So where's a good place to pickup enclosures? I know about par-metal and thlaudio.com.. I actually like some of the stuff that's at thlaudio, but I don't want to deal with the overseas ordering..
Anyplace local to the US that makes a decent enclosure? I thought about the hammond enclosures, but I'm not sure if they have the removable face-plate.. drilling the plate while it's already on the chassis isn't something I really want to deal with.
Ideally, I'd be able to have someone like 'front panel express' (http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/) make the front/back panels..
Thoughts?
Anyplace local to the US that makes a decent enclosure? I thought about the hammond enclosures, but I'm not sure if they have the removable face-plate.. drilling the plate while it's already on the chassis isn't something I really want to deal with.
Ideally, I'd be able to have someone like 'front panel express' (http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/) make the front/back panels..
Thoughts?
Member
Joined 2003
Keyoke:
I built four gainclones in enclosures supplied by Horace Atkinson at iagaudio.com. I mapped out the holes that needed to be drilled (3 of various sizes on the front panel and far more on the rear) and sent him a diagram. The cost to have him do it was minimal -- quite a bargain, in fact.
Incidentally, his chassis are exceptional-looking and very well built. The photos on the website don't do them justice.
Regards,
Scott
I built four gainclones in enclosures supplied by Horace Atkinson at iagaudio.com. I mapped out the holes that needed to be drilled (3 of various sizes on the front panel and far more on the rear) and sent him a diagram. The cost to have him do it was minimal -- quite a bargain, in fact.
Incidentally, his chassis are exceptional-looking and very well built. The photos on the website don't do them justice.
Regards,
Scott
my recommendation
I recommend either-
(a) par-metal ("Antek" on ebay sells them too)
(b) getting a broken or cheap hifi item on EBay and having frontpanelexpress create front and/or rear panels for you. You can discard the originals and no one will know that the case is a denon/pioneer/ whatever. My Gainclone is acually a Kyocera CD player with a new front panel. That said make sure you can flush mount a front panel on the old component, some are easier than others in how to do this. You can use black spraypaint like rust-o-leaum to "erase" the prior back panel if you want.
I recommend either-
(a) par-metal ("Antek" on ebay sells them too)
(b) getting a broken or cheap hifi item on EBay and having frontpanelexpress create front and/or rear panels for you. You can discard the originals and no one will know that the case is a denon/pioneer/ whatever. My Gainclone is acually a Kyocera CD player with a new front panel. That said make sure you can flush mount a front panel on the old component, some are easier than others in how to do this. You can use black spraypaint like rust-o-leaum to "erase" the prior back panel if you want.
Nordic said:
I don't understand that reasoning at all. Lots of tube amps aren't worth the additional cost of potted transformers, yet people buy hem all the time.
Nordic said:
That puts the T amp crowd in a very tight spot.
I think you shouldn't spend more than 10 pct of what you paid for your speakers on the amp. While I firmly believe that, it just doesn't work in practice. I sold a pair of speakers costing 3-4 times as much as the ones I have now. By that logic I should sell my current amp and by one costing 1/3 of the price.
You should buy and spend whatever you want. No more, no less.
I found this old 1960s-70s hi fi tuner on the roadside and gutted it. My VBIGC is being built into it right now. The front panel will be replaced with a piece of etched aluminium, and the battered veneered sides have been replaced with solid pieces of rosewood. It should end up to be a cool looking retro-inspired amp (I'm hoping 
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falcott said:I found this old 1960s-70s hi fi tuner on the roadside and gutted it. My VBIGC is being built into it right now. The front panel will be replaced with a piece of etched aluminium, and the battered veneered sides have been replaced with solid pieces of rosewood. It should end up to be a cool looking retro-inspired amp (I'm hoping
Very nice, its going to need some vent holes for cooling...good luck with that!
Par-metal definitely makes some nice enclosures. I am currently putting a stereo gainclone amp together in a context engineering 6" x 6" x 1.5" chassis -- everything but the transformer fits so far.
You can buy context engineering cases at Fry's Electronics, or you may be able to find them with a google search.. I buy them locally, so I don't know anything about online retailers that stock them. They're similar to the Hammond cases, except that they're clamshell rather than a C channel with removable top, and they use a black or sliver brushed anodized instead of a flat black or flat aluminum like the hammonds.
