The speaker wiring inside the cabinet has been chosen: I got some silicone insulated flexible ones (2.5 mm²), because they can tolerate rather high temperatures which might be unavoidable if been soldered inline as i do. Now i have to find a suitable soldering iron, which can put out some large amounts of heat within a short period of time due to those rather "massive" speaker binding posts.
The Ghentaudio stereo case is not only "looking" rather crammed, it really is.
I added (drilled) three rows of additional ventilation holes ( D = 6 mm each, 2 rows at the rear, one up front behind the PSU SMPS1200A400) to allow some inflow of air from the bottom. All ventilation slots and holes are blocked practically by those modules installed.
Because it is such a tight fit the balanced input cables have to be routed in constrained space literally. Not that easy really.
The Ghentaudio stereo case is not only "looking" rather crammed, it really is.
I added (drilled) three rows of additional ventilation holes ( D = 6 mm each, 2 rows at the rear, one up front behind the PSU SMPS1200A400) to allow some inflow of air from the bottom. All ventilation slots and holes are blocked practically by those modules installed.
Because it is such a tight fit the balanced input cables have to be routed in constrained space literally. Not that easy really.
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The amps are almost finished. Connected to the mains, all LEDs light up, no smoke signals (yet).
Just wonder, how two jumpers on the SMPS1200A400 have to be set (J6, J7) for the AUX voltage, wehen using it in combination withe the NCores. Should they been set to "regulated" or "unregulated" Aux voltage ?
Just wonder, how two jumpers on the SMPS1200A400 have to be set (J6, J7) for the AUX voltage, wehen using it in combination withe the NCores. Should they been set to "regulated" or "unregulated" Aux voltage ?
Have done the speaker wire soldering to the speaker posts.
Used a "heavy" soldering iron (150Watt) to get the heat transfer done as fast as possible not to damage the plastic parts and washers of the speaker terminals, as some have experienced.
Next step will be the thermal burn in with the semi closed case to see, what temperatures long term to expect and if the modules are stable under these conditions. The SMPS1200A400 in that very small case has some higher temperatures on it (55-65°C), whilst the massive heat sink stays relatively cool, on the other hand the SMPS600 feels hotter (heat sinks) but its hottest components are somewhat cooler (45-55°C), mainly because the heat sinks are less massive and not attached to the bottom plate of the case directly like its been done with the SMPS1200. The NCore NC400 modules (no signal) reach about 32-35°C in both units, hottest area are the LEDs
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About an hour after turn on (no signal) the case of the stereo amp version has reached about 36°C (moderately warm), whilst the case of the mono module has gotten to about 26°C (room temperature is about 22°C).
Note: The Ghentaudio cases for the mono and stereo version are practically identical in size (and martials used), the stereo version is to a lesser degree ventilated compared to the mono version.
Note: The diagram in my previous post states, that VAUX has be set to "Unregulated" (J6+J7 on the SMPS1200A400). The nAmpon signals are supposed to be soldered to the small (intermediate) PCB provided with the kit.
Used a "heavy" soldering iron (150Watt) to get the heat transfer done as fast as possible not to damage the plastic parts and washers of the speaker terminals, as some have experienced.
Next step will be the thermal burn in with the semi closed case to see, what temperatures long term to expect and if the modules are stable under these conditions. The SMPS1200A400 in that very small case has some higher temperatures on it (55-65°C), whilst the massive heat sink stays relatively cool, on the other hand the SMPS600 feels hotter (heat sinks) but its hottest components are somewhat cooler (45-55°C), mainly because the heat sinks are less massive and not attached to the bottom plate of the case directly like its been done with the SMPS1200. The NCore NC400 modules (no signal) reach about 32-35°C in both units, hottest area are the LEDs
. About an hour after turn on (no signal) the case of the stereo amp version has reached about 36°C (moderately warm), whilst the case of the mono module has gotten to about 26°C (room temperature is about 22°C).
Note: The Ghentaudio cases for the mono and stereo version are practically identical in size (and martials used), the stereo version is to a lesser degree ventilated compared to the mono version.
Note: The diagram in my previous post states, that VAUX has be set to "Unregulated" (J6+J7 on the SMPS1200A400). The nAmpon signals are supposed to be soldered to the small (intermediate) PCB provided with the kit.
