DOZ - Death of ZEN amp from Rod Elliot

[mikelm]

but some who have tried both say that this sounds better

( now why is it that the first one shows a picture and the second one shows a link ? perhaps someone can explain )

[mikelm]

For the sake of completness, some are of the opinion that the idea for JLH simple class A had it's origin here.

I guess everything comes from somewhere. I guess it's just a question of degree

[Nelson Pass]

Originally posted by mikelm
but some who have tried both say that this sounds better
( now why is it that the first one shows a picture and the second one shows a link ? perhaps someone can explain )

Well, it is a Mosfet Class A.....

[Nelson Pass]

Originally posted by mikelm
For the sake of completness, some are of the opinion that the idea for JLH simple class A had it's origin here.
I guess everything comes from somewhere. I guess it's just a question of degree

Nobody operates in a vacuum.

[Keld]

Originally posted by mikelm
( now why is it that the first one shows a picture and the second one shows a link ? perhaps someone can explain )

My guess is that the second pic is to big (kB). try to upload as .gif
instead. in this case dont use .bmp format ,its just a vaste of cyperspace.

[Magura]

Originally posted by mikelm
I guess everything comes from somewhere. I guess it's just a question of degree

As i remember it, the original article by Rod Elliot about the DOZ was rather harsh on NP....

As an old friend of mine once told me:

When people state the obvious.....its usually not so.

He gave a good example:

The biggest newspaper of the ex-USSR was named Pravda, in russian that means truth, wich obviously it should have been.

Now think of the title Rod Elliot chose once again.

Magura

[JFETglare]

Regarding Rod Elliot passively trashing Nelson Pass's designs... Bah! Unbearable nerds often have little or no tact, and many times they illustrate their inability to read--yet they want you to believe they are extremely smart. Of course I'm being satirical here...

Doesn't the text for the Zen series even point out that it isn't claimed to be the best amplifier, etc, etc... but that its purpose is to illustrate the simplest functional audio amplifier for DIYers? I seem to recall reading something like that.

Fortunately it seems that Nelson Pass somewhat has a sense of humor about himself--a rare trait among engineers.

I have an amplifier that is much like a Zen (though not identical)--complete with MOSFETs! It is most certainly the warmest and coziest piece of equipment I've ever heard. "Musical" only begins to describe the way it sounds. The specs are absolutely horrid--but I'm not an HP Distortion Analyzer, so I don't care!

The distortion value does not always have a direct effect on the sound. Just look and listen to some of Carver's contraptions... *toilet flushes*

[mikelm]

I recently heard an Audionote analogue set up at a hi fi show - for me it was clearly one of the best rooms. The immediacy and transparency was quite extraordinary.

This was their middle of the range gear probably£10000 all in.

They told me that the distortion on their amps is up to 8%, but they ( and their customers I guess ) don't care because the sound is so good.

I agree some of the big name, AB 'low distortion' rooms were quite frightening.

[ingvar ahlberg]

Once again...
There seems to be an forever ongoing war between spokesmen for the different technology approaches to our common goal- listening to music at home.
I came across Mr Pass designs in the seventees, retailing Treshold amps in my Stockholm store. As far as i recall he ventured into several different technology branches, always with a good end result. So, i suppose he agrees with me, any approach, bipolar, fet, mosfet, tube or whatever is good, as long as You do it right. Among my favourites from years gone by there is represantatives from all branches (actually i´ve never listened to a tube/mosfet hybrid that has been really satisfying).
Preamps- the pearl phono is really good, so is the Kaneda and copies, but close to impossible to get to stay balanced( there is an even better design in Toshibas small signal transistor handbook). So now i´m gonna put new logs in the fireplace- Nuvistors!! The best and funniest way to make a really good preamp- maybe a matter to dissagree about- wich will keep the discussion ongoing.

[Nelson Pass]

Audio equipment is like wine. There's lots of variations, lots of
good and not so good. Wine afficionados will taste anything,
even bad wine, and enjoy something about the experience,
even if it's only complaining.