hispls
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Posts posted by hispls
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You do realize that you draw the kind of comments that he made by your attitude. M5 is most certainly not my buddy and I was in fact a carpenter for 20 yrs. To be quite honest if you're using multiple layers and using epoxy to adhere them together I don't see it being an issue. So in the future when you post why not start off with a statement along the lines of......This is my thread! If you want to praise me for all the money I spent that's fine but if you want to question my installation choices or techniques don't bother I already know it all and I couldn't possibly learn anything from anyone!
Thanks for clarifying on the carpentry end. Like I said, I was given bad information there and I'll correct that in future.
The question here isn't what I know or don't know it's about the other person throwing an off handed jab at me regarding something about which he knows nothing. I in fact did some research and testing before I chose materials and methods, and as I said, the only people who are talking out their arse about using OSB are those who never tested it and never spoke to anyone who tested it. Quick to make ignorant comments and quick to run off when challenged on where they got their information.
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So M5 makes a 2 word observation as opposed to praise and you jump all over him. When posting in any open forum you have to prepared to handle praise as well as criticism. Oooooh flexy IMO hardly warrants a reaction like yours. And BTW.....a stud is in a wall. I think you meant joist? You sound more credible when you use the right words. Another thought.....OSHA is an Ageny that ensures safe working conditions. Are workers in a safe environment? Are they being provided proper PPE? They have nothing to do with what plywood can be used in the construction of a house. That is code enforcement. You don't call Osha to have a framing inspection done on a new house.
Cool, I guess I was given incorrect specifics from the guy who recommended it to me. It doesn't change the fact that your buddy shitposted up my thread with his ignorant comment.
Now do you have any useful experience or objective data regarding building walls, OSB, Particle board, or epoxy or are you just shitposting as well?
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Anything that could be integrated via bluetooth with iPhone/iPad/iPod or android device would be a good selling point. People love using their portable devices... though I don't know how practical that would be.
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The JBL is huge !
But the ZEDs are so sweet :-)
Can you post more pics please ?!
Like more of the build log or more as it sits now?
Making me want to get a twin for my minotaur.
V1 and V2 come up for 500$ish on eBay here and there. Like I said, if you're not trying to drive 2 amps into 1 coil there's no need to strap with the non-invert output to a second, third, fourth, or 8th amp.
In other news, after smoothing out the port some I metered 152.4 today. May or may not have more... I stopped rolling up the level when I got scared not because the meter stopped going up. I'm considering pulling the front seats out just to show a better number at the next competition up here as well... all my numbers so far are with the seats in and no special attention paid to position of interior pieces that may or may not alter metered output by a tenth or two. Sadly the build to beat in my area in my class is the blue T3 van so chasing 10ths really doesn't have much appeal to me.
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Very very cool. How much signal voltage is each Minotaur getting? I know mine likes a lot of signal from the RA.
I have no idea. For burps or high record levels the level on Ra never goes above halfway, though I need most of the dial to get max output from some older recordings. Gains on Minotaur is set about halfway mark for what that's worth. Frankly I don't put much stock into nitpicking that sort of thing. My motto is "if it sounds good it is good", and of course when I meter I just watch the meter and roll up the level on Ra until I'm happy... though I think this has a little more in it than I got my last time out.
I'm trying to not break anything too quickly since I know Stephen will give me the "Son, I'm disappointed in you" lecture for running them at 2 ohms and fusing at 60A.
What kind of wood did you use?
That's OSB (Advantech flooring).
Ooooooh, flexy.
Have you actually done any testing with it? How many layers? How much eopxy or polyester resin did you use between layers? On the surfaces? When you built the identical box with whatever material you think is better what were the SPL numbers on each box?
If you haven't used that material or done direct A to B comparison or at least talked to someone who has you should probably STFU when it comes to things about which you know nothing.
Also this thread isn't to start a pissing contest aboutf lumber, but to show off my Zed amp build in the Zed sub-forum.
Wow, that hit a nerve.
lmao
Notice he hasn't replied with any actual experience or objective data? I posted on SMD forum and it turned into 2 pages of shitstorm of people who are simply trying to justify the 100$ a sheet they paid for "Baltic" plywood or whatever. The guy who insisted that MDF was the end all-be all of enclosure material even has a youtube video comparing different materials.... which consisted of measuring thickness of the sheet and then weighing samples of them. Which is the same as implying that lead is stronger than Scandium/aluminum alloy because it's more dense.
So yeah, bullshit, myths, and hearsay is a hot button for me. It's funny how all the forum know-it-alls run and hide when you ask them for proof or if they have any actual experience, yet the guys I know who have actually tested with particle board and OSB + resin have actual objective data and proven results. And this sort of thing extends way beyond just this topic.
