[haveblue]

Quote:

I'm not sure if I'd want a pump inside a piece of audio gear.  Electric motors are pretty noisy.

Even if the motor is just 10W, outputs an audible 25dBA, is mounted on an isolation pad, and has a shield of mu metal between it and the rest of the components?
 
I know my idea is the opposite of keep it simple stupid. It's more of an engineering exercise for me to incorporate all these concepts without disturbing the performance of the audio components.

 

[balderon]

Quote:

I'm not sure if I'd want a pump inside a piece of audio gear.  Electric motors are pretty noisy.

 
Let alone fluids and electronics are not friendly bedfellows.
 

 

[yellowjeep]

People have been doing it with computers for a long time, I mean you could even submerse the whole thing in mineral oil and it would work.  This whole thread is pretty crazy and I for one would love to see it come to fruition in one form or another. 

 

[Region2]

Quote:

People have been doing it with computers for a long time, I mean you could even submerse the whole thing in mineral oil and it would work.  This whole thread is pretty crazy and I for one would love to see it come to fruition in one form or another. 

I'm more interested in if he'll be able to shoot some cool light beam form it.  All those pictures of the Luxor have gotten me excited to see this as well as a deep desire to hit the blackjack and crap tables.

 

[Ntropic]

I better get all that air out of my case then; those nasty fluids could totally ruin my overclock.
No, seriously, it's not particularly dangerous or noisy to incorporate a water loop into the build, if you know what you're doing. You could sink all your FETs and stuff too, if you wanted.
 
 
 
Quote:

 
Let alone fluids and electronics are not friendly bedfellows.
 

 

[Uncle Erik]

The biggest concern with electric motors is the stray EMI/RFI. Those don't affect a CPU much, but will put noise on the line in audio gear.

Yes, you can shield it, but RFI shielding can be tricky and lead to other complications.

The project is interesting, but it would not be fun to sink a couple thousand and a few hundred hours into a project only to get a nasty hum on the output or other unintended consequences.

 

[qusp]

why not make it like Giza (sp) ie. make one large pyramid and 1 or 2 smaller, even different sized ones? you could also use a conrad like heatsink show through externally as the steps. I really think its very cool, but by trying so hard to put it all in the one box you are making compromises that may bite you, its too overcomplicated IMO. take it from someone who has fought doing the same thing with my own build and finally decided that it was better to pout the PSU externally, especially since going with a class A mosfet driven Pass D1 IV stage.
 
also, why not go with an LCD and remote for the volume and relay based source selection and get rid of that knob?
 
yes comparing PC's and sensitive analogue circuits WRT susceptibility to noise is not really valid, the fan and control circuits could very easily create noise on the line, mumetal only goes so far and even shielded toroids really should not be placed below the other stuff, EMI is projected upwards from the center generally

 

[Cloud]

my 2 cents:
 
you can make the pyramid out of copper. the 4 sides will serve as heatsink for the 4 b22, bottom can be used for the 2 sigma22.
in order to avoid drilling holes and spoiling the look, you can make use of thermal tape/thermal adhesives to tape/glue the mosfets onto the plates.  you can use some epoxy for the metal stand off for the boards. 
 
The transformers can be hidden in a smaller accompanying pyramid like what qusp suggested. wires can be hidden if you make a duct connecting the 2 pyramids and do some landscaping. or you can do it on a raised platform and hide the cables inside the platform
 
Another medium sized pyramid for the buffalo32 and accompanying power supplies. 
 
While you are at it, perhaps the volume control can be made flushed with the main pyramid with a circular egyptian logo covering it. you will be turning the logo as though you are unlocking some secrets of the pyramid to control the volume.

 

[qusp]

nah copper makes a crappy heatsink, its great for sucking the heat out of the device, so a copper layer bonded to the AL is good, but on its own it has terrible heat dissipation, it would suck the heat out and hang onto it, then suck more out and get hotter and hotter and hotter. al is very good at getting rid of heat into the air, so a layer of copper with silver epoxy bonding it to an alloy heatsink is ideal and if that isnt possible, all al

 

[Cloud]

the main reason why i suggested copper cause its closer to how a real pyramid will look. i not so concerned with heat dissipation as i assume the sides of the pyramid will be big enough to handle those heat.
 

 

[haveblue]

@cusp
 
Before I got the water cooling idea I considered incorporating Conrad sinks into the sides. However, it required a 10-conductor umbilical and I couldn't figure out how to make a practical heatsink to cool the LED. Plus the idea and challenge of adding yet another impractical extraneous system in addition to the lighting got me really excited and curious. It doesn't hurt that the water cooling components would cost about the same as Conrad sinks + umbilical + extra case.

 
 
I have already started to plan where wires are to run on my current idea and it doesn't seem to be too difficult with the current components. A remote controlled volume pot and LCD is a neat idea though. I'll look into that. But doesn't that defeat the purpose of not having any motors whatsoever in the case?
 
I also still don't understand why the toroids are worse in my setup when compared to other setups. At their closest, the B22 boards are 4" above the transformers, not to mention they don't directly sit atop of them. Every single stacked two-box setup in amb's gallery has roughly the same vertical distance from transformer to B22 board, albeit some are using shielded transformers. The only difference compared to a stacked setup is that my toroids are not in a detachable box. Geometry is the same. The two layers of sheet metal separating the boards and transformers should do next to nothing in reducing the EMI.
 
The fan, pump, and LED's are on a dedicated separate 12V line that comes in through a wallwart. The fan and pump, are, again, 4" below the B22 boards, and 6" below the DAC boards. Are you saying that if you hold in your hand and run a computer fan and a standard RC car servo (same power output as pump) a few inches above your componentry that their EMI would be audible through your headphones? I've never dealt with discrete class-A circuits, but is it really that sensitive?
 
@Cloud
 
Pure copper is neat, but it's $$$$$$

 

[johnwmclean]

Qusp beat me to the posting Giza idea, I thought of but didn’t post, honestly I did! 

 

[cfcubed]

For the heck of it, I'll post to this thread. 
 
Attempting ß22 vs something like CK²III as a 1st amp build has been discussed elsewhere, opinions vary and I'm not a fan.  Before embarking on a radical case design, consider getting whatever amp you choose working on your bench first.  It'd be a good milestone & let you assess the amp's sound, size, heat, etc.
 
I've built a couple "simple" blocky custom cases from raw materials and there's a lot to it you may not see going in.
Regarding amps & cases n such, I've a monster pic link that shows that NAGRA PMA Pyramid amongst a bunch more:
http://www.jd-bbs.com/viewthread.php?tid=2142934
If you hit that link have a cup of coffee or something to read handy
 
Quote:

Let me state this first: I don't have any DIY amp experience. What I do have is an Aerospace Engineering degree, a pretty good idea of how stuff should be built, and decent soldering, wiring, and CAD software skill.
Today I randomly decided that I want to build a balanced B22 in the near future.

 

[9pintube]

If you must continue with this shape, you could do what Uncle Erik said about a separate power supply box (out of sight) or make a power supply "Box" the same size as the bottom dimensions of your pyramid shaped amp.....Then you could place the amp unit right on top of the Power supply base ending up with one unique amp package.......That's if you are hell bent on doing the whole "Pyramid" shaped amp.... Good Luck!!!!

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

I'm not sure if I'd want a pump inside a piece of audio gear.  Electric motors are pretty noisy.

I'm not sure if I'd want WATER inside a piece of audio gear.