Phoenix Gold Phorum

Ok, I have 2 matching ZPA 0.5 amps (well sorta) and they both have the green toroids but one of them has a switch and the other does not. It says "Floating" above the switch and I was wondering exactly what this switch does. I can see where a switch could be on the one that doesn't have the switch because the solder spots are there and it also says "Floating" on the board as well. I would assume it is for a floating ground. When I turn the switch one way the red light comes on (I took a picture of what red light I'm talking about, it's the one with the yellow, red and green light that are all 3 right next to each other on the separate vertical board coming from the amps main board) and when I turn it the other way the red light turns off. It doesn't affect the sound at all whether I have the switch turned one way or the other, like I said the only thing that happens is that red light comes on. If I were to run these 2 amps together should I have the switch turned for the red light to be on or off? I also might be selling the amps as well so I would like to pass on any info anybody out there has about this. Also if you look at the side plate one of the amps has a small hole with a plastic grommet on it by the American flag and the other one doesn't. Both amps have had the caps replaced in the last year and the one with the switch got some solder on the board that I haven't tried to get taken off yet, I figured somebody could get that solder off if it's an issue. I put the serial numbers up for both amps because maybe that will help tell what series these are and why 1 has a switch and the other doesn't. Thanks for any info given in advance.

In your top photo, the amp on the left is a V2 ZPA, and the amp on the right is a V1.

PG removed the float switch, and changed the fans, plus some more items when they switched from V1 to V2.

The grommet is not factory, as far as I can tell (I have never seen it on either V1 or V2 versions)

Eric D wrote:In your top photo, the amp on the left is a V2 ZPA, and the amp on the right is a V1.

PG removed the float switch, and changed the fans, plus some more items when they switched from V1 to V2.

The grommet is not factory, as far as I can tell (I have never seen it on either V1 or V2 versions)

Ok cool that helps. Should I just leave it so the red light is off if I use both amps? Thanks for the info

looks like the old caps were leaking pretty badly prior to replacement.

mizatt32 wrote:

Eric D wrote:In your top photo, the amp on the left is a V2 ZPA, and the amp on the right is a V1.

PG removed the float switch, and changed the fans, plus some more items when they switched from V1 to V2.

The grommet is not factory, as far as I can tell (I have never seen it on either V1 or V2 versions)

Ok cool that helps. Should I just leave it so the red light is off if I use both amps? Thanks for the info

I don't think it is really something normal, seeing a red light lighting up in any position of the switch.....

i haven't noticed this on any of my zpa's......

normally the floated position if for feeding with a balanced cable (tbat transmittor) the grounded for feeding with a rca.....

in the latest revision they removed the switch..... to keep the amp in the grounded position.....don't know the real reason of that ??

ttocs wrote:looks like the old caps were leaking pretty badly prior to replacement.

Actually they weren't bad at all but I had some local idiot replace them and he got solder all over so I then sent the amp to a guy on here named Alecs and he replaced them properly. What you're seeing is a bunch of solder over the gold on the board. I have been told that solder can come off and get it back to the gold that is underneath the solder.

zeropoint0.5 wrote:

mizatt32 wrote:

Eric D wrote:In your top photo, the amp on the left is a V2 ZPA, and the amp on the right is a V1.

PG removed the float switch, and changed the fans, plus some more items when they switched from V1 to V2.

The grommet is not factory, as far as I can tell (I have never seen it on either V1 or V2 versions)

Ok cool that helps. Should I just leave it so the red light is off if I use both amps? Thanks for the info

I don't think it is really something normal, seeing a red light lighting up in any position of the switch.....

i haven't noticed this on any of my zpa's......

normally the floated position if for feeding with a balanced cable (tbat transmittor) the grounded for feeding with a rca.....

in the latest revision they removed the switch..... to keep the amp in the grounded position.....don't know the real reason of that ??

Yeah I don't know either. What is that red light in between the green and yellow lights anyway? Like I said it doesn't affect the sound at all it just turns off and on depending on what position the switch is in.

zeropoint0.5 wrote:

mizatt32 wrote:

Eric D wrote:In your top photo, the amp on the left is a V2 ZPA, and the amp on the right is a V1.