Dammit, we can't have nice things around here. lol
Saw your build elsewhere. Glad you posted it up here cause I really liked it with both the zed amps and JBL amp. I was doing further investigation on those little amps and seen where they allow a tri-way style strapping config. Really cool stuff.
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What kind of wood did you use?
That's OSB (Advantech flooring).
Ooooooh, flexy.
Have you actually done any testing with it? How many layers? How much eopxy or polyester resin did you use between layers? On the surfaces? When you built the identical box with whatever material you think is better what were the SPL numbers on each box?
If you haven't used that material or done direct A to B comparison or at least talked to someone who has you should probably STFU when it comes to things about which you know nothing.
Also this thread isn't to start a pissing contest aboutf lumber, but to show off my Zed amp build in the Zed sub-forum.
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What kind of wood did you use?
That's OSB (Advantech flooring). The only 3/4" sheet that's OSHA approved for 24" studs as flooring. I laminated layers together with some thickened epoxy and painted everything with epoxy. The plan was to do the same with particle board, but local lumber yard had none.
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Did some initial testing with the Crown amp. Unfortunatley I changed the port at the same time I switched to Minotaurs so I have no idea what direct swap gain would have been. Though I dropped tuning 4hz, sacrificed 42 square inches of port and am still up about .4dB.
Geometry of the cargo area didn't allow my 5th battery on the Crown and voltage drop was severe. Minotaurs seem to run quite happily on this battery bank and have an audible improvement in sound.... I expect 8 amps vs. 1 has an edge in damping factor.One thing I really like is the ability to non-invert slave all the amps frorm one pre-amp so I can run 1 amp per coil without the trouble of trying to gain match every amp or having to dick around with strapping.
Don't mind the dust on everything in the more recent pictures, I just did some work to the port and did a bunch of sanding. Baffle will be finished with something other than the black paint as soon as I think of something clever and have some time.
Metered 151.9 a couple weeks ago before I smoothed out the port and played plenty of music really loud. Amps stay cool and are easy on the electrical. I have all my amps on 60A fuses and have yet to open one. I expect to get 152.0 with the port tightened up, and I expect I can find some more gains if I get ambitious.
Also in here is Ra V2 feeding these amps and Leviathan under the back seat running my fronts. Also back seats fold up as normal for when I need the passanger space.
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I noticed a lot of fluctuations in score with my Spl lab mater. Good for beginners getting an idea of what they are running but if your a serious competitor, I would suggest a termlab. What good is testing different things if your meter is never the same...
Not bashing the Spl labs meter, it was just time for me to step up to a termlab for a few bucks more.
My SPL-Labs is as good as or better than the termlab I used to own. Definitely more user friendly IMO (thouhg I have wireless version and use Android app).
I wouldn't waste my time and money on a TL again.
If you got a bum unit, send it back and if you can, upgrade to the wireless one. I think you'll like it.
Still not loud
Sorry to hear that. Let me know if you want me to help you out with that.
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I noticed a lot of fluctuations in score with my Spl lab mater. Good for beginners getting an idea of what they are running but if your a serious competitor, I would suggest a termlab. What good is testing different things if your meter is never the same...
Not bashing the Spl labs meter, it was just time for me to step up to a termlab for a few bucks more.
My SPL-Labs is as good as or better than the termlab I used to own. Definitely more user friendly IMO (thouhg I have wireless version and use Android app).
I wouldn't waste my time and money on a TL again.
If you got a bum unit, send it back and if you can, upgrade to the wireless one. I think you'll like it.
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How do you know they put put 45-50wrms? And they are rated around 85rms. Not 200.
Just curious if you have done any tests or are making assumptions.
No he is not making assumptions, Steve himself stated those amps only put out 45 watts. The man who built them spoke on the issue on multiple forums as well.
This ^^^^ . I have used a bunch of these old Boss branded Zed amps in my own and in friend's cars. Stephen was very honest about actual output and I think was rather perturbed about Boss insisting on over-rating everything. ALL his amps prior to that had always been conservatively rated.
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so how does this work ? I didn't see if so many have to buy before they ship.. or is it if i buy one it gets shipped right off... i mite be interested in one to replace my candance to run my Focals krx2's
I really should change the name of this topic, as it is not really a group buy so much as it is more of a last chance on some quality 4 channels that are no longer made anymore, for a nutty price. These amps are already shipping, they are going out as the orders are coming in. We spoke with ZED last night and a bunch more shipped out yesterday. The quantity is getting low, so I would not wait too much longer. There are a couple of another model left that is similar to this model, but we won't put those up until all of the REV-665's are gone. We have a people buying these a fail safes, back up amps, quality amp for their girlfriend/wife's car, first amp for their kid, ZED collectors, or even some people who have bought them to use them as 2 channel amps for more power to their mids or mid-bass for a great price.
