Anyone tried running PS Audio P-300 with no fan ?


I was thinking about disconnecting it since it is far too loud for my taste.

I know that it is here to cool things down, but the previous version of P-300 didn't have one and I don't run it too hard (the display shows 60W of power consumption).
128x128elberoth2

Showing 3 responses by elberoth2

I got this answer from PS Audio:

"The fan can be unplugged if you are not running the unit too hard. Loads under 100 watts should be fine without the fan."

So I disconnected the fan, but I also decided to try an
ultra quiet (only 11dB!) Papst cooler. When I replace this el-cheapo cooler I will let you know about the resoults.

Yeah, that is strange - the whole P-300 housing is made of aluminium anyway and it is a one, big heatsink, so enlarging those heatsink "wings" should be easy and cheap.
I got an aftermarked cooler. Not a Papst, which happend to backordered, but some chineese stuff. I took the most quiet I could find - 19dB. It costed 10$ in a nearby computer shop. I also got a manual speed controller, which added 5$ to the bill.

With the speed set to max, the cooler as efective as a PS Audio unit - at least judging from the temp of the housing. Plus, as expected - it is 10x more quiet !

I can stil hear it from my listening possition - but now barely. And when I want it to be DEAD quiet - I set the controller to min speed. At min speed, you can't even hear it at late night listening, with everything switched off in the house !

I estimate, that the air output at min is about 50% of the output you get when you set the controller to the max. The unit gets considerably hotter - but not excessivly so.

And since the the regulator came with 0,5m of cable - I placed it OUTSIDE the P-300 and can controll the fan on the fly.

Now I turn it down every time I listen to some music, and turn it up when I don't.

I couldn't be happier.