Traynor SB200h has a dead quiet fan, you have to stick your ear an inch away from the opening to hear it
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If you have a loud fan, there are many aftermarket fans that are nearly silent, and fan reliability has got to be near 100%.
For the first few months I owned my Mesa D800 I posted more than a few times that it didn't have a fan. Eventually somebody corrected me and I felt like the biggest moron ever to walk the earth that I never noticed it had a fan. It's that quiet.
But someone also mentioned the Carvin BX250. Great little amp with no fan.
But someone also mentioned the Carvin BX250. Great little amp with no fan.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,978
- 5
- 220,735
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Before replacing any fan, it's critical to understand how the fan control circuitry works (if so equipped). The fan must have the same electrical properties, as well as the same air flow at the same static pressure. Otherwise, you can destroy an otherwise functional amp.
Rather than complain about amps with fans, how about those new HP laptops that sound like a jet engine. Takes away from the Netflix user experience. 
My GK 700RB-II has a huge fan, but it's very quiet, I don't think it can be heard even in complete silence. How low is the volume when you play?
I have an SWR SM400s that I gigged four and five nights a week for 15 years. It has no fan. The chassis is aluminum, including the face plate, which acts as its heat sink. The face of the amp gets far too hot to touch during the course of a four-hour gig, but the amp has never failed. I stopped using a bass amp on stage regularly years ago, but still have this head for the few times each year when I need one. Best part? You can pick these reliable workhorses up for a song now. Worst part? The pre-amp voicing isn't for everyone.
[QUOTE=" The chassis is aluminum, including the face plate, which acts as its heat sink. The face of the amp gets far too hot to touch during the course of a four-hour gig, .[/QUOTE]
that is some messed up engineering... at the very least it should have been the back panel getting hot , but ...wow
that is some messed up engineering... at the very least it should have been the back panel getting hot , but ...wow
No, that was relatively revolutionary engineering for the time. There were very few rack-mount amps putting out 400W without any active cooling in the 80's. The SM400s was compact and light weight compared to most other amps at the time, so dissipating that much heat in a small, compact, light weight amp without using a fan was pretty darn cool.
30 years later it doesn't seem so great, but for it's time, it was kind of a big deal.
They may have minimal venting because they have a fan... to control the air flow to the hot spots in a logical order. Some products are not safe to operate covers off.
Dell computers seem to miss the point. I've never seen one that doesn't run cooler covers off, nor one I couldn't thermally shutdown with a Pi calculator. I do some pretty extensive and mean hardware testing before we roll out a new model, make a report and call it a fail, but the powers that be always choose another optiplex, and we still have a good 20 to 30% failure rate, despite being a 24/7/5year biz class PC that normally gets replaced every three years.
Not with the Mesa Subway D800 and the Genzler Magellan 800. They are so quiet that the only way you get fan sound is if you put your ear on the opposite hole and get the wind going directly in your ear canal.
Another advantage to not having the external heat sink but a fan is that when you turn the amp off you can pack it up right away and not get burned. The Genzler's body does not get more than room temperature.
D
Deleted member 165050
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I don't understand.
The fan is louder than the volume that you're playing at?
If you're recording, any constant, narrow-bandwidth noise can be an issue. Especially if it's in the frequency range of the instrument you're recording.
No fans in the Trickfish Bullhead amps. My BH1k is the absolute quietest amp I've ever experienced - even with the controls cranked, it's hardly even a hint of HF noise, and the fact that there's no fan makes them dead quiet.
Same with my BX1600. I suppose if I play it hard in hot ambient temperatures and stop playing it would be heard until it winds back down to idle.
I could see that.
D
Deleted member 165050
Guest
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,978
- 5
- 220,735
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Maybe because the player particularly likes the DI?
D
Deleted member 165050
Guest
I guess so, but then if you're not micing up the fan isn't a problem. How do you spell micing? Sounds like mice. Mic-ing? I've never known
If you're playing so quietly that you can hear the cooling fan, you may as well just go acoustic.
However, my amp, the Mesa D-180, has a cooling fan that can be switched between "high," "low," and "off."
However, my amp, the Mesa D-180, has a cooling fan that can be switched between "high," "low," and "off."
