Most of the products bought even from 'reputable companies' suck. I went through a slew of brands and experiences until I found a company that sold at least decent, heavy metal steel chassis with an aluminum front and rear. Yes there are more expensive ones there for a 50% increase in price above these and are worth it too if you got the money, but I have found no need to make excuses for these:
Par metal designs on eBay. I have this one sitting on my bench right now deciding where to drill the first few holes. They can customize if you like too.
This one cost me $189 shipped to my door and is 4U X 19" W X maybe about 16" D
Par metal designs on eBay. I have this one sitting on my bench right now deciding where to drill the first few holes. They can customize if you like too.
This one cost me $189 shipped to my door and is 4U X 19" W X maybe about 16" D
This post from 2020 has a table of all Modushop chassis dimensions: https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/chassis-discussion.221218/page-37#post-6088275
Sorry for the delay.
The quality is supreme as is most enclosures from China in my experience. The system of bolts and thread taps is insufficient to load it up to 80 pounds of amplifier that it will become when it is finished. Mechanical enhancements are in order, I'm working on them right now. It needs to be 'beefed' up. I do not have a problem with that at all.
The packaging was funny and weird. It was very 'hodgepodge' and home brew-ish. I was a bit disappointed when I unpacked it. I thought there to be damages on the faces of the aluminum plates. Meh, it was fine in the end.
Nothing sneeks through customs. We(Canada) have trade agreements in place that cover all the stuff we use in this hobby from many countries. It was shipped to be received by Canada Post. They opened it up for inspection at some point and taped it together and sent it to me as per normal. No extra charges.
If you ship to Canada via a courier like DHL, UPS, FedEx and you do not have a broker, then those companies make up their own fees and taxes and it is random and dangerous as Hell to receive your goods...unless the shipper includes a declaration but even then, there will be fees added. Not from customs Canada, from the courier.
FWIW, the new 2025 Deluxe Chassis are now available for purchase from the store. These are shipping from the store's warehouse in Massachusetts, USA.
Thanks for the detailed info!
Regarding customs: I do not know what the rules and tariffs are in Canada. It sounds like if the last step is with Canada Post, then (below a certain amount, or maybe depending on the particular item category and origin?) there is no fee. In the US we had an exception up to US $800 value. Above that the rules are/were actually not 100% clear to me. The US customs forms you (or your paid agent) would have to fill out talk about commercial import, which to me means 'import with the intent to resell'. But the forms you would submit to US customs do not really have a box to declare 'not imported for resale'. I went through this once with USPS, and had an item (used, from Japan) held up in customs for several weeks, eventually (after finding the phone number for the right office) playing phone tag with the US customs agent in charge, until he finally just released my package without charge.
So, in the US self-importing through USPS can get complicated if an item above the exception value does get flagged. (Which, according to my understanding, does not necessarily happen. That's why I asked about whether it 'snuck through'. Maybe Canadian customs is more thorough, and/or more strict? Or maybe all personal imports are exempt?) And now, with the disappearance of the $800 free ('de minimis') exception, I don't even know how this will work in the US.
In case somebody stumbles across this thread while chassis hunting: I started a separate thread for my evaluation of a Modushop Galaxy chassis sidewall as heatsink. See https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...for-modushop-galaxy-1gx388-2u-chassis.426972/ .
At 1.4 K/W, the Galaxy chassis might be a more affordable alternative for low power dissipation needs (<25 W/side?) to more expensive chassis with 'real' heatsinks (typically 0.3 - 0.6 K/W).
At 1.4 K/W, the Galaxy chassis might be a more affordable alternative for low power dissipation needs (<25 W/side?) to more expensive chassis with 'real' heatsinks (typically 0.3 - 0.6 K/W).