Just picked up a Crown 460 CSL

[yggdrasil]

Got it yesterday. Bought it on eBay. Had no idea what I was buying.

Thought I wanted to something with more power, maybe use them to biamp.

Those fans really make some noise. Do any of you have experience in slowing down them fans?

Then there was time to play just a litte. Seems to be more than enough power. They are much more forward than my smaller Doxa at all listening levels. The bass was chocking. Not the same image as the Doxa. All recordings gave a live impression.

[scott fitlin]

I like Crown. Always makes tight punchy bottom. Mids can sometimes be forward or aggressive sounding, depending on the model Crown, and how the amp/driver interaction is!

I dont think slowing the fan down is a good idea, however, as the amp was designed with that fan to cool it properly, and if you slowed the fan or used a slower model fan, it wont move the same amount of air through the amp.

I would tend to think you would experience thermal problems if you alter the amps cooling system.

[bbrown]

Johnny,
Some amps, like certain QSC models, are available with different fans depending on the use. Commercial sound applications will have higher airflow/noisier fans as you probably won't hear them running anyway. Used in the home, they often don't get as hot, so can use a lower rpm/quieter fan without endangering the amp. Check with Crown and see if thay have any recommendations.

You can see what the airflow is and find a replacement fan of higher quality (not saying their fans are low quality) with a lower dba rating and equal airflow. There are options you can try.

Bruce

[yggdrasil]

Thanks for you comments. I will look into it.


10-15 years ago we installed a lot of temperature controlled fan regulators in computer power supplies. Maybe that's an option as well?

[scott fitlin]

Thanks for you comments. I will look into it.


10-15 years ago we installed a lot of temperature controlled fan regulators in computer power supplies. Maybe that's an option as well?

The PSA-2 had a temperature controlled 2 speed fan, and since I own and still use these amps, I can tell you that when the amp is not being pushed and heating up, the fan in that amp is very quiet!

I also know that the Macro-Tech 5000VZ, or 5002VZ have variable, temperature controlled fans as well!

Call Crown and see what they have to say!

[duaneage]

You could mount them into an enclosure that had larger, quieter fans and then unhook the little jet engines they use.

[ralphs99]

Hi Johnny,

I have been inside one of these amps with a view to doing something similar.

The main problems are that the fan is a 110V fan running off a tranformer tap and the fan also doubles as a small 18-0-18V transformer.
In order to disable the fan you will need to add a small power transformer (about 20VA should do it) running off the 220V mains supply to supply low voltage power to the front end of the amp.
Then you should be able to add a small temperature controlled fan of your choice to replace the existing fan. You will probably be best off running the fan from one of the DC rails with a regulator to reduce the voltage to 12 or 24V as required.
All in all, not so easy!

Let me know how you get on if you decide to go ahead with the mods.

Cheers, Ralph.

[JumBLe]

Johnny, have you seen this site? There are some lower-dB fans.

http://www.ebmpapst.com/


- JumBLe -