Small review on the ZED Audio Leviathan iii

[S.DeYoung 967]

Earlier this year I decided to purchase a Zed Leviathan. Having owned many of Zed Audio built amplifiers in the past, purchasing a new one was a no brainer.

When I received the package from UPS, it was wrapped in heavy cardboard paper. Upon removing the paper, I found a plain white box. Opening the box everything was arranged nice and neatly inside. The amplifier was contained in plastic and protected by foam padding. Along with the amplifier comes the product manual on CD (most economical way since the manual is 70+ pages long) and a small bag containing allen wrenches, mounting feet, and screws.

Taking the amplifier out of the plastic, its design is simplistic yet stunning. A Plexiglas cover on top allows view into the components of the amplifier. Everything on the amplifier is arranged nicely. Power, ground, REM, and speaker terminals are all on one side. On the other are all the RCA’s, crossover, and filter settings.

Installation was easy and connecting everything went smoothly. The first few times I listened to music with the Leviathan, it would turn off during “dead time” in music and then take a second to turn back on. I would miss the beginning of music or if there was pause in the track it would shut off. This was frustrating at first but reading through the manual, it comes from the factory with an auto turn on setting. This can be changed to manual by removing the cover and simply moving a jumper. All the instructions to complete this are located in the manual.

The Leviathan exceeded my expectations in the listening area. I listen to all types of music and it does great with all of them. Being a class D amplifier, it does not have any of the high frequency noise or harshness like other class D amplifiers do.

From the Zed Audio Site:

Specifications

• 
  
  • Rated power is 190 watts x 6 into 4 ohm or 300w x 6 into 2 ohm.
    
  • Bridged power is 380w x 3 into 8 ohm or 600w x 3 into 4 ohm.
    
  • The 3 pairs of channels are independently bridgeable.
    
  • Two, four or six input configuration.
    
  • Channels 1+2 feature a 24dB per octave Linkwitz Riley High crossover.
    
  • Channels 1+2 can run in FLAT mode (Pre-amplifiers completely bypassed), High Pass or Low Pass from channels 5+6.
    
  • Channels 3+4 feature 24dB per octave Linkwitz Riley High and Low Pass crossovers.
    
  • Channels 3+4 can run in FLAT mode (Pre-amplifiers completely bypassed), High Pass, Low Pass or Bandpass or Low Pass from channels 5+6. .
    
  • Channels 5+6 feature feature 24dB per octave Linkwitz Riley High and Low Pass crossovers.
    
  • Channels 5+6 can run in FLAT mode (Pre-amplifiers completely bypassed), High Pass, Low Pass or Bandpass.
    
  • The High Pass crossover doubles as a subsonic filter as it is able to respond down to 10Hz.
    

  [*]LEVIATHAN Is well suited to running a multitude of different systems from simple 4 satellite/sub woofer type to tri and quad amped systems. Level controls accommodate input levels up to 8.6v RMS. Pre-amplifiers utilize a fully isolated power supply for zero ground loops. Pre-amplifiers drive the main amplifiers in a fully balanced mode. Class D amplifiers utilize high-speed high current low gate charge MOSFETs. Fully regulated power supply delivers power independent of battery voltage. There are a total of seventeen regulated power supplies. The power supply utilizes twelve 110 amp MOSFETs in a source follower configuration for maximum bandwidth. Low ESR 105°C capacitors are used in the power supply. Very high efficiency owing to the smart power supply. Tiffany RCA's with Teflon inserts are used for ultimate quality and reliability. Made in the USA

LINK TO PURCHASE FROM SSA:

http://store.soundsolutionsaudio.com/products/zed-audio-leviathan-iii-6-channel-amplifier.html

[Randal Johnson 544]

Excellent Review ... Very Nice Amplifier !!!

[SS Teacher 177]

Sexy Beast! Thanks for the write up.

I've owned a Punch 45, old school alpine, and PPI Art Series amps, a ZED amp will be my next purchase.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Totally missed this, great photos.

[dolarbilz 11]

Im getting this soon as i can...

[Sencheezy 689]

I missed this too! Very nice Sean.

[KyleBrown 121]

Nice review. I think its a great value too. Considering the quality and the power you get.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Nice review. I think its a great value too. Considering the quality and the power you get.

Agree.