I realize you may not want to spill the beans on the other amps just yet, but will there be any larger amps?
I like savings the money.
I bought the last of his BIG 4 channels about 4 years ago. I suspect he has some smaller ones and some 2 channels (also smaller). Of all of the old Boss amps, these are about the best. The larger one had an impractically large footprint IMO and wasn't nearly as pretty as these. If you could rub off the BOSS and rediculous power rating from the plexi on this it's a gorgeous amp.
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I have used OLDER Stetsom 7Kd and 4K2D and really liked both. Made rated power, tiny footprint, and both would play music for hours without issue.
That being said I have no experience with the small ones, and I have heard the big ones are real time bombs.
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What kind of power do these things put out? Underrated at all? Also how many are left?
The BOSS branded Zed amps are grossly OVER RATED. These are rated 200X4 or something silly, they do around 45-50W per channel into 4 ohm.
They are very nice looking (and sounding) amps. Small enough to get under a front seat in most import cars (did one in smaller Toyota and Hyundai).
I have a few of these stashed here "just in case". I picked one of them up this winter as a souveneir when I went to visit Stephen at the shop.
These were made in the days when he had 100 employees and were building 1000 of these a day. He told me he NEVER had one of these come back blown. They seem rock solid.
@Aaron Take the damn plastic wrap off the top of that!
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I was just giving you crap, I know where you got them, just joking about there are other places that sell ZED.
Jealous of the big JBL, nice work on the enclosure.That's a great statement about the ZED reliability.
I about forgot that Woofersetc and SSA stores sell Zed amps. Talking to Stephen is always good for learning something and a few laughs though... Sometimes I think I buy these just for an excuse to call him up and chat for a bit.
JBL/Crown developed a problem in the input section. Cost me a hair under 300$ just to ship it out for repair..... NOBODY is jelly of that. Crown will be up for sale after it's been repaired. I really enjoyed it, but if Minotaur goes bad I can ship for < 30$ and I know Stephen will take care of me on warranty and even outside warranty it would be a cheaper fix than most of the Korean 3K's
I'm definitely gonna wanna hear this...really diggin the fact that you're switching things up and just going for a more musical setup. If you're running 3 15's how are you going to wire them to the 4 amps?
It's pretty musical as it sits now, I'm just looking for more passanger friendly.
Amps strapped, each strapped pair driving 3 coils in series for 4.2 nominal load. With the in/out options on these amps it is VERY easy to slave all to one.
I also ordered another Minotaur yesterday since I now own 5 neo sig motors, so 5 of something may be in my future as well.
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Removing the crown, I had room to add the Audiocontrol EQ and crossover. I had been just crossing over with Leviathan, and I would continue to do so, except that I really didn't want that many Y connectors coming out of the EQ, though I may change my mind on this..
I ended up dumping about 12oz of Starbuck's Sumatra dark roast into Ra a few months ago and it finally crapped out (shockingly besides LED's going out it functioned for a good while before it started having issues). Ra will be back in soon.
I have another Leviathan and Kronos that I may or may not use, but more likely just save in case I ever pick up a second vehicle.
I do plan to reclaim my back seats at the end of next month and probably loose the false floor. I'm considering options to stack all amps and processors and do a different box. Removing the Crown amp should free up 3 cubic feet or so for a larger box, so I'm thinking I can get 3 15's in here and keep my back seat.
Also got some Shocker Neo Sig motors so I'll be doing up some 15's with very soft suspension and neo motors. They should perform much better on <1000W than these ceramic sigs (so stiff that a single one could hold up to the Crown 6K on music).... the ones in there' definitely are NOT optimum for 1000W or music.
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Sadly I originally built these subs for a friend who was going to run them in a big wall with 4K each (we had discussed upping to 8K ea) so I built them very stiff. Also dual 1.4 ohm coils has the Minotaurs seeing 4ohm + 98% of their useable bandwidth.
On the bright side, each Minotaur into 3 ohm nominal load, it's only about 1.5 dB off of an American Bass 500.1 @ .7 ohm nominal (The JBL developed problems in the input section the day I finished this box). Certainly sounds the same to the ear. I have them fused @ 40A and can't blow a fuse as it sits, so really very efficient for the output I'm getting.
Believe it or not, I'm not really trying to chase numbers right now. I wanted to do a 150 and did that last winter and it sounded like dirt. I'm looking to just be able to play music as long as I like really loud and not have to worry about an amp that's 300$ to ship when I blow it and will burn up 800$ worth of MOSFETs
"
I've been dumping money into bad silicone like a 35 year old stripper the last couple years. In truth for what I've spent repairing big ass surfboard amps in the last 2 years I could have already owned 4 of these and not had to worry about a repair yet.
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Prior to this, this was in my cargo area:
The Crown is a MONSTER, but I was in a cold sweat every time I turned it on. I've had terrible luck with big amps and just knew this was going to be a nasty shipping + repair bill when it let loose.
