Would putting a fan in a speaker box muck up the soundwaves?

Soldato
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I ask as speaker cones move air, and so do fans.

I'm bi-amping, and am putting the amp module within the speaker box. I guess they'll be active speakers now.

I've upgraded the heatsink on my amp but it still gets a little hot... Would putting a low speed fan on the heatsink affect the sound from the speaker in any way?
 
If the speaker cones are sheilded you shoudl be ok, EMI wise. The actual air being moved by the fan will only distort the speakers air movment if the volume is very low, and even at that it would be barely detectable, unless of course you strap a delta fan onto it, which is rarely going to happen. Since the speakers air movement is so much greater than the fans, i would say you wouldnt notice.
 
EMI is not an issue, the amp is class D so is already kicking out plenty of EMI around 650Mhz, and I've already tried the fan close to the speaker and am not getting any strange noises.

It is only a small 40mm fan running at 5v, so not exactly a delta. I'm going to try fanless first of all, but it's good to know a fan is an option if I get an overheating amp. :)
 
Interesting, does this mean that if you got a speaker and played some loud music then put a stupidly powerful fan inbetween you and the speaker, the soundwaves would get 'blown' out the way and you wouldnt hear anything?
 
as the speaker works harder, so too wouldnt the amp? And as the speaker is moving more air, it would provide some level of cooling for the amp, no? (Might be assuming its a ported enlcosure here, but then if it isnt, i dont know what good a fan will do?)
 
Interesting, does this mean that if you got a speaker and played some loud music then put a stupidly powerful fan inbetween you and the speaker, the soundwaves would get 'blown' out the way and you wouldnt hear anything?

high frequencies stuff will get reflected, sure.

Mick couldnt you mount the modules to the outside of the box, heatink pertuding out? it shouldnt be a problem then, just strap the fans to the heatsinks?
 
Interesting, does this mean that if you got a speaker and played some loud music then put a stupidly powerful fan inbetween you and the speaker, the soundwaves would get 'blown' out the way and you wouldnt hear anything?
I think it's possible that a fan may affect the sound somehow, but it may only happen if you have a big fan or with certain frequencies... I guess to be sure I need to measure the speakers performance before and after installing the fan...
as the speaker works harder, so too wouldnt the amp? And as the speaker is moving more air, it would provide some level of cooling for the amp, no? (Might be assuming its a ported enlcosure here, but then if it isnt, i dont know what good a fan will do?)
Yep it's ported, nothing fancy. I have yet to see how hot the amp is getting, it may be fine, but if it was getting too hot, then I was thinking about what I could to stop overheating. :)
high frequencies stuff will get reflected, sure.

Mick couldnt you mount the modules to the outside of the box, heatink pertuding out? it shouldnt be a problem then, just strap the fans to the heatsinks?
I'm not really worried about frequencies over 2.5k, the tweeter is sealed.

I want to keep this amp in the box if I can, the speaker was originally active before the LM3886 overheated and went bang.

The speaker is an Event TR8, and the manufacturer skimped on the heatsink and trafo, but I'm assuming they made the speaker so that the volume of the air inside includes the amp, plus it already has mains connectors in which I plan on using.

I may be able to use an Alu plate as an access panel, and have this as a heatsink also... As I said, I don't even know how hot it will get yet, it's Class-T/D so could be fine. :)
 
Hi mike hunt ;)

Sorry to post on ya thread. But did you get my emails about the cable you brought off me? Im guessing not as you have deffo been online since i sent two emails.

I Basically put your name on the parcel, but sent the cable to the wrong address. Really sorry about that. I have re packed it, and sending it tom

Once again sorry for posting on here, but didnt know what else to do :p
 
No problem, thanks for letting me know, I only have access to my e-mail on one of my machines, and this week has been a little hectic so I have not had a chance to go thru the backlog! I'm in no hurry for the cable, just as long as it's not being delivered by carrier pigeon! ;)
 
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