Yet another Zen4 completed

[jag]

A BIG thanks. To Nelson Pass for being so generous in an age obsessed with knowledge hoarding. To Peter Daniel for being to chassis, what NP is to the circuit - a Class A amp, especially, is nothing without a proper chassis. To everyone else on this forum for helping me out (either directly or indirectly): I really consider this as an achievement for this forum that even I could attempt and successfully complete this (this is my first ever DIY).

[jag]

Keeping in line with the Zen philosophy, the chassis is as simple as it can be - 2 heat sinks, and 2 wood planks - any simpler and it cannot be (at least in the 3 dimensional space that we inhabit).

[Peter Daniel]

I see you have a good taste. Very nice indeed.

[jag]

I was, initially, hoping to make the front and back black. But, after I found out about the effort involved with 'ebonizing' wood (think 'dyes and other nasty chemicals'), I decided to make it as light color as possible. The wood is poplar - no stain.

[UrSv]

Very, very nice...

Congrats
UrSv

[jag]

The top of the amp can be removed - to reveal a... treasure, well actually a handle that allows for easy lifting of this leviathan. I used to wonder, always, while browsing the Pass gallery about how to pick up those monsters (a very tight hug?!)

[stefanobilliani]

NICE! You give me good inspiration!

I have build the Zen around similar heat sinks , but until now I did not know how to complete the job.

Thanks

[Dennis Hui]

Very stylish amp....

Are those the heatshinks available on Meci? How
hot do they get?

Cheers,
Dennis

[jag]

Well, that is it. I think that I have done enough construction for a while, and am now going back to the original hobby (that got me into this in first place) - listening to music - for the rest of the year, atleast. Ah, music - very smooth and relaxed, although the bass does not seem as tight as the Adcom (first impressions, got a lot more listening to do). And the reason for great sound: the magic dust (manufactured at passlabs, and who knows what else: Nelson himself mentioned something about Astro-Lube once) sprinkled on PCBs and Q-pack. The power is more than enough for music, but seems a bit anemic for movies (DVDs). The sinks are running pretty hot (uncomfortable to touch), though not so hot that you cannot touch them. In order to increase bias, I will have to take one of the MOSFETS out of the PCB and farther from the others (to better spread heat on the sink - the bottom is a lot cooler than the top). Better option will be to do an active crossover and a subwoofer... Those will be the next projects then, hopefully the active crossover will be available early next year (please Nelson, oh please!).

[joensd]

Wow, been thinking about chassis and mounting heatsinks for a while now. This is really one of the simplest and best looking ideas I´v seen.
Congrats and thanks for another inspiration.

Jens