Also, a lot of people seem to like the Lansing Instrument cases (www.lansing-instrument.com). They're on par with par-metal cases from what I've seen.
Or you can get something nice from AMT (forum member here):
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ampbox/
You can buy context engineering cases at Fry's Electronics, or you may be able to find them with a google search.. I buy them locally, so I don't know anything about online retailers that stock them. They're similar to the Hammond cases, except that they're clamshell rather than a C channel with removable top, and they use a black or sliver brushed anodized instead of a flat black or flat aluminum like the hammonds.
Also, a lot of people seem to like the Lansing Instrument cases (www.lansing-instrument.com). They're on par with par-metal cases from what I've seen.
Or you can get something nice from AMT (forum member here):
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ampbox/
I've been eyeballing the small THL audio enclosure for a stereo SKA 150 amp. I've seen the same enclosure a couple different places. Can I order a single piece from them?
Is anybody else interested in the PWAD-A40? Maybe we could get a group buy going.
Also sescom is another source of lightweight enclosures that look a lot better than a bud-box. http://www.sescom.com Their prices have been slowly creeping up so they aren't quite as good a deal as they used to be. I've got an Amp6 in one shown here:
http://casastokes.dyndns.org/photoalbums/index.php?album=/Audio/Tripath_Amp
Sheldon
Is anybody else interested in the PWAD-A40? Maybe we could get a group buy going.
Also sescom is another source of lightweight enclosures that look a lot better than a bud-box. http://www.sescom.com Their prices have been slowly creeping up so they aren't quite as good a deal as they used to be. I've got an Amp6 in one shown here:
http://casastokes.dyndns.org/photoalbums/index.php?album=/Audio/Tripath_Amp
Sheldon
The correct link to Lansing is this:
http://www.lansing-enclosures.com/
Also, I should start a-posting what I have for sale soon.
http://www.lansing-enclosures.com/
Also, I should start a-posting what I have for sale soon.
lgreen said:
Hmmm.... What you will not be able to see in the pic is that I have replaced the back panel with a slab of 12mm thick aluminium to which the chips will be screwed. I know that the valve/tube will generate some heat, but I'm not sure how hot it will get inside there.
Maybe I can drill a row of 13mm holes along the top of the heatsink/back panel? The casing can "breathe" (for want of a better description) around the sides of the front and back panels - they are not a tight fit, with perhaps a 2 - 3 mm gap at the sides. Do you think that is enough for a convection/cooling effect?
That series of vent holes should be fine, make sure to vent the tube too.
I just received my parts connection catalog and see that they have chassis available on page 267.
Link- CH Series Aluminum Rack Chassis
I just received my parts connection catalog and see that they have chassis available on page 267.
Link- CH Series Aluminum Rack Chassis
lgreen said:
Oh, so the vacuum leaks out, you mean?
The tube is in the same compartment as the amp chips, so what is ventilation for one is ventilation for the other. The tube is running on low voltage anyway...
Thanks for your interest. I'll put up some pics and a report as soon as I get it together.
Someone mentioned it, but, I want to reiterate it: use old stereo enclosures. I wish I had saved all my old stereos, to recycle them, but I tossed them all. I have an old cassette deck that just gave up the ghost, so, now that I'm in diy mode, I'm keeping it to use for an enclosure. I can either put on a nice figured wood face, or have some aluminum cut and polished for one. Thrift shops would be a good source for cheap enclosures, and you might be able to get some from the dump, if you have one nearby, that will let you rummage around, as well, let your friends know that you'd like their fried equipment when they're going to throw things away.
Tom.
Tom.
Just as there is "found art", perhaps there is also "found hi fi"!
How about scouring the junk shops for interesting old boxes and stuff?
This will be my next amp enclosure - an old flip-side toaster. The volume knob will be from a Gibson guitar, mounted on the top. Happy hunting!
How about scouring the junk shops for interesting old boxes and stuff?
This will be my next amp enclosure - an old flip-side toaster. The volume knob will be from a Gibson guitar, mounted on the top. Happy hunting!
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