Some hardwood flooring scraps from a couple friends and I cobbled together this floor. Sits just on top of the batteries and just barely enough room for the Crown.
Was trying to do something big for the last month or so of summer since I had some 15" sigs laying around.
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Very pretty. Thinking about a few myself
Run, don't walk. So far I'm very happy. Very efficient and good sounding.
I own a Leviathan III and I love it. I may eventually pick up a minotaur for extra power for the substage. Very cool pic. I'd like to hear more of a review on the amp.
Haven't done really enough testing. Will update here as I go. Initial impressions, I'm really pleased. Ordered another one the other day just to have a spare (and because I may do 5 subs at some point)
wow, nice thing you got going on there
Clean it up a bit,and add a few more!
"clean it up" isn't my long suit. Will post some pictures of what the cargo area looks like loaded. Really I don't keep the same box or layout for more than a month or two, so I never really bother to make things too pretty.
If you don't mind me asking, where did you find all of these?
1. Call Stephen
2. Pay monies
3. ??????
4. PROFIT
That must be bright at night.....first time I had my Draconia on at night I was like holy shit lol
Yep. When I first got Leviathan it was BRIGHT. I will suggest a way to make the ZED LED's defeatable (perhaps a jumper). When I first got Leviathan I found it was total UFO at night. Careful planning of install location is key. Pics coming of how I keep this in line.
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Really the price per watt of these held me back for a while (that and the Crown 6K that I picked up last year), but I've gotta say, since these came out I've spent more in repairs and blowing up crappy chinese and Korean amps than these ended up costing me.
I have still to do more testing, but initial impressions are "run don't walk!" and get you some of these. If you're wanting 1000W range they're worth the extra cost for the crossover and EQ options, and if you want more power, they're worth the reliability. I haven't had a far East built amp >1200W last me more than 6 or 7 months yet.
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Damn that's a good review, and a great bunch of amps.... When we replace the van with a new vehicle I'm going on a smaller scale for the audio in whatever that vehicle may be and at this point I've been seriously considering either the Leviathan or the Dreadnought for power as I'm sure which ever way I go the result will be superb. I would LOVE to do an all "Made in America" build, I'm just not sure that's humanly possible anymore. Amps and subs, easy, HU, components, etc. I don't think there's many if any options out there.
Are there HU's made here, or at least assembled here?
McIntosh, is made in Binghamton NY
McIntosh HUs have been outsourced for many years now. IIRC they were being built by Clarion when I checked 5 or 6 years ago. Best bet for HU made in USA is AC Delco factory unit LOL.
Emminence makes some good components and they still have US factories. It's possible Boston Accoustics still makes their top end stuff up in Peabody, MA, though I know for sure they outsourced mid and low lines long ago.
Also, want Leviathan 3, but hard to justify since I own two 1st gens already.
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Still trying to get over the fact that MEGALITH won't ever see production..... limping by with JBL/Crown 6K for consolation.
Anyway, was talking with Stephen recently about a repair and he mentioned that he was working on an 8 channel pre-amp/processor/factory integration unit, similar to Bit 1, JL Cleansweep, RF symetry, etc. Sounded super sweet, still on , but hopefully it comes to fruition sometime in the future.
I have been kicking around the idea of getting JBL MS8, but this gives me a good excuse to wait on pulling the trigger on that one.
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Out of the box the unit looks nice.
But....
1. The housing itself is not square (not square shapped but dimensionally square). Not a big issue that just surprises me.
2. A section in the range of adjustment is binding on just about all of the potentiometers. Hopefully this does not affect potentiometer performance.
3. The potentiometers are not centered in their openings on the faceplate.
The "issues" I mentioned should not be a defect that inhibits performance. I have always read of excellent ZED quality but I see appearance flaws with the RA.
Is yours the same hispls?
Old thread I know. Not sure about square and centering, will have to check. Certaintly nothing that jumped out at me or I would have probably noticed. My pots are firm but don't stick or hang up anywhere.
Review I wrote is here for anyone who finds this thread:
LEDs stopped working in mine, but in it's defense it happened right after I accidentally spilled half a cup of Starbuck's coffee into it so the fact that it still functions otherwise is impressive...
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Pictures?
Would have to kill you afterwards
JK
Actually I didn't take any. I didn't want to inadvertantly leak any super secret tech and honestly it appeared to be mostly clutter, boxes, and a sweet looking test bench that I'm not tech savy enough to half appreciate. It is just Stephen and his wife working there these days. Apparently recent healthcare mandates forced him to cut his employees a few years ago.
Really a shame since in his hay-day in the early 90's he had over 100 employees and a much bigger facility.
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I'll just leave this here.....
in ZED Audio
Posted
Some video