[Tone Depth]

I'm designing a new equipment cabinet for a second system, and want to consider clearance requirements & recommendations around components. I recall Frank commenting on that, but haven't found his specific comments on AC. I'm thinking passive versus active cooling, to not introduce additional background noise in my listening space. What are your recommendations or links?

[FullRangeMan]

I'm designing a new equipment cabinet for a second system, and want to consider clearance requirements & recommendations around components. I recall Frank commenting on that, but haven't found his specific comments on AC. I'm thinking passive versus active cooling, to not introduce additional background noise in my listening space. What are your recommendations or links?

Control is Fan or air conditioning.
There is no standard for cooling.

Some recommendations are:
= Live in a cold area.
= Made cabinet as big as possible, what can be ugly.
= Use Class D amps
= Use Hi Efficiency speakers.

[YungestMarco]

4-6 inches of clearance on top and 2 inches on the sides should be enough for solid state components and maybe a little more for tube components.
I have my NP1 on an audio rack with about 4 inches of clearance on top and have never had issues with overheating.

[djbnh]

I'd go check and go with each component's specific manufacturer's advice.

For example, I run a Pass Labs X250.8 amp. The dealer reported that he felt that locating the amp in my wood rack, with 4" of clearance all around would be sufficient, but it wasn't at all! I moved it out and picked up an amp stand, with plenty of space for the amp to breath.

Here's what the Pass Labs website has to say, "Heat and Ventilation - The X.8 and XA.8 amplifiers consume quite a bit of power during operation and convert most of it into heat. Pick a location where the amplifier can get some fresh air to remove the heat. Do not enclose the amplifier in a closed cabinet. Give it lots of space." I can attest that the X250.8 puts out a ton of heat, which is great for our dedicated music room (and the room's plants) in our bitterly chilly NH winters; not so great in the summer, that's where the mini-split comes in to play.

[FullRangeMan]

Some military tubes made wild heat 215*C with one tube.

[mick wolfe]

I'm designing a new equipment cabinet for a second system, and want to consider clearance requirements & recommendations around components. I recall Frank commenting on that, but haven't found his specific comments on AC. I'm thinking passive versus active cooling, to not introduce additional background noise in my listening space. What are your recommendations or links?

If you are controlling the design, make the shelving height adjustable for openers. It all really boils down to the components being used in regard to ventilation. All solid state AB or Class D should require just minimal ventilation. Tubes and Class A, whole new ball game. Much more space required for ventilation and possibly a couple very quiet fans. In both my all tube systems, I use cheap little plastic USB fans found on Amazon. Most are priced at $10 or less. They're surprisingly quiet and certainly not noticeable when music is actually being played.

[AllanS]

If the space is enclosed, ie doors, I think you have to consider active cooling / fans or at least be flexible enough in your design to add after the fact. There are other things such as slots in shelves/bottom and stacking order that can be considered to promote airflow.
We built an entertainment center with shelf openings and fans that were lost in the noise floor that housed a Class D AVR that never ran warm. That same AVR in a BDI console with good passive ventilation runs warmer than I’d like it to.
I use Pangea open racks in the main system with 7-1/4” openings to house a Schiit Aegir and Lyr+ headphone amp (single 6SN7 sitting atop of a Lokius) with no heat problems.  Both are about 4” tall and run pretty warm but not so hot you can’t to keep your hand on them.  I have a Freya (quad 6SN7) coming that will leave about 3” of tube clearance that I expect will be just fine.

[Tone Depth]

Thanks for the helpful comments, it confirms my design so far. My design has a dual compartment with an adjustable shelf in each compartment, shelves that have a front and rear gap to let heat rise, front cabinet doors that will be left open while music is playing, a cable passthrough gap at the back of the center partition and magnetically attached rear access panels with an inlet slot at the bottom of the panels and an exhaust slot at the top. The cabinet will sit on casters with a partial skirt extending down past the caster axles. I can add inlet fans on the sides of the cabinet, if I determine it needs them.