Noisy fan on ampeg micro vr

[GreggeryP]

Yeah, I know that's a risk. At this point, with this amp, in my use case for this partlicular amp: I either trade it for something less distracting or roll the dice on heat issues. I love how it sounds and looks, so I can gamble on it.

Those are pretty huge heat sinks inside! Plus, knowing that large companies with warranty statistics to manage, are going to over-engineer to avoid warranty repair- It's a gamble I'm willing to take.

I do wonder why 200 watt capability was spec'ed for these. I haven't seen any on stages that warrant 200 watts, but I suppose it does happen!

These micro VR's really sound and look great! It is such a bummer the fan is so loud.

If I put the fan defeat in (likely), I'll post about it here & keep tabs on any issues. Obviously folks need to be bright enough not to go the same route themselves without understanding the risks.

Following! I've been thinking about doing the same for a while, so I'd really appreciate it if you share your experience. Looking forward to any updates

 

[scotch]

Following! I've been thinking about doing the same for a while, so I'd really appreciate it if you share your experience. Looking forward to any updates

**paging talkbass warranty police** ;-)

 

[Inconnu]

Just curious… no further results for a quiet (or less noisy) replacement fan on those?

 

[Sprudellio]

I see some of the dumbest “upgrades” and “modifications” with poor results.

My service shop policy is now that we do not support modifications nor will we repair modified gear without restoring to the original factory conditions. The side effect of this is that about 90% of the time, the problems the amp came in for are now fixed.

What if someone came to your shop with a stock MicroVR and said they loved the amp but wanted a quieter fan?

 

[agedhorse]

What if someone came to your shop with a stock MicroVR and said they loved the amp but wanted a quieter fan?

IF they were willing to pay the cost of researching the modification AND I was able to quantify the temperature sensitive components based on the specific design, I MIGHT be able to come up with a safe solution.

That said, I only work on Genz Benz and Mesa Subway series amps these days.

 

[dfp]

In 2025, is there any reason Yamaha doesn’t update the Micro VR, maybe put the guts of a Venture V3 into the Micro VR body? 150 watts at 8 ohms should be fine for a single SVT 210-AV cab, 300 watts at 4 ohms safe for the pair of cabs. No fan complaints I have seen for the V3. Perhaps they sell enough Micro VRs already to bother making it better? Does the wood case surround create heat dissipation issues the V3 alone wouldn’t have?

 

[CQE]

Hi folks,
In case it's a useful data point, I've been using my modded amp for my (quiet) gig, once a week for many months now, and had zero problems.

 

[agedhorse]

Hi folks,
In case it's a useful data point, I've been using my modded amp for my (quiet) gig, once a week for many months now, and had zero problems.

Good for you, that’s your data point.

What was your speaker load?
What was the ambient temperature?
How hard were you playing it?

Different conditions result in entirely different data points.

 

[JimmyM]

In 2025, is there any reason Yamaha doesn’t update the Micro VR, maybe put the guts of a Venture V3 into the Micro VR body? 150 watts at 8 ohms should be fine for a single SVT 210-AV cab, 300 watts at 4 ohms safe for the pair of cabs. No fan complaints I have seen for the V3. Perhaps they sell enough Micro VRs already to bother making it better? Does the wood case surround create heat dissipation issues the V3 alone wouldn’t have?

Good question, and I can’t speak for them. I can say it would be a little hairy for the cabs because their clean limits are lower than the V3 puts out, but not by much. I’m using a V7 with one of those cabs, but I have discretion and common sense

The Micro Vr definitely sells well as it is, though.

 

[Windows_crashed]

I decided to mod the fan as well, I took a reading of the voltage and it was around 11.45 volts. I've never heard the fan speed up even under heavy loads so I decided to go for a 12 volt fan. I decided on the Noctua NF-A6x25 FLX. it makes a massive difference in sound.
going of the sound and airflow I can say that it does run around 11.5 volts. I turned it up to 24 and that was way louder and pushed way more air than the amp ever did.

 

[agedhorse]

Never, ever run a 12V fan at 24V. If it doesn’t burn up from an electrical failure, it can come apart mechanically and eject pieces of fan blade at high velocity and cause injury.

This is a really dumb and dangerous thing to do (or recommend). Where do people get these ideas???

 

[GreggeryP]

Hi folks,
In case it's a useful data point, I've been using my modded amp for my (quiet) gig, once a week for many months now, and had zero problems.

Thanks for sharing! Out of curiosity — what exactly does the mod involve? Did you remove the fan completely, or swap it for a quieter one? I'm considering doing a mod myself — possibly adding an on/off micro switch on the back — so I'm curious to hear what worked for you.

 

[agedhorse]

Never remove or turn off a fan unless you are ok damaging your amp.

Where do these ridiculous (and unsafe) ideas come from, and why are we seeing more recently?

 

[stefaniw80401]

My EA iAmp 500 head has no fan and makes no noticable heat - or maybe has an effective heat sink and passive airflow. Somewhere I read that one can design and build audio amplifiers with efficiently/tolerances with little to no heat?

 

[agedhorse]

My EA iAmp 500 head has no fan and makes no noticable heat - or maybe has an effective heat sink and passive airflow. Somewhere I read that one can design and build audio amplifiers with efficiently/tolerances with little to no heat?

It depends on the design of the power amp, just because they are class D doesn’t mean they are all the same.

For example, those that can drive at high levels into 2 ohms without current limiting issues may also require a fan to keep the size or profile small. There are also small class D amps that require a fan.

It depends.

