May be quality equipment. I built a small center to house my electronics and to set my TV on. All the supporting electronics, Amp/tuner, DVD burner, DVD/CD player and HD DVR all live behind closed smoked glass doors but the back of the cabinet is 80% open. For 14 years the AMP Tuner has been in this spot with no ill effects except for the occasional burned out LCD back light. All of the rest of the components have done just as well. FWIW my Amp/Tuner is an upper end, $1K Yamaha that I purchased in 1994.
This is a subject I know a bit about. I have consulted on a few studio installations where the equipment and people cooling not only had to be effective, but done quietly. (It was the latter part that got me involved) The short answer, is that 'pushed' air is easier to direct. In most cases, modern electronics will be happy with self-induced convection air flow. IOW, let the air in at the bottom, via strategically placed inlets (holes) and allow the hot air to escape at the top of the enclosure. It helps if the outlet at the top of the enclosure is larger in total sq.inches than the inlets at the bottom.
This is a subject I know a bit about. I have consulted on a few studio installations where the equipment and people cooling not only had to be effective, but done quietly. (It was the latter part that got me involved) The short answer, is that 'pushed' air is easier to direct. In most cases, modern electronics will be happy with self-induced convection air flow. IOW, let the air in at the bottom, via strategically placed inlets (holes) and allow the hot air to escape at the top of the enclosure. It helps if the outlet at the top of the enclosure is larger in total sq.inches than the inlets at the bottom.
Agreed, modern electronics are designed to operate is all types of conditions. As long as fresh air can enter and exit on it's own every thing should be fine.
What Leon said. I have racks of multi-thousand dollar audio equipment in a recording studio and we keep the backs of the racks open. Most decent stereo equipment will have heat sinks built in, if needed, and don't need fans.
That said, I'm sure there are differing opinions on this, plus an industry more than ready to sell you something you really don't need, I'm just imparting year of practical experience with high dollar audio equipment in the studio.
Also, there are those among us who can, or could at one time, hear a pop corn fed hummingbird fart at forty paces, and I've never met a fan that not induce some noise into the listening environment, no matter how slight.
IOW, leave the back open and you should not need a fan, and, more than likely even if you enclose it, a simple vent will do the trick.
This is a subject that the manufacturers of mainframe computers have investigated extensively -- and considering that some mainframes have fans near the bottom blowing in (and passive exhaust vents near the top), and others have fans near the top blowing out (and passive intake vents near the bottom), but they *all* have intake at the bottom and outlet at the top, I'd say it doesn't matter much, as long as you have the air flow, *and* it's moving the same direction as convection would naturally take it.
That reminded me of the college days when huddled, with a group of friends around some stereo equipment, and an ample supply of beer and smokables....that 'fresh air' was at a premium.
When it comes to heat dissipation and your electronics in an entertainment centre, I was wondering which is more advised? Blow fresh air over your sound system or pull heated air away? What seems obvious to me would be to have fresh air blown in and heated air removed ~ two fans in effect. But, if you're only using one fan, is there a preference going with a particular method? Is there a difference as long as you have the air flow?
Any experience I have is in the computer and amplifier field, but the sort of rule used to be that if it's a closed area (computer case of semi-sealed cabinet) you use an exhaust fan to pull the heat out, if it's out in the open, you blow air over it..
IMHO, it's best to pull heat away, but either should work... Pulling heat away causes cooled air to be drawn in, so I don't think it makes a lot of difference?
I have found that if you maintain the spacing that the feet on any one piece of equipment provides, don't set it on a pillow or block the bottom perimeter of the unit, and provide at least that amount of room on the top side that you are normally OK
This was one area I was wondering about. With the acrylic doors in the front, I can't envision any effective way to introduce any placed inlets. The receiver is sitting on a 3/8" acrylic shelf and although realistically I could put some holes in it, considering the weight the tuner, (there's marginal sag already), I'm really hesitant to introduce any possible weak points in that supporting shelf. All I think I'm left with in the end is some type of fan forced air inflow and another fan somewhere else to remove the heated air.
