Hi all,

I just bought a very good class A headphone DAC/amp which uses vacuum tubes
(http://www.wooaudio.com/products/wa7fireflies.html). It was an investment,
so I'd like to take care of it and maximize the lifespan of all the
components (I don't mind replacing tubes though).

The unit runs warmer than body temperature when idle, and hot when in
active continuous use which I normally do. There aren't any vent holes in
the enclosure, so I'm worried that the heat will significantly reduce the
life of the capacitors and other components inside. Should I open up the
unit and drill some holes in the back and bottom to improve passive
cooling? I would mount a DC computer fan, but I'm worried that the
switching noise will find its way into the amplification path.

The power supply also runs hot, but it has vent holes, and resting it on a
computer case fan *significantly* drops its temperature so I'm not worried
about the PSU anymore.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated, thanks!
--=20
http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
.