 

[CQE]

Thanks for sharing! Out of curiosity — what exactly does the mod involve? Did you remove the fan completely, or swap it for a quieter one? I'm considering doing a mod myself — possibly adding an on/off micro switch on the back — so I'm curious to hear what worked for you.

It's in this thread, above. (See post from August 16, 2024.) The way I did it was a little bit fussy, but not too bad, and reversible.

 

[CQE]

Good for you, that’s your data point.

What was your speaker load?
What was the ambient temperature?
How hard were you playing it?

Different conditions result in entirely different data points.

Oh, in case anyone cares: as outlined in my posts above, I'm running the amp into an SVT-210AV, and play in situations where I don't have to be very loud - it's a bunch of unamplified acoustic guitars, singers, and an occasional trumpet or fiddle. For what it's worth, I usually play a Mustang (passive pickups) and run the amp with the pad disengaged, gain maxed (for a little dirt in the tone) and volume at about 9 o'clock. Not very loud, but with enough thud to sound like a bass guitar should (to my ears).

 

[scotch]

Never remove or turn off a fan unless you are ok damaging your amp.

Where do these ridiculous (and unsafe) ideas come from, and why are we seeing more recently?

A) zero 'tude or snarkiness intended in my response - 100% respect for your experience, knowledge, and expertise!
B) your question was probably rhetoric, but I think an attempt at an answer/dialog is warranted...

For background (to better understand my own case use of the product): I'm a nearly 30 year full-time touring/recording bassist veteran (having taken a 5 year sabbatical to fall back in love with playing again).

I purchased a used Micro VR with matching cabinet on a whim as it was a STEAL on my local craigslist. I think I paid less than $400 for the amp, 210av cab, and slip covers- it was a no brainer.

Upon playing with it at home I immediately set it up in my home project studio with an RE320 permanent set in front of the cab. The tone is extremely useable for recording and actually inspiring.

After using it on a few tracks for clients, however, I got some complaints about background noise (the fan).

Now, I 100% undertand that this product was unlikely marketed as a professional studio tool, but dammit- it sits so great in a mainstream mix and records at a manageable volume! I also understand that most end users don't have the same use case as me and that the fan is necessary to accomplish design goals focused on long term reliability. All good!

That said, it is very worth the damage gamble that defeating the fan for my use case adds. I think I'm not alone in finding that the Micro VR punches way above it's weight (and price tag) in terms of tone- it's sort of too good for its britches, so to speak.

If I used this amp for bar gigs (which I think it could easily handle), I would be fine with the fan noise as-is.

In conclusion, I guess that's where my 'ridiculous' ideas come from in defeating, or ideally muffling, the fan. My MicroVR is collecting dust for the moment until I decide on a studio strategy for it. Remotely locating the head is an option, but not ideal for me- so I do plan on installing a simple defeat switch for the fan to use in the studio. If I ever sell it, I'll have to disclose the 'mistreatment' and price accordingly! Likely, I would just give it away though.

So yeah, I'm ok risking damage to the amp- but that doesn't mean I'm advocating anyone else do it!

Respectfully.

 

[agedhorse]

If you are willing to accept the risk, that’s up to you.

I see the results of mods like this, and often enough the result is a damaged amp that may not make monetary sense to repair.

I did design one amp with a fan defeat switch, but this amp used a specially designed output stage that changed the current limit threshold with output stage temperature. There was also additional thermal protection. Very few amps have this type of output stage, and none that are currently manufactured. Therefore this is a special case.

When folks read about all these cool mods, usually proposed by those without the knowledge of the details behind what they propose. Some are downright dangerous to players to.

 

[JimmyM]

A) zero 'tude or snarkiness intended in my response - 100% respect for your experience, knowledge, and expertise!
B) your question was probably rhetoric, but I think an attempt at an answer/dialog is warranted...

For background (to better understand my own case use of the product): I'm a nearly 30 year full-time touring/recording bassist veteran (having taken a 5 year sabbatical to fall back in love with playing again).

I purchased a used Micro VR with matching cabinet on a whim as it was a STEAL on my local craigslist. I think I paid less than $400 for the amp, 210av cab, and slip covers- it was a no brainer.

Upon playing with it at home I immediately set it up in my home project studio with an RE320 permanent set in front of the cab. The tone is extremely useable for recording and actually inspiring.

After using it on a few tracks for clients, however, I got some complaints about background noise (the fan).

Now, I 100% undertand that this product was unlikely marketed as a professional studio tool, but dammit- it sits so great in a mainstream mix and records at a manageable volume! I also understand that most end users don't have the same use case as me and that the fan is necessary to accomplish design goals focused on long term reliability. All good!

That said, it is very worth the damage gamble that defeating the fan for my use case adds. I think I'm not alone in finding that the Micro VR punches way above it's weight (and price tag) in terms of tone- it's sort of too good for its britches, so to speak.

If I used this amp for bar gigs (which I think it could easily handle), I would be fine with the fan noise as-is.

In conclusion, I guess that's where my 'ridiculous' ideas come from in defeating, or ideally muffling, the fan. My MicroVR is collecting dust for the moment until I decide on a studio strategy for it. Remotely locating the head is an option, but not ideal for me- so I do plan on installing a simple defeat switch for the fan to use in the studio. If I ever sell it, I'll have to disclose the 'mistreatment' and price accordingly! Likely, I would just give it away though.

So yeah, I'm ok risking damage to the amp- but that doesn't mean I'm advocating anyone else do it!

Respectfully.

Justin, you could have the best of both worlds with a long speaker cable and a baffle around the cab

Does record very well, though, doesn’t it?