Fidelity of Son Of Zen (SOZ)?

Nullboy · 21st December 2009, 07:20 PM

The design of the Son Of Zen amp has intrigued me for years and I think I've found a way to build one without breaking the bank on heat sinking. The larger question is what level of sound quality can I expect from a SOZ amp?

I know that Mr. Pass has graciously shared many interesting designs with the DIY community and some of those designs are interesting from a designers view (how to build using certain topologies) but the sound quality is a little lacking. Please don't interpret my statement as criticism of Mr. Pass's designs. I've read many of his papers and enjoyed each one I've read.

woody · 21st December 2009, 08:11 PM

With the right speakers it can sound darn good. But the amp has a verry low damping
factor and you need to keep this in mind. When I built one I was using an open baffel
speaker with a qts of .4 but with the low damping factor of this amp the new QTS was about .8 so in my case it sounded better than an amp having a " better " damping factor.

Nullboy · 21st December 2009, 11:01 PM

I would be driving a set of Jordan Jx92s drivers in a 0.25 cubic foot ported box or the set of open baffle speakers I'm building based on Martin J. King's (MJK) design based on an Eminence Alpha 15A and a Fostex FE103E (OB Theory). Though I will be replacing the FE103E with an FF85k.

Will the SOZ match up well with my speakers?

Nelson Pass · 22nd December 2009, 01:17 AM

I got quite good response from the Jordans in a .4 cf box
with SOZ, and you can tweak it similarly to what I did in
the "Current Source Amplifiers and Sensitive Full Range
Drivers" article that you can download from

Pass Laboratories - Manufacturer of high end audio equipment.

21st December 2009, 07:20 PM	#1
Nullboy diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: St. Paul, MN	Fidelity of Son Of Zen (SOZ)? The design of the Son Of Zen amp has intrigued me for years and I think I've found a way to build one without breaking the bank on heat sinking. The larger question is what level of sound quality can I expect from a SOZ amp? I know that Mr. Pass has graciously shared many interesting designs with the DIY community and some of those designs are interesting from a designers view (how to build using certain topologies) but the sound quality is a little lacking. Please don't interpret my statement as criticism of Mr. Pass's designs. I've read many of his papers and enjoyed each one I've read.

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21st December 2009, 08:11 PM	#2
woody diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Tyrone Ga. U.S.A.	With the right speakers it can sound darn good. But the amp has a verry low damping factor and you need to keep this in mind. When I built one I was using an open baffel speaker with a qts of .4 but with the low damping factor of this amp the new QTS was about .8 so in my case it sounded better than an amp having a " better " damping factor.

21st December 2009, 11:01 PM	#3
Nullboy diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: St. Paul, MN	I would be driving a set of Jordan Jx92s drivers in a 0.25 cubic foot ported box or the set of open baffle speakers I'm building based on Martin J. King's (MJK) design based on an Eminence Alpha 15A and a Fostex FE103E (OB Theory). Though I will be replacing the FE103E with an FF85k. Will the SOZ match up well with my speakers?

22nd December 2009, 01:17 AM	#4
Nelson Pass The one and only Join Date: Mar 2001	I got quite good response from the Jordans in a .4 cf box with SOZ, and you can tweak it similarly to what I did in the "Current Source Amplifiers and Sensitive Full Range Drivers" article that you can download from Pass Laboratories - Manufacturer of high end audio equipment.

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