Retry
Not only were the server down, but I misspelled the url as well. Here's another shot at it.
http://www.student.itn.liu.se/~andja285/Zen v.9.pdf
Not only were the server down, but I misspelled the url as well. Here's another shot at it.
http://www.student.itn.liu.se/~andja285/Zen v.9.pdf
Some pictures as promised.
Initial listening impressions - it matches very well with my Austin FE166s. Everything we have listened to sounds like we are hearing it for the first time...Stravinsky, Ozric Tentacles, Mahler, Art Tatum.
I'm also quite pleased with the look, although I wish I'd thought of a neater way to do the wiring...
Woo! Still listening to the music
Steve
Initial listening impressions - it matches very well with my Austin FE166s. Everything we have listened to sounds like we are hearing it for the first time...Stravinsky, Ozric Tentacles, Mahler, Art Tatum.
I'm also quite pleased with the look, although I wish I'd thought of a neater way to do the wiring...
Woo! Still listening to the music
Steve
Love the look of it. A real Tough Guy amp! I think the knob needs to be an old fluted bakelite type though! maybe something like this:
http://www.fairradio.com/catalog.php?mode=viewitem&item=757
I always admire the guys that get these project done- congratulations.
Variac
http://www.fairradio.com/catalog.php?mode=viewitem&item=757
I always admire the guys that get these project done- congratulations.
Variac
bigbrowncow said:Some pictures as promised.
Initial listening impressions - it matches very well with my Austin FE166s. Everything we have listened to sounds like we are hearing it for the first time...Stravinsky, Ozric Tentacles, Mahler, Art Tatum.
Congratulations Steve
Nice compact placement of boards in a cube!
Now we are half a dozen of ZV9 builders. I agree with incredible sound, if speakers have enough SPL.
Hi,
It would be nice to know which speakers work best with ZEN V9...
I have two sets at the moment, Visaton B200 in a sealed box, and B&W 601. Visaton sounds better but has some problems of its own (it is a bit too forward in the upper midrange)...
I'll try V9 with Fostex FE 206. Currently they are in a box waiting for a decent enclosure (read BIB)...
What speakers are you guys using?
Regards,
Vix
It would be nice to know which speakers work best with ZEN V9...
I have two sets at the moment, Visaton B200 in a sealed box, and B&W 601. Visaton sounds better but has some problems of its own (it is a bit too forward in the upper midrange)...
I'll try V9 with Fostex FE 206. Currently they are in a box waiting for a decent enclosure (read BIB)...
What speakers are you guys using?
Regards,
Vix
Hi,
I use FE206 in a TL enclosure. With ZV9 I discovered unsuspected bandwidth out of them, but sometime I still suspect these speakers to limit what ZV9 is able of.
A BIB with FE206 would lead to a big enclosure (see picture) and I don't know if it would add efficiency to drivers.
(The non standard shape is because otherwise the FE206 would be at 130 cm from floor - it must be placed at 90cm from sealed end)
Horn enclosures would improve drivers efficiency. An Oris front Horn is able of 102dB (1W 1M), but it needs an active woofer. What about an Hedlund or Carfrae clone (108dB/W/m)? I've no space for Pass Kleinhorn
I use FE206 in a TL enclosure. With ZV9 I discovered unsuspected bandwidth out of them, but sometime I still suspect these speakers to limit what ZV9 is able of.
A BIB with FE206 would lead to a big enclosure (see picture) and I don't know if it would add efficiency to drivers.
