JLH Memorabilia - The Past Perfect!

Annals of a Life in Tech - Exploring the '80s           Exploring the 1980s is like diving deep into the ocean. Indeed it was a very fertile and fruitful decade, if we are to judge by the output from the pen of the Master. To those for whom the name JLH appears to be that of  "just another designer" from the previous century, perhaps a mere look at the variety and the depth of his articles will be enough to correct that (patently untrue!) notion. Valves, anybody ?           It is perhaps fitting that we ring in the decade with a glowing article on the valve -- JLH's first love. (The article was published in the  Electronics Today International magazine of Aug, 1989.) As we know, the Williamson valve amplifier that he had built as a young man was truly his first love. Only after a long period of critical audition, when he had discovered that his solid-state Class-A amplifier was subjectively indistinguishable  fro...

Annals of a Life in Tech  - the 1970s            Here is a peek through the window of time into the distant past when the likes of John Linsley Hood walked the earth, and did his best to give us nuggets of audio finery, and shared his considerable wisdom with us. Through these authentic archives it is hoped that the rich legacy of JLH shall be kept alive for the benefit of the generations to come. Open Sesame !!  Transistor Theory           As we know, transistors were a novelty and a curiosity in the 1960s, and designers, most of whom had (including JLH) grown up in the valve/tube era,  were getting to grips with the fickle and not so hardy devices. This article published towards the end of 1969 illustrates JLH's preoccupation with designing for quality. His detailed analyses of transistor circuits is an excellent "teach-in" for aspiring students and designers even today, as his insights into the working of...

Annals of a Life in Tech :: 1 John Linsley Hood -- a name that refuses to fade into the sunset as far as the tech world and the DIYers are concerned. It has been more than half a century since JLH came into popularity among audio DIYers with his classic "Simple Class-A Amplifier. Despite the passage of these long decades, the interest in the little amplifer has refused to die; on the contrary, fresh interest and enthusiasm among the DIYers, particularly the younger set who were not even born at the time, is kindling renewed interest in the design by the Master, and a concomitant search for his broader technical output.           One thing I have noticed while on the discussion Forums is the fact that the name JLH, though familiar to most, does NOT sort of "ring the proper bell", so to put it. People just know him as the designer of the classic little amplifier which has managed to maintain its popularity over the decades by sheer luck, perhaps. Period. The...