PG removed the float switch, and changed the fans, plus some more items when they switched from V1 to V2.

The grommet is not factory, as far as I can tell (I have never seen it on either V1 or V2 versions)

Ok cool that helps. Should I just leave it so the red light is off if I use both amps? Thanks for the info

I don't think it is really something normal, seeing a red light lighting up in any position of the switch.....

i haven't noticed this on any of my zpa's......

normally the floated position if for feeding with a balanced cable (tbat transmittor) the grounded for feeding with a rca.....

in the latest revision they removed the switch..... to keep the amp in the grounded position.....don't know the real reason of that ??

Something I just noticed is that the red light only comes on when I have the RCA jacks plugged in, but only when it is in the one position as I stated. The green light stays on the entire time, whether the red light is on or not. I think it may have to do with me testing this all using a power supply and not in a car. I might have to ground my RCA jacks out on my power supply. I will make a Youtube video of exactly what I am trying to explain and share the link lol.

I also read the pdf file for the zpa 0.5 and it is in the grounded position when the red light comes on which tells me my rca jacks on my cd player aren't grounded I guess since I'm using a power supply. In the floating position is when the red light never comes on. I will hook it up in my car sometime in the future to see if it does the same thing. Here is my Youtube video of what I am explaining about the red light and the pdf file for the zpa 0.5......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAZ-OJLI_Ys

http://download.phoenixphorum.com/Manua ... a2chan.pdf

mizatt32 wrote:I also read the pdf file for the zpa 0.5 and it is in the grounded position when the red light comes on which tells me my rca jacks on my cd player aren't grounded I guess since I'm using a power supply. In the floating position is when the red light never comes on. I will hook it up in my car sometime in the future to see if it does the same thing. Here is my Youtube video of what I am explaining about the red light and the pdf file for the zpa 0.5......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAZ-OJLI_Ys

http://download.phoenixphorum.com/Manua ... a2chan.pdf

well first of all it is not smart to disconnect and connect the rca while the amp is on

the red led is an overload indicator....... (shorted speaker cable/impedance too low)

Send the amps both to valeks (or just one) or to Eric and let certainly the V1 upgrade to a V2 model....it's the smartest thing you can do......

I have all my V1 amps upgraded to V2..... but i replaced a new switch in those V2 were it was taken out....cause i prefer to feed them balanced.....

check the amp in you're car to see if it does the same with the red light... it could be that you're headunit and amp are not good grounded together ????

zeropoint0.5 wrote:

mizatt32 wrote:I also read the pdf file for the zpa 0.5 and it is in the grounded position when the red light comes on which tells me my rca jacks on my cd player aren't grounded I guess since I'm using a power supply. In the floating position is when the red light never comes on. I will hook it up in my car sometime in the future to see if it does the same thing. Here is my Youtube video of what I am explaining about the red light and the pdf file for the zpa 0.5......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAZ-OJLI_Ys

http://download.phoenixphorum.com/Manua ... a2chan.pdf

well first of all it is not smart to disconnect and connect the rca while the amp is on

the red led is an overload indicator....... (shorted speaker cable/impedance too low)

Send the amps both to valeks (or just one) or to Eric and let certainly the V1 upgrade to a V2 model....it's the smartest thing you can do......

I have all my V1 amps upgraded to V2..... but i replaced a new switch in those V2 were it was taken out....cause i prefer to feed them balanced.....

check the amp in you're car to see if it does the same with the red light... it could be that you're headunit and amp are not good grounded together ????

This amp has already been to Valeks last year and this is the first time I have hooked it up besides the one time when I first got it back from him. He said all 4 of my ZPA amps I sent to him have been upgraded to V2 (I have another ZPA 0.5 with the red toroids and a ZPA 0.3 with the green toroids). "the red led is an overload indicator....... (shorted speaker cable/impedance too low)" that is true and makes no sense why that red light comes on because I don't even have a speaker hooked up to it when the red light comes on, just when I plug the rca jacks in lol. I do believe it's just not meshing with my head unit I use on my power supply, that is why I will be hooking it up in my car in the days to come

mizatt32 wrote:

zeropoint0.5 wrote:

mizatt32 wrote:I also read the pdf file for the zpa 0.5 and it is in the grounded position when the red light comes on which tells me my rca jacks on my cd player aren't grounded I guess since I'm using a power supply. In the floating position is when the red light never comes on. I will hook it up in my car sometime in the future to see if it does the same thing. Here is my Youtube video of what I am explaining about the red light and the pdf file for the zpa 0.5......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAZ-OJLI_Ys

http://download.phoenixphorum.com/Manua ... a2chan.pdf

well first of all it is not smart to disconnect and connect the rca while the amp is on

the red led is an overload indicator....... (shorted speaker cable/impedance too low)

