Still in production Zen v4

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Thought I'd share some pics of my Zen v4, 4 months in the making...

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Here's a couple of pics...

[moe29]

cool Zen as coffee table!

The kids are digging it, so it must be good.

[roddyama]

Originally posted by moe29
cool Zen as coffee table!

...and it keeps your coffee warm as well.

[mrfeedback]

......and room heater too.
A true multifunction device.

Eric,

[zygibajt]

Very good looking amp!

Are heatsinks going to be black or silver?

Bartek

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Yep...you get to sit in a zen position too while drinking coffee. For now it keeps my daughter's bottom warm. This Zen stands on its back too so it can function as a room heater during hard use.

I'm planning to polish the hsinks to a chrome-like shine, any suggestions? The wood is going to be stained leather-brown so I won't have to up-holster it

[Blues]

Here are more pictures of my Zv4. Some chassis design facts: It was designed using AutoCAD which I had to self-learn. The dimension of the chassis is 26”x15.5”x9.5” (WxDxH) -staying close to the Golden Ratio for aesthetic reasons. The current weight with 2 toroids and 6 electrolytic caps is 60 pounds. The beveled front panel, made of two ¾” thick oak boards, of course got its inspiration from Nelson’s XA series. The curved faceplate was inspired from what I usually see in the DIYAudio.com and PassDIY.com pages – FLAT front panels. With that I declare the DIY audio world is NOT FLAT. I can also easily replace the curved front panel with something exotic like cocobolo or bubinga hardwoods…but for now the growth rings of oak looks nice and I own the bragging rights (in all audio world?) for the thickest faceplate at 2 INCHES! Between the curved front panel and the ½” thick aluminum that serves as additional heatsink but more as carry-around-the-house finger grips will be super bright blue and green LEDs. Blue will be for normal operation and green will be for standby/nightlight. The 23.5” long heatsinks are from ThermaFlo, with thermal specs of 1.44 C/W/3”. I plan to try running 2.8A bias per channel…if it gets too hot I’ll lower it. The beveled back panel is equipped with 1” coupling nuts. These allow it to also stand on its back in party mode. I guess the heatsinks will dissipate heat better vertically. The legs of the amp in the Zen position are ½”x1.5” steel chrome lug nuts, I got from NAPA, usually reserved for SUV wheels. Popping the hood shows the legs extending to the top panel via threaded rods. The four rods are tipped with coupling nuts where the oak top panel sits and fastened with ½”x1” cap hex bolts. As can be seen from the pictures, the big cap hex bolts add nicely to the overall look…this is from watching American Chopper and Monster Garage. My concern though is once the amp is running and in heat J the top panel might warp. I won’t fret much if it warps like the sides of Rushmore. I’ll just say it was inspired . A Zen logo in what I think is in its simplest form sits nicely on the front panel. The chassis’s wood is finished with several coats of Watco Teak oil and Minwax Golden Oak. The wood, bolts, nuts, screws and other hardware are from Home Depot, Lowes and Tacoma Screw. With the Zen engine under the hood soon…I would already have created a musical instrument with the legendary Nelson Pass.

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more...

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and more...under the hood