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Why fans? Why not proper passive cooling?


fretmeister
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Obviously the answer is size and money, but I hate fan noise. I know that fan noise is quiet in comparison with the output of a gigging amp, and that at a gig no one notices but when playing in the house it is sooo annoying, even on an amp with a quiet fan.

Just as an example, the new Markbass Big Bang. It's tiny, even smaller than a LM3 and I bet the fan is whirring like a bastard.

the guts of an LM3 in a normal 19 inch rack with a properly designed heat sink / fins etc would negate the need for a fan. Wouldn't weigh much more either.

I love my RH750. It's ace, and of course it's not designed to be used at whisper levels at midnight but I do long for the end of fans!!!

(And I use my Roland Cube 30 late at night)

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It's part of the reason why after briefly toying with the idea of selling it, I opted to keep my old SWR Workingman's 4004 - everything else I own has a fan in it, which is, as you so rightly say, very annoying when playing quietly at home.

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Fans are cheaper and lighter and easier to implement than a good heatsink.

I think also with a fan it's obvious what it's purpose is and it's less likely to be blocked. Purely passive cooling is fine on free-standing equipment, but putting it into a rack case just introduces too many variables with airflow and heat being produced by other equipment in the case and fins being used as convenient places to run the cables connecting all the gear together.

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I agree with the sentiment but there's no shortage of combos without fans for home use, where high power and high volumes are not required.

Having said that, don't some amps have thermostatically-controlled fans? They should be able to be used at low power/volumes without the fan cutting in for cooling - though it will depend on the amp class and case arrangement of course.

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my one only comes on if it's hot enough to need it.

The reason you don't see heat sinks I guess would be like you say, easier to be obstructed,
that gig venues often can get pretty hot. Try sticking you amp within a meter of a rack of stage lights in a low roofed venue where it's going to get very very hot. A fan at least is pulling something across it.
and also a box, some components, stick a fan in, test it- it it doesn't get too hot and pop it can go into construction... heat sinks would need way more engineering - so be more expensive on the R&D

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design features of pretty much anything money can buy have been selected based upon basic economics. amps with silent fans or water cooling would cost more to produce and therefore more to buy. The company making the amp would expect to sell less as essentially it's more money for the same amp (albeit one where [b][i]some[/i][/b] people would appreciate the silent cooling system). Amps with passive cooling would be larger and less likely to compete well against micro heads. Decisions about parts and designs are all part of an in depth cost/benefit exercise. Most manufactures will ultimately calculate which design will give them the best return.

Personally I've never noticed a fan noise on any amp as I only use them when gigging.

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Is there really such a thing as a low noise fan? Isn't the noise mainly a result of the movement of air rather than the fan itself? If the amp design requires a certainly volume of air to move through it for cooling then that's what it needs and that will require a certain size and rpm of fan.

I'm sure the design could be changed to smooth the airflow, or slightly increase the heatsinking and reduce the airflow, but I can't see it being just as simple as using a "low noise" fan.

But the basic issue is that these amps are not really designed to be domestic applicances are they? So a bit of fan noise is not a big deal in their working environment.

If you want a 'silent' amp then there are plenty of low-power, fan-less, combos for the bedroom.

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I have a 400w amp that can run stereo. Runs VERY hot and you could almost burn yourself on it.
Works very well and is very well engineered so it doesn't need a fan.
Later models included one but I prefer amps now that have switchable fans if they have to have one at all.
But the fan on my current amp is very quiet I never hear it running anyway.

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I also have a 400w Glockenklang 'Heart Core' amp which has no fan and is passive cooling, it gets warm but nothing that I'd consider 'hot'. Patently amps designed well and built with quality components can manage very well without a fan BUT were I to rack this in a small rack with no space above or below then I'd want to have some air blowing across the heatsinks. ;)

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[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1344767617' post='1768834']
Obviously the answer is size and money, but I hate fan noise. I know that fan noise is quiet in comparison with the output of a gigging amp, and that at a gig no one notices but when playing in the house it is sooo annoying, even on an amp with a quiet fan.

Just as an example, the new Markbass Big Bang. It's tiny, even smaller than a LM3 and I bet the fan is whirring like a bastard.

the guts of an LM3 in a normal 19 inch rack with a properly designed heat sink / fins etc would negate the need for a fan. Wouldn't weigh much more either.

I love my RH750. It's ace, and of course it's not designed to be used at whisper levels at midnight but I do long for the end of fans!!!

(And I use my Roland Cube 30 late at night)
[/quote]

Should be pretty simple to disconnet the fan. Find out if the amp cutting out due to overheating is any less annoying ;)

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