Ventilation

[Temporal_Dissident]

Building a system. I’ve seen the many photos of beautiful systems on open shelving, exposed naked in a dedicated music room.

 

I do not have that luxury. My system will live in a vertical, millwork cabinet. Shelves will offer 2”-3” space around sides and rear of each component. Front is wide open, behind a metal grill. Shelves are adjustable vertically, so I can control spacing above each component. 

 

Power amps: I get it. Special case. They need room to breath. 

 

 

Everything else?

 

Preamps? Transport? DAC? Server? 

 

How much ventilation is necessary? 

 

 

Gratzi! 

 

 

[One and a half]

Here's an extract from an Accuphase manual for a pre-amplifier.

 

"Leave sufficient clearance when installing in a rack or similarly confined space.
Never block the ventilation openings on the top and the bottom of the unit, 
and always make sure that air can freely circulate around the unit, to prevent the risk of damage.
Special care must be taken when installing the unit in a rack. To ensure 
proper heat dissipation, leave sufficient clearance (at least 15 cm) between 
the unit and other components and surrounding walls, etc. Never install the 
unit in a rack that is closed on the rear and/or the front."

 

That pre-amp is rated at 34W power consumption. Take that as ~ 80% efficient, the rest is heat.

[Ralf11]

every unit needs some ventilation (for so-called 'natural' or free convection) - it will be based on the power consumption and the heat tolerance of the devices in the uit

 

do you have any Class A amps?

 

I would accept any advice from Accuphase

 

sorry if that is too general, but it is hard to know exactly, and... Nelson Pass told @miguelito to bias an amp he designed pretty high to get the output transistors up to 50 cC, so there is that too

[StephenJK]

14 hours ago, Temporal_Dissident said:

Building a system. I’ve seen the many photos of beautiful systems on open shelving, exposed naked in a dedicated music room.

 

I do not have that luxury. My system will live in a vertical, millwork cabinet. Shelves will offer 2”-3” space around sides and rear of each component. Front is wide open, behind a metal grill. Shelves are adjustable vertically, so I can control spacing above each component. 

 

Power amps: I get it. Special case. They need room to breath. 

 

 

Everything else?

 

Preamps? Transport? DAC? Server? 

 

How much ventilation is necessary? 

 

 

Gratzi! 

 

 

Many moons ago I had a terrific “Winter Amp”, an Audio Research VS-115 tube amplifier installed in a Mission style rack that I built.  

 

I installed a 2U quad fan unit at the bottom of the shelf above the amp with the temp sensors. When the amp heated up the fans kicked in, whisper quiet and blew the heat forward out of the rack, or in your case a cabinet.  

 

Or, if you don’t mind making openings with your jigsaw you can go with the cabinet fan option. 

 

it worked for me, may work for you.  

 

https://www.rackfans.com/rackfans.html

 

You can use something like an adhesive cable tie mount to install the fans and temp sensor, that way when you remove it there’s no screw holes. Let us know how it works out!

 

 

[Ralf11]

Here is @miguelito 's rack:

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=SolidTech’s+Rack+Of+Silence&tbm=shop&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxiffO5vvjAhWYpZ4KHcAzDTEQ_AUIDygD&biw=1539&bih=809&dpr=2.5

 

If $600 is too much I bet you could make for less (but note the non-round uprights - they may affect resonance)

[miguelito]

51 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

Here is @miguelito 's rack:

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=SolidTech’s+Rack+Of+Silence&tbm=shop&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxiffO5vvjAhWYpZ4KHcAzDTEQ_AUIDygD&biw=1539&bih=809&dpr=2.5

 

If $600 is too much I bet you could make for less (but note the non-round uprights - they may affect resonance)

This is my rack, and I bought it from these guys:

 

https://www.dynamichomedecor.com/product/Solid-Tech-Rack-of-Silence-4.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw-b7qBRDPARIsADVbUbXdraGS7yEs_Ph_8wNPTH7jMpp4jSj6D9bHtkFbuJs7ernkChGboFMaAqjCEALw_wcB

 

I also got a roll of plastic tube bags, filled them with sand and put them in the vertical posts for extra sturdiness and vibration dissipation.