However, as Leon has mentioned, maybe I'm worrying needlessly. It is a higher end Yamaha receiver about a year old and might not need the attention I'm focusing on heat dissipation. I'm not a sound volume freak running it at
Let me throw this in also. PC's have fans, have you ever noticed the dust that collects inside of a computer because it too is being sucked in with the air? Dust inhibits proper ventilation. Adding a fan to the mix may indeed create a problem that you are trying to prevent.
I constructed an in-wall entertainment center with panel doors on the front and sliding access doors on the back located inside a built-in cabinet. The rear cabinet currently does not have doors.
My equipment (1 5.1 Yamaha receiver, 1 DVD player, 1 digital TV tuner,
1 desktop computer, 1 laser printer, 1 wireless router, and 1 small Windows Home Server box) is all kept cool by a single exhaust fan located at the top of the cabinet with the computers in it. The fan is one I scrounged from an AV setup at an old job that was being scrapped about 6 or 7 years ago. It runs 24/7, and the slight vibrations cause a slight noise, but it works so well I don't care. I could work on making it quieter by putting some different mounting hardware on it to isolate the vibrations more, but enh. It doesn't bother anyone.
Here's the kind of fan I have:
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didn't put in any vents, but rather let the gaps in the doors act as the inlets. Cross-cabinet (the center is 2 sections, divided by 1.5" of plywood) ventilation is provided through the cable run holes I put into the partition. So far none of my equipment has overheated or died other than those that I installed incorrectly (i.e. a digital tuner turned on its side and a cheapo DVD player that got too hot sitting on top of the receiver). I've been through 2 computers in there with no problems, and both cabinets are fine when I open them up to swap out media or adjust volume.
Dust is a problem, fan or no. I've used computers closed up with fans and wide open without (cpu must be cooled). Dust accumulates, and must occasionally be removed, regarless of configuration.
I put together big, multi monitor systems from time to time for the financial services folks. I had a system I was working on a few months ago and needed some simple DVI to DVI cables, 15 feet long. It took two days, numerous phone calls and several trips by car to locate them at over $35 each. These used to be available at the computer big box stores that have all gone out of business. I learned my lesson on this one. All cables will be bought ahead of time on line. Much cheaper and less aggravation.
I am putting a system together this week. I am buying all cables online. But many suppliers do not differentiate between the various products they sell or provide any educational information. I ended up buying from
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primarily because they provided some basic info to narrow down my choices and tell me the differences between the cable products they offer. Also good pricing and fast service. My cables are due to arrive today or tomorrow.
I have not had any more problems getting inside my Yamaha receiver, than my computer, to replace the LCD incandescent back knights on 2 separate occasions, but have noticed after 12 years, 2 years ago, there was literally no dust to speak of. Basically my receiver stays very clean inside compared to my PC's.
But we are talking about stereo equipment, I was using computer cooling fans as an example. My Yamaha stays pretty dust free, at least in the first 12 years, I have not looked inside in the last 2.
Set the fan up to help natural convection, not to fight it. If it's at the top set it to blow out, if it's at the bottom set it to blow in.
As to which is preferable, if you have the fan set up to blow in you can put a filter on it, which will do a good deal to help the dust problem, but now you have to size the fan to overcome the losses from the filter, and you have to remember to clean or change the filter--most computers with filters never get them cleaned unless there is a corporate weenie whose job it is to go around after hours and clean fan filters.
One other benefit of having the fan blow in is that you can position it to put high velocity airflow on a specific component if you have one that you know is going to be a problem.
Personally I'd make a provision to easily put in fans at both top and bottom (possibly including screw inserts--it's easier to start a machine screw into an insert in an awkward place than to drive a wood screw), but not the fans, and then monitor the temperature (you can get a remote reading digital thermometer at Harbor Freight for 9 bucks that's good enough for this purpose and will show you room temperature besides) and only put in the fans if I saw the temperature in the enclosed area rising above an acceptable level (the components you install should have operating temperatures listed somewhere in the spec sheet--go with the lowest one listed) then add fans until it's down to what you want it to be.
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