Silence in the living room

The forum for non-component-related silent pc discussions.

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article22
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 2:30 pm

Silence in the living room

Post by article22 » Fri Jun 03, 2011 1:36 am

After spending a fair bit of time getting my HTPC as quiet as possible (tricky when using a SS LC-19 case), I now find that my ears are now distracted with other items in the living room.

So wanted to see what advice is out there with getting a living room to be as quiet as possible?

The main offenders are :

a. Sky HD+ box
b. Linn Classik Movie DI
c. Panasonic 37" Plasma

The Sky box tends to ramp up its fan during use which gets to an annoying level after a while but can at least be put on Standby when watching a movie.

The Linn is more of a problem with its fan coming on after 15 mins or so when playing sound at < 1/2 load (45 VOL) and ramping up to an annoyance when watching a movie (>90 mins).

The plasma isn't too bad but you can get a distinct clicking sound every now and then, even when in Standby. Reading up on it, they all do it to some degree.

So thinking about the Linn first, after searching on here I see that a few members have Linn systems and was wondering if anyone had any experience with trying to make a Classik quieter? Going to take it apart today to see what made a model the fan is and whether it has a normal connector.

The Sky box is out of warranty so I can take that apart as well.

Any help or advice would be appreciated...

Thanks,

Nigel.

article22
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 2:30 pm

Re: Silence in the living room

Post by article22 » Fri Jun 03, 2011 4:16 am

Ok an update :

To disassemble the Linn Classik Movie DI, you just undo the 4 feet screws and 4 screws at the bottom of the case, then slide the top off.

The fan is in a rubber enclosure, attached are some photos :

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/155/linn001.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/690/linn003.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/137/linn004.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/5/linn006.jpg

Planning on replacing the enclosure and fan with a standard SS 40mm fan which will be mounting using foam and a piece of a squash racket grip (all hi-tech here).
Tested the fan on its own and it vibrates when not mounted but sounds smoother than the original. Not going to lower the voltage yet though have a fanmate on standby.

The original fan header is a 2 pin so I removed the white female header on the motherboard and just plugged the standard 3 pin connector of the new fan in.

The case certainly gets warm but I think it is no different to normal...

Nigel.

CA_Steve
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Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:36 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Silence in the living room

Post by CA_Steve » Fri Jun 03, 2011 7:16 am

Hi and Welcome to SPCR!

Other things to think about along with quieting the devices themselves:
- How much of the noise is due to fan vibration coupling to the shelf/other devices the boxes are sitting on?
- How much of the noise is reflective (fan noise reflecting off of wall/other surfaces)?

article22
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 2:30 pm

Re: Silence in the living room

Post by article22 » Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:16 am

Thanks for the welcome Steve, been a long time lurker here and haven't got around to registering so don't feel like a new member :)

All of the devices are on a properly suspended hifi stand (rubber mounts all round, spiked to the floor) so there is little or no vibration coming through.
It is also in a small alcove which may reflect some sounds but it seems more from the devices themselves as proven by listening to the individual devices close up.

The mod to the Linn seems to have worked and while you can hear the fan it is a lot smoother. Now the HTPC is back to the forefront, so I have been fighting with Abit's FanEQ to control a SS NT-07 AM fan.

All good fun,

Nigel.

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