R&D Stories: QSC’s FAST Platform

November 2013 was the first issue of the redesigned audioXpress in its current form, featuring several new sections, including the first of its R&D Stories series, focusing on engineering and product development - independently of the audio application field. This article by Stuart Yaniger on QSC’s Flexible Amplifier Summing Technology (FAST) was a reference for many to follow.

Stuart Yaniger wrote a great article for audioXpress in February 2009, The ImPasse Preamplifier, describing a tube preamp to drive a pair of Nelson Pass’ First Watt F4’s (or other low-to-unity-gain power amplifiers) in balanced mono. Yaniger’s preamp is truly an elegant design with very, very low distortion, using a 6SN7 to drive a 6922 in balanced mode. There are LED’s, NE2H neon lamps and depletion MOSFETs in the design.