Zen amp design

[Ilianh]

I got those 2 heatsinks for a Zen amp I'm making.

First of all, I'm a bit worried about they dissipation properties, but I guess they will be fine for a Zen...

Working with those heatsinks is hard (design wise), I cant make up my mind on how to integrate them in a "zen type" amp design.

I have some ideas.. but... not too clear

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated

They are 20 cm high

[faustian bargin]

here's something to look at. wood on top, bottom and sides. could be natural stain, could be painted mdf, whatever you like.

blue LED, any other switches you like - the simpler the better.

the wood can be attached using perhaps some angles mounted to the outside gap on the heatsinks. maybe there's a cleaner-looking way.

hey i'm just the designer, you gotta build it.



/andrew - wants more info on those heatsinks - where, how much, what °C/W, etc.

[Ilianh]

Hi Andrew,
First of all, thanks for the reply,
that used to be my first idea, then I realised I wont be able to put 2 channels + psu if using that kind of arrengement. what I thought was to make a central external psu for all my gear, the BOZ, the zen and active filters and such.

[Kermit]

Have you concidered something like this:
http://www.passdiy.com/images/gallery/a40-p2-1.jpg

If you’re worried about the dissipation you could mount fans under the sinks and make them kick in at a given temp.

[faustian bargin]

are you using one heatsink per channel? or two?

i'm not sure why you couldn't put a psu in the box with the pcb's...maybe i'm missing something.

you could always make the box wider. or, as you say, you can use an external psu. nothing wrong with that.

of course, if you want something that just looks different from that scheme, why don't you describe a little more what you're looking for?

lay it on me - i'm used to this kind of thinking, because as an architect i (occasionally) design stuff for a living. it's fun, to me.

/andrew - needs some more ideas for his own zen amp design anyway

[Ilianh]

The caps I'm using on the psu are 8 10cm high ones, and the toroid is preety big. The heat sinks are actualy 15 cm high (sorry... I made a mistake by saying they were 20cm) by 10 cm long and 7 cm deep. The transo im using is about 15 cm diameter and 6 cm high.

and the idea of a central external psu turns me on

I have 2 of those heatsinks, 1 per channel is what I'm going to do.

Kermit, Thats a nice idea, I have considered it seeing this:
http://www.passdiy.com/images/gallery/zen-p7-2.jpg

the problem was the psu, but now that I'll make a external one, I will reconsider this design.

All my gear will be on a dark granit plate based rack. I'll use only dark woods, mat aluminum. (And dark spikes under everything, hehe)