# Zuki 5 ch class D



## HIS4 (Oct 6, 2005)

While a Zuki made 5 ch class D amp is something that sparks my interest, I wonder why a class D amp is so big. Part of the draw of class D and smaller size and more efficient. This amp doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense since its the same size as the hybrid 5 ch.


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## jpswanberg (Jan 14, 2009)

The class D 5 channel makes a lot more power than the hybrid 5 channel. More power equals more parts equals more heat (even in a more efficient class d format). Check various other threads for power differences. JPS


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## BEAVER (May 26, 2007)

I feel your pain, as I really wanted to try a Zuki amp this time around, but they just don't have anything that will fit my application. Maybe someday...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## HIS4 (Oct 6, 2005)

jpswanberg said:


> The class D 5 channel makes a lot more power than the hybrid 5 channel. More power equals more parts equals more heat (even in a more efficient class d format). Check various other threads for power differences. JPS


Links to other threads about the class D?

3W/ch vs 5W/ch doesn't exactly make you jump for joy. Once again, as with all the Zuki amps, there's too much ambiguity about what these amps really do. Unfortunately, trying it is a leap of faith which a lot of people aren't willing to pay $600 for.


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## jpswanberg (Jan 14, 2009)

3 Zuki watts is somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 watts. 5 Zuki watts is in the neighborhood of 175 watts. That's class AB. The The 5 watts Class D part of the Hybrid is somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 watts. There are lots of threads on Zuki watts, Zuki sq and so on. There are enough people on this board who would buy the amp off you if you didn't like it. I just came back from T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach. I saw interconnects for 10 times the cost of the Zuki amp. While cost is relative and all that, I personally find Zuki's cost on the reasonable side of things (and no, I am not independently wealthy, just a lowly high school history/geography teacher who is willing to save up and buy what I want when it comes to music and its reproduction).


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## ~Spyne~ (Oct 17, 2008)

I posted actual measurements of my Zuki 8-channel in this thread;
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...parisons/110917-new-zuki-audio-eleets-12.html
and for the "4 x 5wrms @ 8ohm" board, the real world measurements were ~4 x 55wrms @4ohm (based on internal voltage across the rails). There was also a "4 x 3wrms @ 8ohm" board in the heatsink, though I didn't have that one measured. One can only assume output would be lower.

Suffice to say I was quite disappointed, after expecting the amp to produce closer to 4 x 150wrms @ 4ohms, as many people on here claim.


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

HIS4 said:


> While a Zuki made 5 ch class D amp is something that sparks my interest, I wonder why a class D amp is so big. Part of the draw of class D and smaller size and more efficient. This amp doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense since its the same size as the hybrid 5 ch.


I feel your pain on this one. Why on earth ANY manufacturer is making huge amplifiers this day in Class D topology is a mystery. With the JL Audio HD, Alpine PDX, Kenwood Excelon, and JBL MS amplifiers out there, it just makes no sense to consider HUGE amplifiers these days.


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## jpswanberg (Jan 14, 2009)

Spyne, check the other Zuki thread concernig your power measurements. My last physics class was 30 years ago and I can't remember s**t from it, so I don't know who's math is correct. JPS


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## ~Spyne~ (Oct 17, 2008)

PM'd


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## arod in texas (Jun 7, 2012)

Bump


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## daveds50 (Jun 10, 2011)

dont know how i missed these threads. but anyway... 



~Spyne~ said:


> and for the "4 x 5wrms @ 8ohm" board, the real world measurements were ~4 x 55wrms @4ohm (based on internal voltage across the rails).


 just to let you know, your tech is wrong. i am 100% guaranteeing that. 
i have extensive knowledge of the circuit... and i'll leave it at that unless Patrick wants the info out. 



ChrisB said:


> I feel your pain on this one. Why on earth ANY manufacturer is making huge amplifiers this day in Class D topology is a mystery. With the JL Audio HD, Alpine PDX, Kenwood Excelon, and JBL MS amplifiers out there, it just makes no sense to consider HUGE amplifiers these days.


 there is a good reason that amp is big... but you are going to have to come up with better amps to compare it with. none of those are a fair comparison. 

and yes, i have worked on those in your list, so i know exactly what they are.


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## ollschool (Nov 21, 2008)

I second that on your behalf Dave, good to see you here. Been a while.... Extensive is an understatement !!


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

daveds50 said:


> dont know how i missed these threads. but anyway...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not to be a dick, but all your replies are alluding. In this thread or others. If you have so much knowledge in there, why dont you share it with us. In another thread you said a amps fusing is not a indicator of its output capabilities. I wrote you a pm as to not clutter that thread asking how it really works then, but no reply. Its seems that the fusing coincides with all other amps besides the Zuki's the thread was talking about.

