That was the original plan. That would indeed be ideal... But you have to see what these chassis halves actually look like in person.
It isn't really doable for me. Not without really precise laser work so you are not ruining the way the pieces fit together or the slot for the PCB. That, or you will be making holes much smaller on the bottom.
We're not done though... I most likely will be rearranging my components and attaching a 92mm silent slim fan to the top of the case... Who knows though... I also want to try a Burson v6 vivid and if I like it, that squashes the fan on top idea. Unless I move it back further on the case. That means more holes! ARGH!
But again... We aren't done here.. So who knows. I was just really wanting to hear the amplifier in the intended chain.
To be fair though... No matter where you put the holes on the sides, it just doesn't matter.
The components heat that air up too fast and it just rises to the top and exits the top vents immediately. The air intake doesn't flow through the case on it's own at a rate that makes the hole placement really matter.
The convection system works though no matter what, as the hot air leaving definitely pulls air in. But not enough to sweep across the inside of the chassis to matter. The 12volt regulators get much hotter than my TPA3255 chip does anyway and those are closer to the side of the case.
Holes on the lower chassis, although they allow air to enter nearer to the PCB, that air heats up a bit quicker and is then forced upwards quicker.
Using a fan changes all of that quite a bit though. And as you can see, I currently have a nice 120mm fan pushing air across and through the amplifier now. This was sufficient for the modified A07, but the Pro unit gets much, much hotter. I'm observing the situation to see what is the next best step.
Remember though - We're not cooling components with this setup. That just isn't possible really...
We are simply allowing the heat to dissipate and leave the case. Nothing we do can change the operating temps of the components in the configuration we choose to run it. We can only help that heat escape.
With what I have done, it may prove to be enough to accomplish that task. It might not.
But - I'm so truly OCD about this that you must know, I want more vents for sure. So we'll see where this goes.
If you do modify the lower chassis, you have to choose what you destroy in order to have holes large enough to draw a reasonable amount of air in. That or we use smaller holes. More holes helps no matter what.
With the same size holes, you either sacrifice or risk the way the two pieces fit together or the slot where the PCB goes. - But, being that there is no PCB being slid into the top half, you can sacrifice that pcb grove in favor of preserving the tongue and groove that marry the two halves together. They are opposing to each other so that makes things quite interesting.
One side of each chassis half has the tongue and the opposite has the grove. The way these are made make the workable space somewhat different for each side. Doable, yes. But with caveats.
You do not have this choice on the bottom. You really only have just under a 1/4" to drill into on the tongue side and even less on the groove side because the groove is actually quite deep.
If you drill to avoid damaging the groove for the PCB, you put that marrying tongue and groove at risk. Smaller holes on the bottom is probably the best bet.
I really don't have the gear to be that precise with the hole size I'm using. But I will most likely vent it further.
The holes I made on the top half completely decimated the unused "pcb" groves on that half. Again, you just have to see how they made this. The sides are also much thicker than the top/bottom
Putting the holes on the bottom half, without extremely precise work, puts you at risk of never being able to slide the board back in if you go too low. Go too high and you may have issues with marrying the pieces together without butchering the chassis further.
In truth..
These vents are only necessary if you are using op-amps that increase the voltages of the signals in the way the SparkosLabs do. I did not experience any heat issues at all with the stock op-amps. Many of you with your IC op-amp choices won't experience increased heat either.
If you do this yourself
@Zek please do share your experiences and results.
It would be better for ventilation if the holes were on the lower side.
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