waaldijkh Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 HI, I'M LOOKING FOR amps without fans. or amps with fans that can be switched off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 I like the same. Demeter 800D head doesn't have a fan Ashdown RM800 Evo2 does have a fan but it is very very quiet and only turns up at louder volumes - Apparently the brand new fan system upgrade on the Ashdown ABM Evo 5 750 is equally quiet. That new system is supposed to be in newly built ABM 600 Evo4 as well. The V2 versions of the Darkglass 900W amps are reactive so the fans only turn on when needed. Not tried one myself yet. Tech21 VT500 is reactive and didn't turn on at all at home volumes when I had one. Only turned on at rehearsal / gig volumes. Many of the Phil Jones models do not use a fan Some Trickfish heads don't have one either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 I won’t have any amp now with a fan that’s why I only use valve amps, but I have kept my RM500 because it’s such a great amp and it’s almost silent, there’s a thread here that might help , don’t know if you’ve seen it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Not that many fans of Kustom amps though I'm quite fond of the brand. It'd be difficult for a brand to get their amps to market without any following at all I'd think! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 In solid stae amplifiers it's vital that the output devices are cooled. that requires either large heatsinks or smaller with a fan pushing air across them. It's what we have to live with. Class D are more efficient and generate less heat that is more easily disposed of. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 This thread is a paradox. Asking recommendations for an amp without a fan means as soon as one is recommended it has a fan. 1 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DGBass Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 7 hours ago, waaldijkh said: HI, I'M LOOKING FOR amps without fans. or amps with fans that can be switched off would that be brand new amps or potentially used/second hand amps and is there a particular use case eg home recording/practice or studio session? New amps without any cooling fan at all will probably be small output amps where cooling can be done with a big enough heatsink or by using the casing itself. Larger amplifiers these days do tend to rely on fans as its more efficient and much cheaper than having large blocks of cooling fin made from expensive alloy. Some manufacturers have always understood the need for a measured mix of quietness and cooling. Thermostatically controlled fans that only kick in when the amp is working hard are a great feature. Thats not as common as you would think but gaining more popularity. For example, Ashdown now thermostatically control the fans on their ABM range (they always have actually ) but only recently with an automatic switch on feature when it reaches a certain temperature. Warwick have been doing it for many years eg Profet bass amps which have massive block heatsinks and you really need to be using them hard to get the fan to switch on. Gallien Krueger are well known for thermostatically controlled fans that only engage under high power situations on their Backline and RB amps. They also have this feature on their brand new Legacy and Fusion heads. I still use an old GK Backline 125w head for home use and recording (great pre-amps). It has no fan at all and is whisper quiet. Just a huge heatsink that can cope with 125W. I'm sure there are many more amps that have thermal switch on fans but I can't think of any modern class D stuff generating a reasonable amount of power than don't rely on cooling fans. That's another class D conundrum, you can shrink the amp size into a small case but it still needs cooled. So you end up having to use small diameter fans that run all the time and at high revolutions. Some tube amps dont have fans but large ones often do as an aid to normal convection cooling( eg SVT). Worst cooling fan noise I ever heard was on Peavey T-Max I owned years ago. Great amp and super powerful but the fan sounded like a rusty old bag of spanners while running and it was on permanently. Could still hear it at gig volumes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 The new Boss Katana Bass combos don't have fans and are amazing (I bought the 110 ... and the 210). The GR Bass amps have the studio option which switches the fan off. As mentioned, the original TrickfFish amps, the Bullhead 1K and .5K, don't have a fan, and honestly I don't know why they put a fan in the new Mini 500 !?! Some Acoustic Image and as mentioned some Phil Jones Bass or Demeter models don't have fan. The Ampeg PF-20T and PF-50T are full tubes/valves head without fan. I think this list is almost all and everything available new... It seems that nowadays a fan is "mandatory", otherwise there's a lot of older amps, including valves/tubes amps that are fanless. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOSCOWBASS Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Mesa d350 doesn't have a fan. I have a USA one, but I think they will be available in the UK later this year...so I've heard! It's pretty loud, I haven't needed to use my d800 at a gig since I got the d350. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAdder60 Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Ashdown CTM100 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekomatic Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Laney R500H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baloney Balderdash Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 (edited) I am not a fan of Eden amps... Did I win anything? Edited February 14, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 19 hours ago, BassmanPaul said: In solid state amplifiers it's vital that the output devices are cooled. that requires either large heatsinks or smaller with a fan pushing air across them. It's what we have to live with. Class D are more efficient and generate less heat that is more easily disposed of. This. The trend towards smaller and smaller amps also means that components are more tightly packed together, which increases the likelihood of overheating. So many class D amps have fans because they are so compact. The better ones have a temperature controlled fan that only cuts in when needed (my AG700 does). We can either have large amps with heatsinks, etc, or compact boxes with fans. No such thing as a free lunch. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Early Tecamp Puma 900s didn't have fans. I think the later ones do, and early ones can be modded to have one, but it's something like a 30mm fan so there's no fan noise. Not sure if the smaller Pumas have fans at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 22 hours ago, DGBass said: Some tube amps dont have fans but large ones often do as an aid to normal convection cooling( eg SVT) Do all the SVT’s have a fan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyder Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Acoustic Image and Phil Jones amps are fanless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DGBass Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 1 hour ago, Reggaebass said: Do all the SVT’s have a fan The CL's and Heritage 300w versions do and older 300w tube SVT's do. Its usually tucked in behind the front grille and is pretty noisy if the ones I've used before are anything to go by. Of course you dont hear it once the amp is doing its thing. I'm not sure what the rack SVT's have for cooling, might be a different arrangement. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 19 minutes ago, DGBass said: The CL's and Heritage 300w versions do and older 300w tube SVT's do. Its usually tucked in behind the front grille and is pretty noisy if the ones I've used before are anything to go by. Of course you dont hear it once the amp is doing its thing. I'm not sure what the rack SVT's have for cooling, might be a different arrangement. Thanks DG 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Lots of older Vintage Trace Elliot use heatsinks in lieu of fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekomatic Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 On 14/02/2023 at 18:46, tauzero said: but it's something like a 30mm fan so there's no fan noise. For the same amount of air moved, a bigger fan ought to be quieter than a smaller one. Some fans are just quieter than others for the same size and airflow though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 20 minutes ago, nekomatic said: For the same amount of air moved, a bigger fan ought to be quieter than a smaller one. Some fans are just quieter than others for the same size and airflow though. I did the mod on my Puma 900 and I can't hear the fan at all. It's not moving huge quantities of air, just creating some air movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 As usual the OP has vanished, certainly a too powerful fan... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 On 14/02/2023 at 22:14, Downunderwonder said: Lots of older Vintage Trace Elliot use heatsinks in lieu of fans. yep, both my Trace Elliot's are fanless, one is a 200 watt series 5 the other 250 watt SMX, you don't need any more volume than these put out and they only weigh 13Kg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmpInfNed Posted May 2, 2023 Share Posted May 2, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted May 2, 2023 Share Posted May 2, 2023 8 hours ago, EmpInfNed said: Sounds good. But it is discontinued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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