If it is an investment, any modification from the original degrade the potential value by a factor >> 1. I would not do ANY mod on the chassis at all. What is the temperature inside the enclosure when you run high power for a while? My $0.02, Jean-Paul N1JPL > On Apr 9, 2016, at 12:55 PM, V G wrote: >=20 > Hi all, >=20 > I just bought a very good class A headphone DAC/amp which uses vacuum tub= es > (http://www.wooaudio.com/products/wa7fireflies.html). It was an investmen= t, > so I'd like to take care of it and maximize the lifespan of all the > components (I don't mind replacing tubes though). >=20 > 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. >=20 > 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 worrie= d > about the PSU anymore. >=20 > 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 --=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 .