dismissive of these ideas he is clearly sceptical about most. He does, however, provide sound electrical and engineering justification for his views and confines his harshest criticism for the more extreme "myths".
The only fault I found with the book is the author's style, which is a little self-congratulatory and indulgent at times, however that does not detract from the sound advice and excellent designs.
Rating:
Summary: 6 Great Projects Plus a Good Read
Review: Audio Reality is a worthwhile investment for anyone interested in DIY valve audio. Half of the book is devoted to an examination of 6 amplifier designs created by the author, and includes construction and testing advice, parts lists and schematics. The most interesting of the 6 projects featured are the author's well-known "grounded-grid" preamplifier and his 80W/channel output transformerless power amplifier. Any DIY enthusiast who is looking for something a bit more challenging than usual would find these designs fascinating.
The first half of the book is a series of articles which set out to debunk some commonly held opinions amongst audio enthusiasts. Whilst the author is not totally dismissive of these ideas he is clearly sceptical about most. He does, however, provide sound electrical and engineering justification for his views and confines his harshest criticism for the more extreme "myths".
The only fault I found with the book is the author's style, which is a little self-congratulatory and indulgent at times, however that does not detract from the sound advice and excellent designs.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT--totally accurate and highly recommended
Review: Bruce's book is the first I have ever seen which told the TRUTH about tube audio electronic design.Far too much of this field is poisoned by quacks, egomaniacs and delusional schizophrenics. All trying to sell consumers their half-baked designs, as well as their half-baked philosophies. Making a great-sounding tube amp is both easier than people realize, and not obvious. The technology is forgiving of outright incompetence. So, a few crap artists are able to make something that more-or-less works. By comparison, Bruce makes high-end equipment that SOUNDS high end--no mushy bass, no haze, none of the stereotypical "tube sound" that (still) gives tubes a bad name. The projects in the back of the book, if properly built, will sound EXCELLENT. I know because I have heard some of them. Period. End of story. If you know how to use a soldering iron, BUY THIS BOOK and build the circuits therein--then you will get good sound. Guaranteed. And even if you don't intend to build one of the projects, the first section, with its accurate debunking of audio myths, is REQUIRED READING for anyone in the audiophile world. --Eric Barbour, Svetlana Electron Devices and VACUUM TUBE VALLEY magazine
Rating: 
Summary: Genuine and Informative.
Review: I have found most articles and books written about audio to be subjective and convoluted. Bruce Rozenblit's work "Audio Reality", is to me genuine. His experience in the field prove to be informative and worth the price of this book. I highly recommend his work.
Rating:
Summary: Real-World Magic
Review: The book is for anybody who is in search for the "audio-truth" and is willing to make the journey with his/hers own feet, with a nice bag of solid tools to exorcise magicians and witches along the way. The author strives to make you aware of three things: 1) You and you only is the one who has to judge your equipment and be happy with it. 2) You need clear, unambiguos, real-world informations to sharpen your critical mind and be able to choose equipment free of myth and magic. 3) High-end audio does not necessarily mean high-end cost. To me, he made all his points. You may believe that a extraordinary expensive cable is an audio revolution, but if you are honest with yourself, after reading this book you have to ask yourself WHY... Knowledge in the audio arena helps you to have more fun, less fears, and a fuller pocket. The second half of the book is devoted to several tube projects that are interestingly detailed with design choices, but near to impossible to realize if you are not skilled to translate an electric scheme into real parts and wire routings; definately not for the beginners. I would have much liked a wiring and components layout to complement the circuit analisys. These projects are not theorical, Rozenblit actually commercially builds and sells what is detailed in the book, so in more than a way he publicly expose his ideas, engineering style and convinctions to anybody who cares to check... in my opinion much more than can be said of the great majority of competitors. See for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Real-World Magic
Review: The book is for anybody who is in search for the "audio-truth" and is willing to make the journey with his/hers own feet, with a nice bag of solid tools to exorcise magicians and witches along the way. The author strives to make you aware of three things: 1) You and you only is the one who has to judge your equipment and be happy with it. 2) You need clear, unambiguos, real-world informations to sharpen your critical mind and be able to choose equipment free of myth and magic. 3) High-end audio does not necessarily mean high-end cost. To me, he made all his points. You may believe that a extraordinary expensive cable is an audio revolution, but if you are honest with yourself, after reading this book you have to ask yourself WHY... Knowledge in the audio arena helps you to have more fun, less fears, and a fuller pocket. The second half of the book is devoted to several tube projects that are interestingly detailed with design choices, but near to impossible to realize if you are not skilled to translate an electric scheme into real parts and wire routings; definately not for the beginners. I would have much liked a wiring and components layout to complement the circuit analisys. These projects are not theorical, Rozenblit actually commercially builds and sells what is detailed in the book, so in more than a way he publicly expose his ideas, engineering style and convinctions to anybody who cares to check... in my opinion much more than can be said of the great majority of competitors. See for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent desription over all
Review: This book is an exceptional book on audio reality. It really deals with some of the most common myths regarding "high end tube audio". I really loved to see someone tell the tube audio newcomers what it's all about these silver capacitors / cables and all the rest of weired and crazy part selection game. Although I know that one can have exceptional good sound from a few watts on horn speakers, Bruce Rozenblit is certainly true with his designs when it goes to normal speakers. I have heard the OTL design and must say, that it is a very impressive and excellent sounding amplifier. Must read for anyone starting to build his own tube audio equipment!
