DIY Enclosure/Cabinet for PowerAmp & PreAmp

[bibin3210]

I just completed the initial draft of the front panel design for PowerAmp enclosure. I am planning to make two designs, one for poweramp and another for preamp and the dimensions are 17"w x 13"d x 5"h and 17"w x 10"d c 3.5"h respectively.

Side and bottom will be made of 1mm CR sheet with vents. Back side will be 6mm black acrylic and front will be a combo of 3mm aluminum and 9mm acrylic (6mm red/blue smoke + 3 mm black)



The round edged rectangular panel is going to be made from 3mm aluminum with wire finish and anodized in black color. On top of that a bit over sized acrylic will be placed on the center. Power button will be mounted on this acrylic panel. I am thinking about using a key type switch here.



The 9mm acrylic front piece consists of two layers, the bottom layer will be 6mm smoke (red or blue transparent) and the top layer will be 3mm black. This is to give some sort of lighting effect to the "logo/name" and for a thin light ring around the key switch.

And for the top side i am thinking about 3mm tinted glass just to show off the GEMS inside the cab.

I will post more detailed drawings with exact dimensions soon..........

Thanks,
Bibin

 

[bibin3210]

I have stared this thread based on few requests i have received earlier for a group build. Those who are interested please share your comments and suggestions.

Thanks,
Bibin

 

[Audiodoc]

I am interested however I would like to know about the heatsinks and a 3d rendering if possible.

 

[sachu888]

Hi Bibin,
It looks great.We are planning to start a GB for DIY F5 Turbo V2.It would be good if you can work out a good enclosure or a nice face plate and back plate.See this thread for reference Pass F5 Settima parte ! - AudioKarma.org Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums This is a DIY handmade cab by Audiokarma member Komi.
There were some members interested for small sized phono preamp cabs.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[murali_n]

Hi Bibin,

I think the back plate can be of powder coated metal, why acrylic any specific reason?

N.Murali

 

[bibin3210]

Hi Bibin,

I think the back plate can be of powder coated metal, why acrylic any specific reason?

N.Murali

Hi Murali,

It looks more professional if we engrave on acrylic than screen print on a powder coated surface.

See these...

 

[bibin3210]

I am interested however I would like to know about the heatsinks and a 3d rendering if possible.

Since the design is not yet finalized, changes are welcome. I am in search of a good resource for heatsinks. In the current design my plan is to keep the heatsinks inside the cabs. But if i can find a resource who can provide heavy duty heatsinks, then i can make few modifications to accommodate the heatsink as side walls.

Thanks,
Bibin

 

[bibin3210]

Hi Bibin,
It looks great.We are planning to start a GB for DIY F5 Turbo V2.It would be good if you can work out a good enclosure or a nice face plate and back plate.See this thread for reference Pass F5 Settima parte ! - AudioKarma.org Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums This is a DIY handmade cab by Audiokarma member Komi.
There were some members interested for small sized phono preamp cabs.

Regards,
Sachin

Sachu,

OMG, that is a killer Cab.......but unfortunately those sort of aluminium sheets are not available here. We have to get plain sheets and give the wire finish. The problem is that, if we screen print on over that we will not get good sharpness to the texts.

Second problem is with heatsink, if you know any good resource please let me know.

Thanks,
Bibin

 

[Audiodoc]

For chip amps one can do with heatsinks within the cabinet. For class A designs as pass 5 which generate a lot of heat one needs humongous heatsinks.

I also agree with you that acrylic will look cool. The only problem with acrylic is that it is very prone to scratches. Good quality is necessary.

You should check out my previous enclosures that I have imported to get some more idea. I would also like chassis of 20 wide x 30 deep centimetres with 6 cm and 10 cm height. These are some standard dimensions which can handle a lot of DIY amplifiers without wasting space.

For the pass 5 omishra ji has posted some pictures of a vertical cabinet in the pass 5 thread which I would like everyone to replicate. The vertical orientation gives you a lot of surface area for heat dissipation much like a radiator while keeping the profile of the amplifier slim and smart.

 

[bibin3210]

I also agree with you that acrylic will look cool. The only problem with acrylic is that it is very prone to scratches. Good quality is necessary.

How about giving a MATT finish to the acrylic?



