Different case materials=different sound...ummm...explain.

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Doovieman

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Joined 2003
#1
I've been reading a lot of these threads where people make really beautiful amps. I'm quite impressed by the workmanship and thought that goes into these boxes, but what I don't understand is why you think that a chassis made of brush wood from Africa that is dried for 15 years will cause the amp to sound better/worse than an amp with a plain aluminum box. As an engineering student, I must say that none of that makes sense. If you were building a speaker, fine...but an amp? I'm going to guess that most of you who believe in this stuff will jump on this thread and say, "try it first then knock it." I'm not trying to insult anyone, but coming from an engineering background, this doesn't make sense to me. Anyone care to share a quantitative explanation? Thanks a lot,

Doovieman
 
#5
wooden case or aluminun case for amp

🙄 i am in consonance with dovieman that putting an amp in a wooden casing or aluminun casing would make a difference in audio sound. but am willing to try this style, i have a class A amp 20w per channel which i have build and am very much satisfied with its performance and its cased in aluminun. will let you know guys of the result. i know how this amp sound in my music room.
 
#6
Re: wooden case or aluminun case for amp

mozikluv said:
🙄 i am in consonance with dovieman that putting an amp in a wooden casing or aluminun casing would make a difference in audio sound. but am willing to try this style, i have a class A amp 20w per channel which i have build and am very much satisfied with its performance and its cased in aluminun. will let you know guys of the result. i know how this amp sound in my music room.
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Hey, even if it doesn't have any effect at all, it LOOKS DAMN GOOD! 🙂

se
 
#7
Why don't you just try different platforms under SS amps and listen to their effect? All components are bloody microphonic one way or another. If you can hear difference between caps and wire you posess ears with sufficient resolution to distinguish between different construction materials. If not - 🙂 The engineering explanations might not be very convincing, but so what?
 
#8
If we're talking about purely microphonic effects, it probably depends on how loud you play and how close to the speakers the amplifier sits, how it's coupled to the floor (via any shelves or supports), how well the components are mounted inside the case. Does it make more of a difference with the Gainclone because the components are usually hard wired and may be more prone to structural vibration than pcb-mounted components?

It's interesting that so many systems seem to sit between the speakers. Apart from any vibration effects, in my experience, anything between the speakers tends to detract from the imaging to some extent.

Colin
 
#10
If we're talking about purely microphonic effects,
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I haven't found room positioning with respect to speakers to have any meaningful effect. Structural vibration seems more important than air-borne. Also a lot of components actually produce vibrations when passing signal. I am also suspicious about the importance of RF shielding - some of the best sounds i've heard originate from amps with no amount of screening whatsoever, but admittedly they are all valve designs.
 
#13
Only my *opinion*, not meant to be the last word.

I think something related to the much maligned placebo effect is at work here. A REAL phenomena, but ridiculed by many...

IF you put your amp in a solid gold box it is because you are in love with it, :hbeat: plain and simple (common diy attitude BTW) for example http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=176774#post176774
Anyway, human beings being somewhat complex creatures, I think that how *well* we hear varies with the mood we are in, so our solid gold amp we made with our own hands really =will= sound better than one made from scrap plastic, but only to us, and it is because our perception is sharper because of our attachment to it. 🙂 I think it improves the sound but not in ways that can be defined in conventional engineering terms.

Only my opinion BTW.
 
#17
Doovieman, you give me hope that UCB isn't just turning out dweebs.

Anyway, conductivity of a chassis can have an effect on shielding and grounding. The mechanical effects are, um, questionable. analog's observation regarding position of components not having much effect is quite suggestive.
 
#18
 
#19
Re: Only my *opinion*, not meant to be the last word.

Circlotron said:

I think that how *well* we hear varies with the mood we are in, so our solid gold amp we made with our own hands really =will= sound better than one made from scrap plastic
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You're right, it's a real effect! When I'm listening to my latest lovely amp, it's a little ceremony - I'll shut the windows, draw the curtains, turn off all the noisy computers and heating, fine-tune the position of the speakers to the last millimetre, and generally remove all distractions before a note is played.

With a scruffy amp from the second-hand shop, I'll stuff some MP3s on and get on with some hammer-drilling. That's why it sounds better when you build it yourself...

Cheers
IH
 
#20
Different Chassis Materials sounding diffferent

Doovieman,
Here is my take on it. Firstly, keep an open mind. I read a lot here and in other places that my first reaction to is "I wish I had some of what he / she is smoking".
My thinking is that inside of a metallic enclosure we have many signals / and currents and noise reflecting all over the place and thereby are affecting other components. I have always found a wooden or non metalic chassis to be "quieter" than a metallic one. I have proven this to myself already so at least I believe it. I also wonder why with tubes most people leave them exposed, sure they may look nice glowing but they are there exposed and bombarded by sound refelections coming from the speakers. There are lots of things we do not know of and therefore cannot measure, some things that we can measure, but a value of a measurement is not sound, that is why I believe in listening first, after all I would hate a bad measurement may make me believe the good sound I hear is really bad sound

BB:devily:

BB
 
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