All i'm going to say is this.. Both of you have built a helluva lot more amplifiers than I have.. I'm certainly not going to get inbetween the two of you going at each other. From what I have read, Fred certainly seems qualified from a technical standpoint to determine whether or not a zobel is critical to performance. Peter, on the other hand, may have empirical data to prove otherwise.
All I'd like to say is that I wish this whole thread would end.
Fred -- you're a respected designer with nothing to prove, at least to me, and probably to most of the other people on this board. If you feel like you need to prove it in a thread, please take the suggestion above and go get a beer.. No need to torment yourself based on what someone says to you who doesn't have the same engineering background that you do.
You've given everyone the warning that the zobel is "The right way" to do things. You can't make them do it. You can't change Peter's mind. All you can hope to do it take a high ground and explain in laymans terms (or maybe higher, but for me, layman's terms are best.. I have the EE skills of a racoon chewing on telephone wires). Once youv'e done that, it's pretty much up to whomever is building it to do what they want. You can't force people to do what they don't understand, or do understand and choose to ignore. If a DIYer nukes their speakers or has problems, they've nobody to blame but themselves. If Peter's amps do it, I'm sure he'll be getting calls real quick
Peter -- You have empirical data that states contrary to what Fred is showing. Perhaps your amplifiers have not been tried with really nasty speakers/cables/loads. All I can say is just be thankful that someone who has the qualifications that Fred does cares enough to provide input on your designs, and possibly help you to improve them. Fred may seem more of an alarmist to someone who's a gung-ho DIYer, but I'm sure he has plenty of experience to back up what he's telling you.
Regardless, guys, you both contribute too much to these boards to continue on bickering like school children. It adds nothing to the content of the boards, and wastes bandwidth (mental and otherwise!).
Personally, i'd love to see a FD implementation of a LM3875/3886/chipamp. Nothing tweaky or unncessary, just how you would design it if you were to do it, and see the a chipamp done from your perspective. I know we're unlikely to see it due to your friend building some amps, but for those of us that are DIY and don't buy commercial gear, maybe you could entice us with something nifty and different from all the stripped-down-bare-minimum designs. Who knows, maybe you'll create the non-gainclone chipamp movement
Public opion poll.........anyone?
