zen v4 PCB needed

[Thomas Giz]

If someone of you have those PCB and doesn't need them, I would gladly buy them. I'm interested in ZEN amp v4, both channels. I know I could get them at passdiy but I try here first. Expecting nice price

Thanks

thomi@speakeasy.net

[kilowattski]

If I were you I would just purchase it from Pass Labs. You won't save enough money to justify the wait for one to become available here, if one ever becomes available. Even if it did, you will only save $5 or $10. Nobody is going to give it away.

[Thomas Giz]

Yeap I made same conclusion and I'm going to buy them from PASSDIY.
However it would be good to get some IRFP044. They offer it also at PASSDIY but this time I think it's a little overpriced. Unless they put some effort to match devices.

[kilowattski]

Yup, if you buy the Pass Labs Q pack, the transistors are matched, probably to much tighter tolerances than you or I can achieve. The Q pack includes (10) 1N4739 zener diodes, (6) matched IRFP044's, the silpat transistor insulators for the IRFP044's, (2) 1N4004 diodes, (2) ZTX450 bipolar transistors and (2) ZVP3310 mosfets. Not a bad deal for 50 bucks. It could cost you more than $50 just to match two sets of 3 transistors. Like I said before, nobody gives it away. This is, after all, high end audio.



PS: It's a nice amp to build. Build it properly and it will work the first time. Burn it for a while, set the bias and you are all set. I think it has a sound flavor similar to the Aleph 3. Here are some pictures of my Zen V4 during the build process.

[Thomas Giz]

Hey, Kilowattski
This is one piece of good job you've got there. I wish I could do such a masterpiece. I think you wouldn't mind if asked what kind of trafos you use? What is the secondary voltage ? What are those nice big caps ?
Did you measure temp of heatsink after full warm up ? I wanted to go with smaller ones (half of yours) but looking at your photos I just can't decide

Thanks

P.S. I didn't realize that Q pack is more than only Q devices. It seems to be a good deal, ..." This is, after all, high end audio. "....
Hope it doesn't require high-end money

[kilowattski]

The heat sinks came from M&M Metals. Their website is http://www.mmmetals.com. The heatsinks were about $120. Don't forget that each channel has to dissipate 100 watts. My heatsinks get to about 45 degrees C at their hottest. The transformers came from Coil Winding Specialists. Their website is http://www.coilws.com. I used P/N PT-110-325-218 at $50 each. The transformer has (2) 18v secondaries at 9 amps each giving you 36v @ 9 amps when putting the windings in series. The transformer gives me almost exactly 50 vdc under load. The capacitors are Nipon Chemicon 63000uF at 63v. I bought the 4 of them off ebay for $15.

[Thomas Giz]

Thanks for the info !!!

[jajabin]

Hi Kilowattski,

Did you buy the whole chassis from M&M Metals?


Thanks
Wing

[kilowattski]

No, I built it, but you are perceptive in that the chassis was built around the heatsinks. A friend and neighbor owns a machine shop. He taught me how to operate a Bridgeport Milling Machine and let me use it on Saturdays. I basically came up with a design on AutoCad and fabricated the chassis over about 10 Saturdays. I have been lazy though, because the project is virtually done. The heatsinks need to go to the anodizer and the rest of the chassis needs to go to the powder coater. I just can't bring myself to take it out of the system for a long time to get this done. With efficient speakers it sounds sweet.

[jleaman]

That is some superb Chassis work.. soon to have posted some photo's of mine : O )