i am casually looking into running a couple small zapco amps in my stereo.

reason being i have a very tight trunk, and i need to cram a couple amps and 2 tens in there and still access my spare.

one thing i like about zapco gear is the symbilink gear, the thing is i dont really know what it does.

could someone address this issue and answer a few specific questions.

does the symbilink gear replace the need for a line driver?

aside from reducing interference, what else will it do?

i know people here have used it, do you recommend it, or is it just another product for the retailer to upsell you into?

 

"does the symbilink gear replace the need for a line driver?"

Yes it does.

"aside from reducing interference, what else will it do?"

I'm no expert so hopefully someone will chime in and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think by reducing the interference you can turn the gains down and get some appreciable SQ benefits. I think this also translates to the amps not having to work as hard...I'm still waiting to install my 4.0 and 6.0. Once I do I'll let you know...soon I hope.

[ January 04, 2004, 11:21 AM: Message edited by: droy ]

 

I don’t know too much about the details of symblink technology, but I believe it is a zapco proprietary balanced connector. A balanced signal can help to cancel induced noise in the signal path, but many amps, (Xtant X series etc) can accept a balanced signal over an RCA cable as well. There are probably some other advantages, but I’m not too sure.

If you can use the Symblink, and have other components that support it, I would certainly take advantage of it. I’m sure you’d be better off than using a simple unbalanced RCA connection. Good choice on the amps, I've always been a big fan of Zapco products.

I’d also be interested in hearing some more details on the technology.

 

you guys basically summed it up... It reduces induced noise in the signal path and it takes away the need for a line driver.... Thus eliminating most noise due to a high input voltage into the amps.

Some other helpful things of the balanced line technology is that you leave your gains at virtually zero... I dont turn up the gains on my amp and they perform excellent...

They run nice and cool... and sound great..
However you will find with the balanced line inputs that your amp will go into clipping easier... keep your gains low as you woill not have to turn them up.

Kriston

 

It's not proprietary, Soundstream of old and Rockford used the same plug.

A few radios have balanced output that would work with that.

Juan

 

Symbolink, is used so that there is no chance of ground loop or inductant noise. It uliltizes the power supply from the amp to power the eq etc. This way all power supplies are linked together...cheers

 

it uses the power supply from the amp to power the balanced line transmitters..... however if you are using zapco eq's you need the stp-u.... an outboard power supply.

Kriston

 

Sounds like a very smart system.. I'm surprised this type of output (3 conductor balanced cables) was not more widly used in the car audio environment. Standard RCA interconnects seem to be pretty troublesome unless you use better quality cables and take care in their installation. Just seems like a no-brainer.. I dont think balanced outputs would cost all that much to include on a HU. I always wondered why CD head units did not include optical outputs either. The TOSLINK mech is very inexpensive..