Removing the lid of your amp/preamp

I have done it with a Cary tube preamp but for heat dissipation not sonics. I am no running with the cover back in place now because who wants to dust circuit boards?

I noticed no discernable differences with or without the cover.

Ralph

Removing the cage doesn`t automatically bestow sonic benefits. I`ll grant it MAY facilitate ventilation in pwr. amps which tend to generate max heat. The downside is that it can make gear susceptible to the dreaded RFI & EMI. Tube gear is generally more @ risk of RFI than SS. While not all tube amps fall victim, with these it IS more the nature of the beast.

I only take mine off once a year to blow the dust out. Never had a heat issue and I would be afraid of some freak accident that could result in a short from something dropping on a circuit board. Oh and I take the covers off to change the bulbs....it's a McIntosh thing.

Tube pre-amp is fine to remove lid. Solid State amp is a very bad idea. The SS amp bias is set according to temperature. Remove the lid and the amp will be all over the map in regards to stability/performance due to too much heat loss.

It appears many missed this exchange from a couple of months ago -

"One tweak that I tried that makes a BIG difference is playing the amp with the cover off. When the cover is on, electromagnetic waves bounce off the metal and back into the amplifiers circuitry. When the cover is off, you will be surprised how much better it sounds."

Then the other Mensa candidate responds -

"Honestly, electromagnetic bounce effect sounds like pseudo-science to me, but if the XX sounds better with its top off, then top-off it shall be!"

Honest. Amazing stuff. You couldn't make it up if you tried. “Electromagnetic bounce”- maybe it could be teamed up with soundstaging power cords (OK, chords) to positive effect. Too funny.