Wayne Parham Messages: 18787 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
Output impedance of 16 ohms is pretty high. Even speakers with low Zmax will peak higher than that. I would expect some response fluctuation using any speaker on that amp.
Keep in mind that there are two differnt (at least) Zen amps out there. One is a triode wired, single-ended, EL34 tube amp. The other one, designed by Nelson Pass, is a single-ended mosfet amp. Both have a low damping factor.
Wayne Parham Messages: 18787 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
Most amplifiers act like constant voltage sources. Amps with high output impedance are more like constant current sources. As such, I would think they probably work best with high efficiency speakers that don't fluctuate much in terms of load impedance with respect to frequency.
Thanks for the clarification and URL's. You're right about the confusion all those Zens cause.
Mine is shown at my homepage (below). I will take an updated picture as soon as I get back to New Zealand (in a months time). I get e-mails every week or so inquiring about where I got those heatsinks from.
Here's a quote from the circuit design of the amp taken from Nelson Pass's website (Son of Zen project):
"First, the damping factor is quite low, on a par with some of the tube amplifiers on the market. If you need an amplifier with a high damping factor, look elsewhere. You can improve the damping factor of the amplifier by scaling the resistor, but only at a heavy efficiency penalty."
Wayne Parham Messages: 18787 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
Low damping factor means high output impedance, moving closer to constant current and away from constant voltage. Just like he says, that's like a tube amp.
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