Like I said, I am not trying to be a dick. If something is not what it seems, I would like to know for future reference and for myself. Knowledge should not be confined, it should be shared.


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

daveds50 said:


> there is a good reason that amp is big... but you are going to have to come up with better amps to compare it with. none of those are a fair comparison.
> 
> and yes, i have worked on those in your list, so i know exactly what they are.


OK, I'll play. Please enlighten me as to why I should purchase a 27.5" long, 5 channel, class d Zuki that would be a royal pain to integrate into my install over another JL Audio HD 900/5 that fits under the driver's or passenger's seat...

Also, I have owned both the OG Zuki Eleets 4 that colored the sound and a JL Audio HD 900/5 that was completely neutral, so I have experience with both brands myself!

Edit, pics since it did happen:


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## daveds50 (Jun 10, 2011)

BeatsDownLow said:


> Not to be a dick, but all your replies are alluding. In this thread or others. If you have so much knowledge in there, why dont you share it with us. In another thread you said a amps fusing is not a indicator of its output capabilities. I wrote you a pm as to not clutter that thread asking how it really works then, but no reply. Its seems that the fusing coincides with all other amps besides the Zuki's the thread was talking about.
> 
> Like I said, I am not trying to be a dick. If something is not what it seems, I would like to know for future reference and for myself. Knowledge should not be confined, it should be shared.


 there is a thing called patient confidentiality with doctors. 

same thing with what i do. if a company that i am working with, does not want info out, then no matter what anyone wants, they will not get it from me. 

i also take it further than that... if they dont specifically say that i can release info, then i wont. 

in the case of Zuki, ask Patrick himself. his is the only official answer. simple as that. 

if you seriously believe that you can tell the output power from an amps fusing, then i have an amp with 150 amps of fusing ( 5 x 30A ) that i can sell you for $20... but i would feel rather guilty for selling it for that much. just dont be disappointed when it is not very loud. there is no name on it, as my neighbor bought it at the open air swap meet years ago, then brought it to me recently when it did not work. it's got 2 x IRF530, and 2 x IRF9530 transistors on the output . you do the math. 

i may have missed your PM. i only get 5 PM's total, and it gets filled in a hurry. so i clean it out completely and often. sorry.


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## daveds50 (Jun 10, 2011)

you dont have to purchase anything. 

for that matter, i dont have the room in any of my vehicles either without making compromises. would i use one if i could ? absolutely ! 

and your old Zuki is a completely different animal. do you think all the Zukis sound the same ? ( for that matter, insert any company )


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

daveds50 said:


> you dont have to purchase anything.
> 
> for that matter, i dont have the room in any of my vehicles either without making compromises. would i use one if i could ? absolutely !


Don't get me wrong, my knock really isn't against Patrick or Zuki audio. But this bucking the common trend of going with smaller amplifiers is something that blows my mind. I can't even fit a 27.5" long amplifier in my vehicle without making serious compromises, much less that 55" long surfboard that he has listed on his site. The new 5 channel may be the best sounding full range class d on the market, but size alone prohibits it from even being considered for my install.



daveds50 said:


> and your old Zuki is a completely different animal. do you think all the Zukis sound the same ? ( for that matter, insert any company )


Well, we are talking about car audio where the limitation on the actual reproduction is the car itself. The only time the Zuki coloration was an issue was when sitting there parked with the car not running. 

Granted, I have experienced coloration in other amplifiers that was so bad that it induced clipping and distortion at what I called "normal" listening levels. In that case it actually did matter because that particular vehicle needed some volume to hear music over the Borla stingers and BF Goodrich KDW2 tires. In fact, next time I try to build a SQ setup in a muscle car, someone needs to remind me of how stupid that idea is.


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## daveds50 (Jun 10, 2011)

ChrisB said:


> Don't get me wrong, my knock really isn't against Patrick or Zuki audio. But this bucking the common trend of going with smaller amplifiers is something that blows my mind. I can't even fit a 27.5" long amplifier in my vehicle without making serious compromises, much less that 55" long surfboard that he has listed on his site. The new 5 channel may be the best sounding full range class d on the market, but size alone prohibits it from even being considered for my install.


 fair enough. i am in the same exact boat. none of our vehicles can fit it without giving up something that we need. while we *could* duct tape the two kids to the roof of the car, my wife would heavily object to that. i dont know why... 

but lets just say that there is a lot inside the thing... no empty board real estate like you would see in one of those big $129 "3000 Watt" amps. 



