Fan replacement in AVA Insight+ in Hafler XL600 box

mrlittlejeans

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I have an Insight+ 600 that was built in a Hafler 600 box a little over 10 years ago.

The fan in the box is a 48v fan that is almost 50db.  The fan noise really bugs me and has kept me from using the amp.  The original Hafler design varied the voltage based on the temperature of the amp so it started out quiet and only got loud if the amp got really hot.  It seems that behavior was removed from the AVA redesign as the fan seems to run at the same speed from the moment it turns on.

I took the cover off last night and it looks like I could remove the fan (it would require dismounting the heat sink cube/box from the unit) and replace it.  However, the fan is a 120mm 48v beast with 102CFM airflow and a static pressure rating of 10mm.  I wasn't able to find a quiet replacement fan matching these specs.

I could find a 12v 120mm fan with similar airflow but lower static pressure ratings.  I'm not sure if the original fan really needs such a high static pressure rating but I was thinking I could run two 12v fans in series (one at the front of the heatsink pushing and one at the back of the heatsink pulling).  This would improve the static pressure ratings but probably still be below the original Hafler fan.  I'd also have to deal with the voltage drop from 48v to 24v.

Does anyone at AVA have any thoughts on the best way to approach this?

jimava

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    • Audio by Van Alstine
Re: Fan replacement in AVA Insight+ in Hafler XL600 box
« Reply #1 on: 9 May 2026, 08:00 pm »
Hi there,
Thanks for the question. Unfortunately, we (AVA) can't really address the fan issue as we don't have any details on the thermal design, other than what is observable from the original Hafler schematic. We only modified the audio circuit, not the power supply board. Our first guess might be that it is a part failure issue with the solid-state thermal protection circuit on the Hafler PC-43 fan controller board if that is any help.

Thanks
Jim at AVA

Beerbellydad

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Re: Fan replacement in AVA Insight+ in Hafler XL600 box
« Reply #2 on: 11 May 2026, 07:29 pm »
I'm not qualified to answer your specific integration question. However, back in the day, I was a computer nerd that got into pushing my PCs as fast as possible while focusing on cooling as quietly as possible - specifically home-brewed water cooling. I had a huge bin of cooling bits and bobs including fans and after testing lots of different fans, I definitely found my favorite: Panaflo fans by Panasonic. It's their "hydro bearings" that make these so quiet vs ball bearings (less whining). They come in a few speeds, ultra, high, medium, and low indicated by the last letter in their part number. Example: FBA12G12L  <--this is a 12v, 120mm fan, running at low speed.

I doubt that static pressure is that important in your situation, because it looks the heat sinks have plenty of space between fins (less to hold back the flow of air). Air flow is probably the most important factor - more air, means more cooling, but also, usually, more noise. The fan with the part number quoted above produces ~70CFM at only 30dB which is virtually silent. You'll still have to work around the problem of being only 12v, but if I had your project, that's where I would start.

mrlittlejeans

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Re: Fan replacement in AVA Insight+ in Hafler XL600 box
« Reply #3 on: 17 May 2026, 12:08 am »
Thanks!  Yeah.  When I get the time and energy, I'll probably take it apart and experiment with some different fans.  Thanks for the recommendation.

I.Greyhound Fan

Re: Fan replacement in AVA Insight+ in Hafler XL600 box
« Reply #4 on: 17 May 2026, 01:22 am »
Did you look at Noctua fans?

https://www.noctua.at/en/products/browse/fans?sort=size-asc

I have used the very quiet fans in all of my computer builds.