(The non standard shape is because otherwise the FE206 would be at 130 cm from floor - it must be placed at 90cm from sealed end)
Horn enclosures would improve drivers efficiency. An Oris front Horn is able of 102dB (1W 1M), but it needs an active woofer. What about an Hedlund or Carfrae clone (108dB/W/m)? I've no space for Pass Kleinhorn
I have used the ZenV9 with my Proac clones, but they are not efficient enough. I am making a pair of Abby clones with Fostex Fe166's right now, that will be placed in a small'ish room. i would expect that combination to sound pretty good. I am looking forward to try the ZenV9 as a current source amp, with the Abby clones also
Steen
Steen
steenoe said:I have used the ZenV9 with my Proac clones, but they are not efficient enough. I am making a pair of Abby clones with Fostex Fe166's right now, that will be placed in a small'ish room. i would expect that combination to sound pretty good. I am looking forward to try the ZenV9 as a current source amp, with the Abby clones also
Steen
Steen,
I am also thinking to experiment with V9 as a current source. I used to run my V8 without feedback. On the one hand, the sound was more open and relaxed, more spacious with more micro details, musical, but on higher volumes I could notice some unpleasant distortion. On the other hand, when I run it with feedback, the sound was more solid, controlled, somehow cleaner, but a bit lifeless. Please let us know about how it sounds to you.
Abbys seem to be nice speakers.
Beside a BIB, I am also intrigued by Sachico: http://www.frugal-horn.com/spawn.html
although it is more difficult to build than a BIB. Also thinking about more fancy solution with Visaton B200 (open baffle)....
Vix, I think that using the ZenV9 as a current source amp with speakers that doesnt need the damping that the feedback brings,
should make for a large and detailed soundstage. In addition the clean and detailed topend of the J-fet adds to the soundstage too, well thats the hope anyways Time will tell.
Nice homepage of Planet10's. You have to give those guys over in the fullrange forum, that they does a great job indeed.
Impressive work, so why not take advantage of it.
I might try a pair of Iris or BIB's, some day.
Will report back, with listening impressions on the Abby-clones
Steen
should make for a large and detailed soundstage. In addition the clean and detailed topend of the J-fet adds to the soundstage too, well thats the hope anyways
Time will tell.Nice homepage of Planet10's. You have to give those guys over in the fullrange forum, that they does a great job indeed.
Impressive work, so why not take advantage of it.
I might try a pair of Iris or BIB's, some day.
Will report back, with listening impressions on the Abby-clones
Steen
Today I connected the tweeter (Aurum Cantus ES G1) directly to the amp through 6.8uF Siememns MKV cap only (the midrange was connected through BG N 1000/50 cap), no other electrolytics at amp's output have been used.
If you run your tweeters through those large electrolytics, you really don't know what Zv9 is capable of
The focus, delicacy, definition and resolution of highs are truly impressive.
If you run your tweeters through those large electrolytics, you really don't know what Zv9 is capable of
The focus, delicacy, definition and resolution of highs are truly impressive.
My Zen V9
My Zen V9:
Main and PS capacitor boards courtesy of P. Daniels and D. Antoniak.
JFET courtesy of G. Rollins, thanks guys.
Side mounted heatsinks are made from surplus units each measuring 6.5" H x 5" W x 2.75" Fin.
Two and a half units make up a side.
Q2 and Q3 are each mounted to a unit, Q4 is mounted to half a unit.
JFET Q1 is mounted to the internal heatsink mounted across the chassis.
PSU/channel
Trans 250VA 18v+18v Avel Lindberg
Capacitor bank (4) 10,000uf 63V Panasonic TSHA
Using Fostex FE 108E Sigma in a backloaded horn the sound is very clean and clear.
My Zen V9:
Main and PS capacitor boards courtesy of P. Daniels and D. Antoniak.
JFET courtesy of G. Rollins, thanks guys.
Side mounted heatsinks are made from surplus units each measuring 6.5" H x 5" W x 2.75" Fin.
Two and a half units make up a side.
Q2 and Q3 are each mounted to a unit, Q4 is mounted to half a unit.
JFET Q1 is mounted to the internal heatsink mounted across the chassis.
PSU/channel
Trans 250VA 18v+18v Avel Lindberg
Capacitor bank (4) 10,000uf 63V Panasonic TSHA
Using Fostex FE 108E Sigma in a backloaded horn the sound is very clean and clear.
