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since there's so few information about this box and I opened mine anyway, here's what I found.

The op-amps are NE5532AP, not bad, but high-end modders probably would replace them.
If time allows, I'll try it on two channels and see if the result justifies the effort

The DA converters are 18-bit Phillips TDA 1305T, not big in numbers, but great in sound
And they have a good reputation by those capable of listening to the growth of grass...

AD converters are SAA 7367T with up to 18 significant bits, same as above regarding quality.

The box has a two part powersupply - the wall-wart transformer and the stabilizer inside the box.
It's the latter that's responsible for the heat. The regulating circuits are mounted on an alloy cooler, which itself is directly mounted on the bottom of the case.

You can improve heat dissipation a lot if put the unit flat on a large metal part (preferably alloy, 5-10mm strong).
In a rack mount it would be best if it's the top unit with some space above, but mount it upside down to improve heat flow
It's a really strange design to use the PSU as a heater BELOW the active circuits

Imho it's totally safe to operate it without fan if one takes care of the above points.

cheers, Tom

Thanks Tom, never been game to open mine

My fan died a while ago. I have been trying to find a way to keep the A16 happy. First I tried mounting external fans, but they were way too noisy.

When I opened it up I too noticed that some brainchild had decided that heat dissipation from the bottom was the way to go. Pretty hard to believe. I am convinced that it was designed to be mounted the other way around but someone screwed up in the silkscreening and the front panel dictated the mounting.

No self repecting engineer would do that!!

anyway, I have mounted it upside down and now have a large house fan behind my rack blowing copius amounts of air at the unit. Still, when the studio heats up in the summer the A16 actually refuses to function until the cool of the evening. I even drilled holes in the cover to increase ventilation but nothing helps. When it's hot I do not have a studio, great design!

R

I have so much gear in this attic bedroom that even with a window-mounted A/C I must wait until 9pm to start doing anything productive...I feel that pain too!

4 fans here. 2 of them are clip-on-desk fans, 1 mini-floor fan, and one big box fan.

Noisier than a traffic jam in south-central Hell.

Remote mixing is a good thing. (TM)

BTW one of these days I intend to check the A16 Ultra for power supply location... Would be very good to know & (if necessary) turn upside-down. Thanks guys!


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: blazesboylan on 2004-08-02 03:45 ]</font>

On 2004-08-01 21:04, wayne wrote:
Thanks Tom, never been game to open mine

thanks Wayne, it's the box from the eBay auction you mentioned some time ago - got it for 316 Euro

cheers, Tom

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: wayne on 2004-08-02 10:45 ]</font>