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ZPA0.5 v.1 or v.2

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 2:29 pm
by ShockTherapy
Hi everyone! I'm curious about something. I picked up a minty ZPA0.5 on eBay that came with a TBA-T balanced line driver. I've heard something about a ground jumper on the first version of these amps. I was also told that in the v2 this was taken care of. can someone help me out to know what version mine is? Also, maybe a little insight on this amp. Some opinions?
I'm looking to run this to 2 IDQ10D4v2 subs in a sealed enclosure. Do you think this will power them effectively? I'll be using an Alumapro 15f Carbon capacitor to help with the electrical issues. Any opinions would be helpful! I'm replacing some 10w3v2 subs with Image Dynamics IDQ10D4v2 subs... I've heard they sound fantastic.

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 3:09 pm
by fuzzysnuggleduck
You quickly can tell a v1 from a v2 by the number of fan blades (assuming original fans)... I think that's a V2 with 7 blades but I could be wrong. It's been a while since I thought about it. It is referenced on the phorum somewhere.

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Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 3:18 pm
by kg1961
i think you are right fuzz. also you could look at the amp were the power terminals are if it open than it v1 if its closed it v2
very mint looking zpa!!! it will be more than you need for those subs
check the caps to see if they are leaking before you power it up

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 5:32 pm
by freshkryp69
see the switch on the circuit board near the speaker outs...thats one sure fire way to tell a V1 from a V2....yours is a V1. the manual says:

"grounded/Floating Switch: Used to select between a grounded or floating negitive input signal. Set switch to the grounded position when using the unbalanced inputs and to the floating position when using the balanced input."

Pg did away with this feature on the V2,and replaced it with what looks like a resistor but is actually a wire with a piece of insulation in the middle of it soldered to the board. as it really didnt make a difference. Ive tried it myself,and no diff in sound. and as said in a other post,the power distro blocks were closed because mega people were sending there ZPA'S back to PG because a piece of wire strand from the power wire fell onto the circuit board fryin the amp!,and a different fan was used on the V2,the V2 has more CFM output. other than these things they are basiclly the same amps,and sound exactly the same.

your ZPA has more than enough power for your ID's, ur into SQ so it will be like sex to the ears! :mrgreen:

oh yea one more thing your amp is mint but it is aging....please do replace the input capacitors and might as well do the rail caps while ur at it,the caps will cost around $40-$50 bucks. EVERY ZPA ive ever owned (eight) the caps were leaking,not all of them just a few,but thats enough to burn a hole in the board and fry the amp if they short circuit! doing the caps will ensure that the amp will be good for another 10-15 yr's.
I used panasonic FC's @ 16v 8200uf 105c and panasonic HA series for the rails
IMO you now own one of the best amps ever made at any price! Enjoy!

Brad

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:02 pm
by ShockTherapy
freshkryp69 wrote:see the switch on the circuit board near the speaker outs...thats one sure fire way to tell a V1 from a V2....yours is a V1. the manual says:

"grounded/Floating Switch: Used to select between a grounded or floating negitive input signal. Set switch to the grounded position when using the unbalanced inputs and to the floating position when using the balanced input."

Pg did away with this feature on the V2,and replaced it with what looks like a resistor but is actually a wire with a piece of insulation in the middle of it soldered to the board. as it really didnt make a difference. Ive tried it myself,and no diff in sound. and as said in a other post,the power distro blocks were closed because mega people were sending there ZPA'S back to PG because a piece of wire strand from the power wire fell onto the circuit board fryin the amp!,and a different fan was used on the V2,the V2 has more CFM output. other than these things they are basiclly the same amps,and sound exactly the same.

your ZPA has more than enough power for your ID's, ur into SQ so it will be like sex to the ears! :mrgreen:

oh yea one more thing your amp is mint but it is aging....please do replace the input capacitors and might as well do the rail caps while ur at it,the caps will cost around $40-$50 bucks. EVERY ZPA ive ever owned (eight) the caps were leaking,not all of them just a few,but thats enough to burn a hole in the board and fry the amp if they short circuit! doing the caps will ensure that the amp will be good for another 10-15 yr's.
I used panasonic FC's @ 16v 8200uf 105c and panasonic HA series for the rails
IMO you now own one of the best amps ever made at any price! Enjoy!

Brad
Wow! Now that's a reply! What's up with the red power supplies on some amps and green on others? I will pull my amp out of the box tomorrow and inspect the caps. I'm not sure if I have the skills to replace these caps... I've always wanted this amp! I'm replacing a JL 500/1 and 2 JL 10w3v2 subs. I went with the ZPA and the IDQ subs... I figured that if I was going to upgrade, I wanted a real upgrade in SQ.
I heard something about low pass crossover cards in these... do you see any cards in mine? I'm sorry if I sound like a newbie but this amp is new to me. I'll be matching it with my Arc Audio 4150CXLR running my QSD-216 components.

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:20 pm
by freshkryp69
no prob bro just tryin to help, thats how we do here.. :wink: stay with PG and ur in the family,stray and ur out the freakin door man...lol...J/K :lol:

Im not 100% sure on this one,Ive read about the red and green torrids somewhere, I think it was just what they had available at the time,same size wire and windings on them. no performance difference between the 2..someone correct me if Im wrong..

your amp has the stock bypass card installed,what ur talkin about is the ZPAXO x-over card..they can be hard to find and pricey! it does work very well but there have been some prob's with them coming loose from there mount due to vibration etc,not the snap crackle and pop ur lookin for! that can be fixed though with some creative use of small styrofoam or rubber blocks postioned on each side of the card kinda wedged inbetween the 2 other vertical daughter boards to eliminate that from happening kinda getto but paint them black and you wont see them. as for me ive always used an external active x-over..
I think I just wrote the forums longest run on sentence...lol
any more Q's let me know

Brad

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:46 pm
by marko
there are a good few other differances too but not visable whilst the amp is in one piece! some of the circuit layout is differant.

..also i have noticed differant plexi covers on these amps too!

ps- why did pg think that putting a bit of tape on the end on the terminals was sufficiant to stop stray wires shorting on the v1 :roll:

Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 5:04 pm
by smgreen20
Judging by the fan blade count, it's a V2, but judging by the ground switch it's a V1.

I thought I heard/read that they put a switch in the V2's too, but they did absolutely nothing. ?????

Sense you said you will be running the amp at 2 ohms, you'll want to pay attention to the mode it's in. High current or high voltage. You'll want to adjust the gain in accordance.

Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:23 pm
by ShockTherapy
smgreen20 wrote:Judging by the fan blade count, it's a V2, but judging by the ground switch it's a V1.

I thought I heard/read that they put a switch in the V2's too, but they did absolutely nothing. ?????

Sense you said you will be running the amp at 2 ohms, you'll want to pay attention to the mode it's in. High current or high voltage. You'll want to adjust the gain in accordance.

Actually I was going to run it 2ohm but now I've purchased 2 IDQ10D4v2 subs so I'll have a 4ohm load. 1000x1.
I wish I knew which model mine is. I just want to make sure that I take all precautions when installing this bad baby.