Attachments
Zen V9 is an impressive amp. Now I started thinking about improving other components along the chain...
Maybe slightly off topic, but, I consider its quite important. Preamp. I'm using V9 with BoZ. Ok, that's fine. (even though my BoZ is using IRF530). But...I realized that, while BoZ is a very good preamp, I don't need that much gain. So...
Is it possible to reduce the gain of BoZ and improve performance (more air...
). Add a CCS instead of a resistor , or..err...
By the way, what preamps seem to be good mates to V9? What are you using as a pre?
P.s. Nelson, I feel guilty. You give us something good, and we want better. You gave us the Zen , then BoZ. Happy marriage. Now, Zen V9 wants mo'....
Maybe slightly off topic, but, I consider its quite important. Preamp. I'm using V9 with BoZ. Ok, that's fine. (even though my BoZ is using IRF530). But...I realized that, while BoZ is a very good preamp, I don't need that much gain. So...
Is it possible to reduce the gain of BoZ and improve performance (more air...
). Add a CCS instead of a resistor , or..err...By the way, what preamps seem to be good mates to V9? What are you using as a pre?
P.s. Nelson, I feel guilty. You give us something good, and we want better. You gave us the Zen , then BoZ. Happy marriage. Now, Zen V9 wants mo'....
Well my boards are all stuffed, the Conrad heatsinks are on order and the speakers waiting!!! Has anyone determined if 2 250VA 35v xformers are preferred over a single 500va hunk of iron??
My V9 will be tested on a pair of Decware HDT's, around 96dB/watt which should be a decent match. Preamp duties are handled by an antique old NAD 1700 or BOZ with CD's covered by a Njoe Tjoeb 4000. I've got a Tubelab SE 300B tube amp on the HDT's right now and I'm real curious just how the 2 amps will compare on the same speakers.
There was a wiff of info regarding running the V9 as a zero feedback current souce amp into high efficiency speakers but I can't seem to find any more detailed info. Is this something that needs to be looked into further???
My V9 will be tested on a pair of Decware HDT's, around 96dB/watt which should be a decent match. Preamp duties are handled by an antique old NAD 1700 or BOZ with CD's covered by a Njoe Tjoeb 4000. I've got a Tubelab SE 300B tube amp on the HDT's right now and I'm real curious just how the 2 amps will compare on the same speakers.
There was a wiff of info regarding running the V9 as a zero feedback current souce amp into high efficiency speakers but I can't seem to find any more detailed info. Is this something that needs to be looked into further???
Hi,
As I was worrying about a preamp to be mated with ZV9, I have tried something....Just yesterday I have finished a 6922 tube buffer (cathode follower biased with Jfet CCS. It sounds marvelous!
The gain is lower, but I'm not worrying about it now. It is quite loud. If I am not mistaken, ZV9 should have around 12 dB of gain.
Nelson, I think I have read somewhere that F3 has a somewhat higher gain than ZV9 (15 db?) and a different percentage of AC current gain?
By the way, is it too early to expect an F3 service manual?
Steen, did you try ZV9 as a current amp, or you put that idea aside? (I know that you're busy building an F4)
Regards,
Vix
As I was worrying about a preamp to be mated with ZV9, I have tried something....Just yesterday I have finished a 6922 tube buffer (cathode follower biased with Jfet CCS. It sounds marvelous!
The gain is lower, but I'm not worrying about it now. It is quite loud. If I am not mistaken, ZV9 should have around 12 dB of gain.
Nelson, I think I have read somewhere that F3 has a somewhat higher gain than ZV9 (15 db?) and a different percentage of AC current gain?
By the way, is it too early to expect an F3 service manual?
Steen, did you try ZV9 as a current amp, or you put that idea aside? (I know that you're busy building an F4)
Regards,
Vix
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