Rating:
Summary: If you can get past the author's ego, this is a great book.
Review: This book is controversial, but from what I can tell Bruce likes it that way. The first half of the book is the section where "myths" are debunked and "truths" are revealed. Now, I'm an audiophile and I disagree with him on many things, but there's merit to some of the things he says. He's paricularly vitriolic against the snake oil salesmen of the high end audio world. I read the section, agreed with some things, disagreed with many, absorbed what was useful and moved on. My other complaint is that a good part of the book is spent by the author patting himself on the back and mentioning again and again (and again) that he's an ELECTRICAL ENGINEER and that he's been AWARDED A PATENT for his OTL circuit. Now don't get me wrong, these are admirable acheivements. But the way he goes about it gets annoying at times, almost to the point of self congratulatory gloating. But... BUT! Bruce is to be admired for having the guts (and the generosity) to put the schematics of his very high performance designs out there for anyone that buys the book to use. Heck, he even has his own website and forum where he helps people with their projects! The projects are explained with great detail, complete with parts lists. What makes this all the more remarkable is that Bruce is also an audio equipment manufacturer and some of the designs in the book are products that he still sells today. The OTL (output transformerless) tube amp has been very positively reviewed by some of the most "snooty" of the high end magazines. This is his bread and butter and he still puts it out for you to build yourself if you wish to. I may disagree with Bruce, but I respect him. I recommend this book highly.
Rating:
Summary: If you can get past the author's ego, this is a great book.
Review: This book is controversial, but from what I can tell Bruce likes it that way. The first half of the book is the section where "myths" are debunked and "truths" are revealed. Now, I'm an audiophile and I disagree with him on many things, but there's merit to some of the things he says. He's paricularly vitriolic against the snake oil salesmen of the high end audio world. I read the section, agreed with some things, disagreed with many, absorbed what was useful and moved on. My other complaint is that a good part of the book is spent by the author patting himself on the back and mentioning again and again (and again) that he's an ELECTRICAL ENGINEER and that he's been AWARDED A PATENT for his OTL circuit. Now don't get me wrong, these are admirable acheivements. But the way he goes about it gets annoying at times, almost to the point of self congratulatory gloating. But... BUT! Bruce is to be admired for having the guts (and the generosity) to put the schematics of his very high performance designs out there for anyone that buys the book to use. Heck, he even has his own website and forum where he helps people with their projects! The projects are explained with great detail, complete with parts lists. What makes this all the more remarkable is that Bruce is also an audio equipment manufacturer and some of the designs in the book are products that he still sells today. The OTL (output transformerless) tube amp has been very positively reviewed by some of the most "snooty" of the high end magazines. This is his bread and butter and he still puts it out for you to build yourself if you wish to. I may disagree with Bruce, but I respect him. I recommend this book highly.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent technical introduction to audio electronics
Review: This is the best nonmathematical introduction to audio electronics in print today. It provides a clear elucidation of basic concepts and a much needed corrective to the many myths that have been fostered by the subjective press over the years. The book is a bit schizphrenic to the extent that it is roughly half explanatory text and half hands on projects, but the projects do support the conceptual presentation admirably. Rosenblit is a manufacturer and advocate of tube electronics, an area that is rife with just the sort of myths he is at pains to debunk. I wish that he had spent a little time on attempting to develop a rational argument in favor of tube electronics for high fidelity applications. There are many of us who prefer them who are not in the lunatic fringe. A reasoned summary of vacuum tube advantages would be welcome. All in all, an excellent piece.
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