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03/29/24 at 15:44:31 




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ZKIT-1 impressions!!! (Read 2579 times)
Steve Deckert
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If the 1st watt
sucks why continue?

Posts: 6234
ZKIT-1 impressions!!!
03/29/10 at 17:09:28
 
Quote:
Hi Steve,

On most Friday nights these days I am listening to my TORII MkII in my manroom.  I have come to enjoy that amp very much.  Tonight is different though.  I bought your ZKIT 1 two watt amp kit for the pleasure of building something with the plan to use in my den.  But right now it’s running in the system next to my TORII.  I don’t know why this little three tube wonder sounds so good.    How does it do that?

It’s a mysterious thing.  It sounds like more than the two watts it supposed to have.  Fortunately I have a small room but my home built full ranges speakers use the Jordan JX92 which are only 89-90dB efficient.  It couples so well to it.  I’m truly shocked.  I initially powered it up with a 6922 but it sounded too forward and harsh.  I plugged in the 6N1P and liked it a lot more right now.  It really is a dynamic thing.  Doesn’t sound like my 300b SE amp at all.  I also think it shows a noticeable DNA connection to my TORII .  This is a really intriguing experience.

Thank you for offering you design in an affordable kit version.  I'm having a blast listening to it.

Have a good weekend.

Chris


It does that by focusing on usable power vs. max power.  By that I mean that most designers will take a 2 watt tube and find the ideal plate curves to achieve maximum power with least distortion from the amp.  These designs clip hard, and are picky about speakers.  The Zen uses a 9800 ohm output transformer, where most designers would choose 6000 ohm or so.  Their amp would have more power, but my amp has more headroom.  Also their amp falls on its face when the speaker impedance drops too low.  The Zen amp puts out more power as the speaker impedance drops (just the opposite) so it likes it.  Stable and happy on even a 2 ohm speaker load.  Even though my approach has about half the power on paper it has well over double the usable power into a speaker load.

Steve
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