WWOOF Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 I have a Zen amp. Had it about a year and a half and have had a few quality control issues with it. It seemed to drive my RB5's satisfactorily until I sent it in for repair. The builder gave me a partial upgrade for my trouble and when I got it back it was greased lightning capable of throwing spooky images all over the place. Problem: no bass under about 100hz. Returned it for another mod to correct the situation and now the amp's bass output overpowers the musical scale. It completely veiled the performance and slowed the amp's response tremendousily. Apparently I am not the only one who has experienced this from other post seen on his website. In one forum exchange, he laid off this mixed performance on the speakers we use. Well, if a design is so good, why does it get worse instead of better? I don't understand how my RB5's could cause that. The impedance curve has remained the same--the speakers are a constant--what gives? Educate me. This message has been edited by WWOOF on 06-15-2001 at 11:09 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted June 16, 2001 Share Posted June 16, 2001 woof, first you have pointed out the number one issue...that particular amp is controversial and many consider the zen a "not totally sucessful" amp in many ways (just ask randy bey!)...however the fact that after "touch ups" your amp has changed sound so drastically points to the fact that you may be able to coax a sound you like out of it...however to be able to learn from past actions and try to suggest future mods we need to hear more about what exactly was done the times you sent it in for mods...post some more specific info about what exactly this tech did to the amps and the resulting sound and perhaps the "klipsch brain trust" can help...regards, tony This message has been edited by sunnysal on 06-16-2001 at 10:35 AM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWOOF Posted June 16, 2001 Author Share Posted June 16, 2001 Tony, my version B sounded okay but went through tubes pretty quickly. It seems that two points were left unsoldered according to the "shop" when they inspected it. I don't know what the partial upgrade encompassed but it did not included all the parts--but it did result in a the fastest amp I have ever heard. (Keep in mind, I haven't heard a lot of state-of-the-art amps, necessarily.) When it did not "burn-in" and yield any bass I returned it and a "bypass" cap was added. This cap had a tremendous effect. It veiled the sound, thickened the bottom-end effecting the voice range, and slowed everything down. Of course, the options are slim: take the bypass cap back out or leave it. I am not a solder slinger so I am kind of stuck at the moment. (I almost forgot--after the cap was added, I picked up a nasty hum that seems dependent on where the volume control is set.) Basically, I as I stated earlier, my speakers haven't changed. The amp has. I was better off when it was gobbling tubes. I guess to get that razor fast detail and imaging along with bass, you gotta buy the big amps. 8-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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