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Next step will be the thermal burn in with the semi closed case to see, what temperatures long term to expect and if the modules are stable under these conditions. The SMPS1200A400 in that very small case has some higher temperatures on it (55-65°C), whilst the massive heat sink stays relatively cool, on the other hand the SMPS600 feels hotter (heat sinks) but its hottest components are somewhat cooler (45-55°C), mainly because the heat sinks are less massive and not attached to the bottom plate of the case directly like its been done with the SMPS1200. The NCore NC400 modules (no signal) reach about 32-35°C in both units, hottest area are the LEDs
About an hour after turn on (no signal) the case of the stereo amp version has reached about 36°C (moderately warm), whilst the case of the mono module has gotten to about 26°C (room temperature is about 22°C).
Note: The Ghentaudio cases for the mono and stereo version are practically identical in size (and martials used), the stereo version is to a lesser degree ventilated compared to the mono version.
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If by "semi closed", you mean case without the top cover and you have already around 55-65°C on some parts of the SMPS1200 (I guess you are talking about the coil) then, I don't want to read the values you will get on the SMPS with the top cover closed....
I had this problem on my poweramp (2 SMPS1200 + 2 NC1200) and I had to use PWM controlled fans (2) to get the heat out of the case...
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Some measurements.
After some 24h "thermal burnin" i checked the case temperature of the stereo amp, it's approaching somthing like 36-40°C, dependig where i probed it, the mono amp stays at about 28°C. Highest temperatures are at the top ventilation holes.
Inside component temperatures (stereo amp) have reached 65°C (transformer) on the SMPS1200A400, other components there stay between 45 - 55°C. The NCore module (chocke ?) reached about 50°, the rest stays by about 36-40°C.
The mono amp SMPS600 stays about 10°C cooler than the SMPS1200A400. The amp module has (almost) the same tempratures on it like the stereo amp.
I already drilled some additional holes in the bottom plate of the stereo amps case, to improve circulation. How much that really helped i don't know. No space left for any fans inside etc though...
The residual of the carrier (~ 430 - 450 kHz) at the speaker terminals is about 0.660 Vpp on both amps (4 Ohm resistive load) an all channels with no input. Checked with Hypex support, this seems to be "normal".
Would like to check the DC balance of in- and output. For adjusting R95 (DC balance input) does the nAmpOn has bo be disconnected for the measurement ? I did already solder them to GND. Must the XLR input be kept unterminated for this ? What about the output side ? Speaker terminals with no load and correspsonding input not terminated ?
Will provide som pictures of the built soon (stereo and mono) ...
After some 24h "thermal burnin" i checked the case temperature of the stereo amp, it's approaching somthing like 36-40°C, dependig where i probed it, the mono amp stays at about 28°C. Highest temperatures are at the top ventilation holes.
Inside component temperatures (stereo amp) have reached 65°C (transformer) on the SMPS1200A400, other components there stay between 45 - 55°C. The NCore module (chocke ?) reached about 50°, the rest stays by about 36-40°C.
The mono amp SMPS600 stays about 10°C cooler than the SMPS1200A400. The amp module has (almost) the same tempratures on it like the stereo amp.
I already drilled some additional holes in the bottom plate of the stereo amps case, to improve circulation. How much that really helped i don't know. No space left for any fans inside etc though...
The residual of the carrier (~ 430 - 450 kHz) at the speaker terminals is about 0.660 Vpp on both amps (4 Ohm resistive load) an all channels with no input. Checked with Hypex support, this seems to be "normal".
Would like to check the DC balance of in- and output. For adjusting R95 (DC balance input) does the nAmpOn has bo be disconnected for the measurement ? I did already solder them to GND. Must the XLR input be kept unterminated for this ? What about the output side ? Speaker terminals with no load and correspsonding input not terminated ?
Will provide som pictures of the built soon (stereo and mono) ...
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And what about the relative heatsinking? Not that you needed to leave your A/B on permanently either...
It is a subtle annoyance having to manually turn the amps off, as I don't leave any burning away unnecessarily now. I had hoped the nCore would just stay ON 24X7 being so efficient...which is why the nAmpOn feature has my interest...am being lazy asking who knows about it instead of studying the literature (I did read a bit and assumed it is like a trigger type feature)!
My other A/B amps have good ventilation, with vertical fins and slits punched out right above them in the casework ....they are also only rated at 60W@8ohm on paper though but run nice and cool nonetheless ;-)
My other A/B amps have good ventilation, with vertical fins and slits punched out right above them in the casework ....they are also only rated at 60W@8ohm on paper though but run nice and cool nonetheless ;-)
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