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Hey folks,I picked up a VSP Labs Trans MOS Gold Edition amplifier from a friend for a couple bucks when he was moving, but Google points me to remarkably little information about it. It seems like it may be a fairly powerful amp and I'm not sure what sort of condition it's in, so I'm wary of hooking it up to my smallish speakers. If you own or have experience with this amplifier, will you please share with me what you know about it? Also, I'm wondering if it's possible to bridge the outputs (I'm thinking about using it as a sub amp). Oh, and if you know where I can find a manual that would be fantastic, too.
Thanks, everyone,
Follow Ups:
I had the Gold Edition, which was 200 watts per channel. It was an awesome sounding amplifier with an incredible punch and tone like you would associate with a tube amplifier. Ultimately it had some issue with the left channel blowing the MOSFETs. I replaced them once and that lasted a while, but eventually they went again (the amp was occasionally used for sound-reinforcement purposes where it probably got pushed too hard). Sadly enough I was never able to find a schematic and VSP Labs was already out of business by that time. At one point I found a review of the amplifier from Stereo Review or some other magazine when I was in college in the early 90's, but have seen very little since.
Anyone looking for schematics to VSP Labs equipment should contact me.
Thanks,
VSPb
I have the regular VSP instead of the Gold Edition. It is a very nice sounding Mosfet amp and was well thought of. There is no information on the web and no schematics available. My amp has one channel out and I could not even get a tech to look at it. The company is still in business and makes tech gear. I called then and they do not have the schematic.If it works, you will have a nice amplifier. If it does not, you will have a boat anchor.
First, the manufacturer's total nonsupport of the amp is indefensible. If they're not going to fix it, they could at least have dug up a schematic for you. I wouldn't do business with them if that's the way they support their equipment.Second, any tech worth the title can fix a stereo amp with one channel out, because he has the other channel to use for reference as to voltages, currents, and even burned components. You CAN find someone to fix this amp.
IIRC correctly VSP shut their doors. Their address was taken over by DCM speakers, curiously. There might be a VSP currently but I doubt if it is the same company. The regular Trans Mos was a 150 watt unit, and I believe the gold edition was a 200 watt unitThe Transmos is not a simple map to repair for an ordinary technician even if one channel is working. They have a secondary board, IIRC, containing a large number of IC's. I believe they employed a servo bias system of some sorts, and it is the bias system that may have gone out. At least that was the case for the unit I once owned. As fopr schematics, I once met an executive of the former company, and he had a broken TransMos and no access to schematics either.
Thanks for the info.-I once met an executive of the former company, and he had a broken TransMos and no access to schematics either.
Karma at work!I may get lucky. Some other inmates have given me a heads-up on possible problems associated with this unit that have an easy fix. The bottom line is that it is a nice unit, but given the inablility to fix it if it breaks, I would not throw much money at it even if it worked pefectly.
It is a very nice chassis, heat sinks and power supply. It might make an interesting platform for a DIY amp. Maybe a low powered class A mosfet amp!
except that a tech's time might be worth more than you want to pay if you force him to trouble shoot it that way. You might check another site where they do more DIY audio stuff because someone there might have a schematic. The good news is your transformer, case, and heat sinks are still good so if you ever wanted to DIY a SS amp you have all the expensive pieces.
John........
-The good news is your transformer, case, and heat sinks are still good so if you ever wanted to DIY a SS amp you have all the expensive pieces.My thoughts, exactly! Do you have any suggestions for a design?
It really depends on two things, three maybe.
1. The output voltage and current rating of the PT.
2. How much power you need vs how much heat you'll put up with.
3. How much it would bother you if it goes up in smoke one day.There are a lot of stable, easy to build amps with boards already out there or you could build something simple like the DoZ I just finished and not have any board at all. My DoZ is really nice but gets pretty hot so I use it as a tube amp substitute in the fall and winter plus it kills Nelson's Zen IMHO but I'm sure the Nelsonophiles would disagree. No biggy because you could build them both if your PT had the correct output values and see for yourself. Finding a design that uses the same type of output device your heat sink already accepts will make life easier also. I like what I like and the cool thing about DIY is that you can get exactly what you want without having to make compromises. I trust my ears more than anyone else's anyway plus you get the satisfaction of saying "I did that". A lot of DIY stuff goes the "less protection means a shorter signal path" route which I really like so you need to learn to protect the stuff downstream yourself. Anything by Rod Elliot would be a good place to start even though there are plenty of others.
John...
DoZ = Death of Zen?I have seen Rod Elliots site before. I'll give it a look see again.
Thanks!
I've never understood why AA doesn't have a SS DIY like the Tube DIY. If it got one tenth the action the other DIY adio site I got to it would be pretty busy.
is in jepordy of losing its seperate status, as it is pretty much dead these days.
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