Amp Camp Amp - ACA

The problem with the slow rotator extraction fan is the placement of the fan so it takes air off the box evenly, the relocation of the connectors in the back pane, and the noise the fan makes. Attaching the fan to the bottom would require placing taller legs on the unit and making a central location (drilled or slotted) for the fan to attach to. You may want to place the fan inside the box for better aesthetics.

I would suggest to raise the top plate of the unit by about 1/2 inch or so to allow passive convection to take place instead of messing around with location of connectors, making holes in the bottom plate or having to deal with a power supply for the fan inside the box.
 
With no ventilation exhaust on the top cover hot air has nowhere to go. There is no passive convection possible with these enclosures. The temperature inside the box will go pretty high if you leave the amps on for a lengthy amount of time.
oc11, well spotted.
Yes, you're right, I had planned on turning it upside down and cutting through the slots from inside with a scalpel as it's only 0.6mm thick veneer.
 
Decided my ACA’s needed some stands to get them up off the floor.
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Solid Monkeypod blocks, also called Raintree, or Parota. They came dipped in wax. So in my personal experience I’ve had great sonic luck, decoupling speakers and equipment with some cheap anti vibration feet I use... so I expected maybe something noticeable to my ears, plus it makes the amps just a lil further from the wires.

I’d love to say having the amps wider than the blocks for added free air on the heat sinks was all my good thinking, but honestly it was more a limitation of how the wood was available. The amps do feel just a little bit cooler than before and best way I can say it is they sound a lil happier. Lol, I did it for aesthetics but I swear it sounds better. They for sure feel less warm to the touch.
 
Dudeisms would you mind providing a name or link of the place you got those blocks at?


Here is specifically what I purchased 8x8x3
Monkeypod 8" x 8" x 3"

This was in Woodcraft’s “dimensioned wood” section, and it is to be cut within +\_ 1/4th” of size listed. I say this because all this really is is a “turning blank” of exotic wood. Warning it comes covered in wax, lots of scraping and I went through several belts on a cheap belt sander to get the wax off, then finished it. But you can buy a “turning blank” from any mill or exotic wood supplier online. Other than the look of the wood I picked and it’s inexpensive price... it’s known to not really react to changes in moisture... as a different kind of wood might after having the wax removed. Some types of wood need to dry out for a while.
 
Hi, I hope you still think so.
My marquetry techniques leave a great deal to be desired, but overall I'm fairly satisfied.

Those look mighty pretty.

Careful cutting with a very sharp scalpel should open those ventilation slots, might want to consider clamping it down to something like a piece of sacrificial ply and working from the inside... maybe even drilling the ends with a brad point bit....
 
Hi all,
I need some advice please. I have 15 ohm LS3/5A’s, and I am planning on building a pair of single-ended ACA monoblocks suitable for 8-16ohms. I am looking for a simple, reliable SS DIY preamp for this setup. Preferably active. I asked the guys at classicvalvedesign about the MooseFET, but they said they discontinued the PCB’s due to too many DIY’ers having trouble with it. Next I thought of BOZ, but it seems many think this is not an ideal partner for the ACA. Too high output impedance. So guys, any advice would be appreciated, and please keep in mind I need it to be a simple design. Thanks
 
I have not done research in the subject of new preamp PCBs because I found a couple of BoSoZ PCBs in my parts stash and am planning to build them. What I would encourage you to do is to expand your search into the headphone amplifier category. Many of these are quite suitable for use as preamps for the ACA, check the posts in this thread to see what people are using.
 
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Many thanks oc11, -but man, there sure are a lot of posts in this thread:)
Well, I will give it a go. Any others who wants to chime in? Thanks again
I'm using (or will be when I've got it built) an Objective 2 headphone amp.
What attracted me to this is that a member of this forum has used one with the ACA to good effect, it can double as a headphone amp, and lastly has a gain switch, which dependent on one's use of SIP sockets on the board allow the two gain settings to be changed through various combinations of resistors.
 
Those look mighty pretty.

Careful cutting with a very sharp scalpel should open those ventilation slots, might want to consider clamping it down to something like a piece of sacrificial ply and working from the inside... maybe even drilling the ends with a brad point bit....
Thanks mightym, I was indeed wondering about drilling out the ends of the slots and then cutting out with a scalpel but the plan to do that whilst clamped is a good one as that should prevent breakout.
If you look closely, the sheet of veneer on the front is slightly rippled, that's because I hadn't realised that the veneer ought to be ironed flat first to remove any undulations-who knew you could iron wood?
Actually the most difficult part was concealing the bolts that hold the veneered pieces to the chassis (they were countersunk into the aluminium, then veneered over).