Send the amps both to valeks (or just one) or to Eric and let certainly the V1 upgrade to a V2 model....it's the smartest thing you can do......

I have all my V1 amps upgraded to V2..... but i replaced a new switch in those V2 were it was taken out....cause i prefer to feed them balanced.....

check the amp in you're car to see if it does the same with the red light... it could be that you're headunit and amp are not good grounded together ????

This amp has already been to Valeks last year and this is the first time I have hooked it up besides the one time when I first got it back from him. He said all 4 of my ZPA amps I sent to him have been upgraded to V2 (I have another ZPA 0.5 with the red toroids and a ZPA 0.3 with the green toroids). "the red led is an overload indicator....... (shorted speaker cable/impedance too low)" that is true and makes no sense why that red light comes on because I don't even have a speaker hooked up to it when the red light comes on, just when I plug the rca jacks in lol. I do believe it's just not meshing with my head unit I use on my power supply, that is why I will be hooking it up in my car in the days to come

i have to see the vertikal daughter board next to the railcaps to be sure if it's upgrade to V2 or not. i know witch components have to be changed.....

like Eric said, the zpa in the first pic on the right is certainly V1, cause i see R75 is not blank.....so this amp is not upgraded for sure !!!!

letting them upgrade is just an advice.....to avoid problems in the future (they'll come, discolored board, the plexi will bend up cause of the heat , etc)

dubbelcheck the amp in your car, cause the red light lighting up is not a normal thing..... good luck anyway.....

Hooked the amp up in my car and it does the same thing with the red light. I ran it for probably an hour to my XMAX 12" and it worked like a champ (about a half hour with the red light on and about a half hour with the red light off). I noticed no difference in sound either way. Strange because as said above "the red led is an overload indicator....... (shorted speaker cable/impedance too low)"...but no problems at all.

mizatt32 wrote:Hooked the amp up in my car and it does the same thing with the red light. I ran it for probably an hour to my XMAX 12" and it worked like a champ (about a half hour with the red light on and about a half hour with the red light off). I noticed no difference in sound either way. Strange because as said above "the red led is an overload indicator....... (shorted speaker cable/impedance too low)"...but no problems at all.

well lucky for you of course....i suggest you email Valeks about it, maybe he can tell something about it....

i just repeat, in none of my zpa's i noticed a simular thing before....that's all.....

for the same reason something is shorted to cause the light of lighting up.......

did you check under the heatsinks between all the transistors and everywhere no little copper wire is causing a

maybe unharmful short between two traces ??

zeropoint0.5 wrote:

mizatt32 wrote:Hooked the amp up in my car and it does the same thing with the red light. I ran it for probably an hour to my XMAX 12" and it worked like a champ (about a half hour with the red light on and about a half hour with the red light off). I noticed no difference in sound either way. Strange because as said above "the red led is an overload indicator....... (shorted speaker cable/impedance too low)"...but no problems at all.

well lucky for you of course....i suggest you email Valeks about it, maybe he can tell something about it....

i just repeat, in none of my zpa's i noticed a simular thing before....that's all.....

for the same reason something is shorted to cause the light of lighting up.......

did you check under the heatsinks between all the transistors and everywhere no little copper wire is causing a

maybe unharmful short between two traces ??

Haven't checked all that. This is only the 2nd and 3rd times I have hooked it up since I got it back from Valeks and of course the first time I hooked it up was when I got it back from him a year ago. I don't think I even messed with the switch to see if it was doing what it is now when I first got it back and hooked it up and I'm sure Valeks would have noticed it doing this so maybe it sitting for a year has caused something to happen? All very weird because it works 100% and sounds perfect