This i had done using a 200 grit emeri paper. But instead of 200 grit, if we use 1500 or 2000 grit paper it will look great and also doesn't attract much scratches and finger prints.

Thanks,
Bibin

 

[bibin3210]

You should check out my previous enclosures that I have imported to get some more idea. I would also like chassis of 20 wide x 30 deep centimetres with 6 cm and 10 cm height. These are some standard dimensions which can handle a lot of DIY amplifiers without wasting space.

It is very difficult to place a 7.5" (OD) and 4" (h) toroid inside a 20cm (w) x 30cm (d) x 10cm (h).

For PreAmp that dimension is enough, i was planning to put the B1 and active x-over inside a single cab. That is why i choose that wider dimension.

Can you suggest me a good size of heatsink for Class A. I am going to put "Le-Monstre" and "Mimesis" inside these cabs.

thanks,
Bibin

 

[Audiodoc]

You can check my pass 5 thread. I have ordered a custom made toroidal 18-0-18 6 ampere with a height of 5 cm for a vertical mounted chassis. Something like this.

http://www.psaudio.com/wp-content/u...-no.33h-mono-amplifier-150-watts-x-1.jpeg.jpg

This is my pass 5 project. Note the slim toroid profile.
http://www.hifivision.com/diy/27045-my-pass-f5-amplifier-build.html

These are my other builds including the pass B1. It is better to build it in a separate enclosure.

http://www.hifivision.com/search.php?searchid=1790315

 

[bibin3210]

You can check my pass 5 thread. I have ordered a custom made toroidal 18-0-18 6 ampere with a height of 5 cm for a vertical mounted chassis. Something like this.

http://www.psaudio.com/wp-content/u...-no.33h-mono-amplifier-150-watts-x-1.jpeg.jpg

This is my pass 5 project. Note the slim toroid profile.
http://www.hifivision.com/diy/27045-my-pass-f5-amplifier-build.html

These are my other builds including the pass B1. It is better to build it in a separate enclosure.

http://www.hifivision.com/search.php?searchid=1790315

From where did you made those slim toroids? I have gone thru your thread. Those cabs looks great. Tomorrow i will contact couple of guys who can provide heatsinks, based on the availability of heatsink i will redesign the dimensions.


thanks,
Bibin

 

[kroyin]

An all metal cab for class a amps has the added advantage of heat dissipation.
The F5 heatsink in our summer temperatures can easily reach 55C, not sure how acrylic will react to those temperatures.

For inspiration on cabs I'd go to

Pictures of your diy Pass amplifier - diyAudio

All 120 pages of it

I personally like a variant of the following design

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/184508-finished-f5.html

 

[Audiodoc]

I buy my toroids from torotrans. Mr. Mahesh who deals with the orders is very helpful. I have purchased a dozen from them for my DIY projects. They make the cheapest custom toroids, much cheaper than miracle, salzer, talema, guru etc.

R cores from eastern electronics are also good but they are very large.

 

[bibin3210]

Got a resource who can supply the following heat sink. The width is 204 mm (8"), length they will provide as per our requirement. I guess 400mm length is enough for building a cab for class A amp.



We can think about the following designs with this heat sink:

 

[Audiodoc]

The second one looks better. The only problem in these designs is that the amps chassis is very large. Alternately if one uses the vertical mounting scheme one can use two 15 cm wide heatsinks on either side with a height of 30 cm. the total dimension of the cabbie will be 10 cm breadth x 30 cm height height x 30 cm depth. So the effective surface area of the heat sinks will be apps 1 square feet on either side even when the profile of the cabinet is slim.

 

[kaushik]

3d design is easy but how are you planning to do cuts on aluminum like square cuts

 

[bibin3210]

Actually both those images are of the same cab, first one is back side and the last one is front side.

@kaushik
I know a resource here who has all the equipment for sheet metal work including anodizing, powder coating, screen printing etc. They are also making cabs for "TORVIN".

Thanks,
Bibin

 

[kaushik]

Actually both those images are of the same cab, first one is back side and the last one is front side.

@kaushik
I know a resource here who has all the equipment for sheet metal work including anodizing, powder coating, screen printing etc. They are also making cabs for "TORVIN".

Thanks,
Bibin

Cool , may be after you finish,some front and back panels i can get it done provided cost is not huge.