ChrisB said:


> Granted, I have experienced coloration in other amplifiers that was so bad that it induced clipping and distortion at what I called "normal" listening levels. In that case it actually did matter because that particular vehicle needed some volume to hear music over the Borla stingers and BF Goodrich KDW2 tires. In fact, next time I try to build a SQ setup in a muscle car, someone needs to remind me of how stupid that idea is.


 i can relate. last street driven non trailered muscle car we had was a 1973 340 4 speed Duster. a fairly mild build, headers, 3 foot tubes into 18 inch glasspacks that dumped under the car. i only bought the car so my wife could see the christmas tree a bunch of times at the local drag strip, before she did her first SCCA Pro Solo. it was slow... 13.8 at 103 was it's best. but she did learn the tree. 

but, that thing was loud. i did not bother at all with a system. we bought the car and it came with a Kenwood 2 shaft cassette player, and 2 crappy speakers. rarely did it ever get turned on... and when it did, you would have to strain to recognize what song was playing even at full crank. :shrug:


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## legend94 (Mar 15, 2006)

Daved would you link me or school me on the fusing of an amp? I have no tech experience but real world use of hundreds of car amps. I could give ten examples of amps I have used with low fuse ratings but my favorite would be the audison amps of the early 90s..
Or audiomobile if anyone remembers those.


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## ~Spyne~ (Oct 17, 2008)

After doing some reading it appears my math was wrong, efficiency shouldn't be taken into account when working off voltage measurements from the output rails.
This mean the "4 x 5wrms" board in my Zuki 8-ch puts out around 4 x 90wrms @ 4ohms. (53.8Vp-p across the output rails). Measured with both a Fluke DMM and by looking at an o-scope trace of an input sine wave signal. Amp was connected to a 4ohm dummy load.


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## daveds50 (Jun 10, 2011)

~Spyne~ said:


> After doing some reading it appears my math was wrong, efficiency shouldn't be taken into account when working off voltage measurements from the output rails.


 there you go ! 

however, what was your power supply voltage and available current when you measured the 53.8 ? 

Legend, will answer better when i have more time. but there is quite a few engineering trains of thought into fusing a circuit. none are wrong, but are different. which makes it impossible to determine output of an amp by fusing. depends on the engineer. of course, the example i mentioned before about my neighbors swap meet special, was only a marketing thing to fool people into thinking it was a powerful amp. it was actually around 35 watts rms x 2... with 150 amps of fusing. but fooling people with fusing is often used. seen it recently on peoples repairs sent to me.


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## ~Spyne~ (Oct 17, 2008)

deveds50 > Power supply was a 13.8VDC 80A unit
Amp was measured just before onset of clipping.
That is all I know, I have complete faith in the tech who did the repairs and measurements, he's contracted for several well known manufacturers down here in Australia, in lieu of sending products 'back home' to their overseas offices.


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## diatribe (Aug 11, 2008)

Here is a review on the Zuki 4 channel from a regular on the Phoenix Gold Forum.

Eric tested the power output and got between 196 watts and 174 watts per channel. There was a pretty big difference between the channels for some reason.

Zuki Audio Eleets 4-Channel Amp Review


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## jpswanberg (Jan 14, 2009)

The review is for the V.1. The V.2 doesn't have the bump in the bass. JPS


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## Dzaazter (Apr 28, 2011)

I agree the zuki amps are bigger in size, but if you really want them you will need to make compromises. I found a way to fit an Eleet 4 and a Hybrid 5 in my trunk, even if it meant taking the time to build false floor. I couldn't be more pleased with the sound I get from them. As far as power wise, it is what it is with how he rates them. Is it bucking the trend? Yes, but it more than makes enough power. Ask Patrick what you are running and he will tell you if his amps are capable of handling. He doesn't push his product or make silly sales pitches. He's told me a few times what I can and can't do with the amp. As far as Spynes measurments...with the peak to peak voltage he gives and the dummy load..I am calculating ~180 watts per channel.


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## sotelomichael (Dec 2, 2008)

Hey Dave nice to see you around here. All pioneer head units you've fixed for me are still alive and kicking! I actually just stepped into this thread because I just finished installing my Zuki Eleets Hybrid 5 Channel, and can honestly tell you, compared to the JL HD900/5, I really didn't know what I was missing! The zuki amp is my clear favorite, I've owned audio system, alpine, JL HD, infinity, jbl crown, clarion, massive, etc amps before. 

NOTHING (other than the audio system) comes close to the clarity of the zukis, I haven't even begun to dial it in, just plug and play and I could already hear nuances clearer. 

NOTE: the hybrid 5 channel is A/B on the first 4 and D on the sub channel, different than the one in this thread, but if it's any indication of quality in the range of amps Zuki offers, I'm hooked. Will definitely look forward to more hybrid 5 channel designs from Patrick as he's got it dialed in for the real bang for buck enthusiasts.


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## zikzak (Jul 29, 2012)

Can anybody tell me the weight of the New Class D 5 channel?


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## fullergoku (Jun 21, 2009)

Does anyone have the measurements of the hybrid 5 channel? I'm talking physical measurements unless someone is willing to give out the power too


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