Has anyone ever build a 50W SOZ ?

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#3
(In your imagination you hear <i>heavy</i> footfalls, not unlike those of a T. Rex or perhaps a balrog...)
I am here.
Nah, the SOZ I've got here next to me is a dinky little thing. It's so small it's still air-cooled (you know it can't be serious if it's air-cooled). The water-cooling hookups are for the Aleph; hope to break down the plumbing and get the second pair of Alephs installed this afternoon, assuming that family-types will go so far as to leave me in peace for an hour. (Unlikely.)
I believe someone on the site has a SOZ that size, but I can't remember who, offhand.
The intent of my piddlings was to keep the heat dissipation down, hence the current sources (see thread--for that matter, the water-cooling thing has its own thread, too). There will be, as time permits, more variations on that theme, including a cool one I thought up last week where you take two...oh, never mind, you probably wouldn't be interested...

Grey

P.S.: Crazy? Moi???
Hot diggity dawg! I like bein' crazy. Much better than the alternative--at least it's more fun.
 
#5
One day a guy got a flat tire and pulled his car over next to a sanitarium. At a window, a "client" sat and watched.

While changing the tire, the driver inadvertantly knocked ALL the lug nuts into a gutter. The man, not knowing he was being watched, screamed out loud, "Oh no! What am I going to do now!"

From the windows, the second man said, Mr. why don't you take one lug from each tire and use them for the spare?

The man at the curb said, "That's a good idea, but I thought you are crazy?"

And from the window the man replied,

" I might be crazy, but I'm not stupid." 😀
 
#7
Hi,

i wish to say i am not crazy, when i wish to build a 50Watt SOZ.

When there is anybody, hwo gives me an schematic of an amp which is better, has more power, and cost a quater- i would be the leastest, who would not decide to buid this other one.

To say it correctly: i`ve build a SOZ with about 20 watts with, each 1500watts transformers and 400000uf Capacitors and realy big heatsinks and wanted to connect them dorectly to my CD Player, to save the parts for a preamp, because the best preamp is no preamp. But the output Power is too small. Now i try to integrate a balanced Pre in the Amp and increase the wattage of the ZEN to fully 50 Watts. I hope so to get amounts of Power.

In directly comparison to a 40 year old Leak Tube Monoblocks the sound of the ZEN is a liitle better and is equal to a pair of self build Hiraga "Le Monstre" which cost a view Euro.

But when i see a transformer as heavy as my wife my heart is beating higher. Thats also a reason, why i want to build the full 50 Watts.

Can anyone tell me if a preamp will increase the gain of the SOZ?

Ralf
 
#9
Ralf,
Most of the references above to being crazy are directed at me, not you. If being crazy is bad, then I'm in a heap of trouble.
As for a preamp. It wouldn't hurt. The SOZ has fairly low gain when operated with a single ended input, and doesn't balance as well as it could (not criticism of the circuit--it's a marvel for simplicity vs. performance). I've got about five or six things planned for the SOZ w/current source thread. One of the things I'll be doing is to add the BOSOZ preamp to the SOZ amp as a permanently installed front end, most likely with current sources under the Sources so as to make it easier to use single-ended inputs. There are a few minor adjustments you can do to make this a more graceful project...or you can simply build a separate BOSOZ. Your choice.

Grey
 
#10
Thank you, Grey,

When i read your answer -and - my english is far from being good, i think it will bring me gain, when i use a BOSOZ and put it into the same case as the SOZ.

How does a BOSOZ infuate the sound? can one hear, that an additional amp is there?

Are there any links to get information of building a water cooling for the amp?

Regards,

Ralf
 
#11
I don't think water cooling amps is common practice 🙂. So there's probably not documentation on it. Although it's quite simple in practice, you need a radiator, a water pump, a reservoir (if using a submersible pump, don't need one for an inline, but then you must bleed the system, so submersible is better for first timers) as well as a waterblock (which comes in contact with what you want to cool). The most common waterblock design is a copper block (Al sometimes used, but copper is much much better) with passageways drilled in it, actually quite easy to build as well. I've built many watercooling rigs, but never cooled an amp with them, but it should be relatively simple, just don't put any passages where the screw it to attach it to whatever you're cooling.

If you want crazy I built a freon phase-change cooling system. You can build one from parts of an old dehumidifyer (compressor's pretty powerfull in those), and keep your amp well below 0C... 😉
 
#13
ralf (and all),
Sorry about the 'crazy' remark. I meant it in a joking way. We all have to be a little crazy to get through each day.
More power to you and your amp with a transformer as heavy as your wife (that would get my heart beating faster too!).

Paul
 
#14
If 'crazy' is the worst thing anyone ever says about me, I'm in good shape.
As for the relative weights of women and transformers...I prefer to think of it in terms of the woman being lighter than the transformer, i.e. svelte, slender, sexy. All a matter of viewpoint. Either slender women or heavy transformers are sufficient to get my heart racing.
Ralf,
As long as you can make yourself understood, we're going to be just fine. I'd be lost trying to discuss electronics in German.

Grey
 
#15
ralf,
what is the point of building a 50 W SOZ? Is not going to be much louder than a 15W and the power consumption is off the charts. It already is at 15W. How come a great amp should leave you longing for something more? May in fact just be that the SOZ is not the amp for you?
 
#16
Ralf,

if you compare your 18W SoZ to a 50W SoZ here are the differences:-

*the 50W SoZ will be much hotter!
*the 50W SoZ will be 4.4dB louder

If you are in a room with a few people and someone asks you to turn up the volume you will generally need to increase the volume by 3dB before it sounds obviously louder to everyone in the room.... so a 50W SoZ will sound only a little louder than a 18W SoZ.
 
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