The CoolerGuys fan kits go together very easy, with keyed plugs and four to two pin adapters for the fans. It was a simple installation.
The first thing I did was cut pieces of Dynamat vibration damping material to fit on each mounting bracket. It is sticky on one side, so the hardest part about installing the Dynamat on the plastic fan bracket is cutting out the hole for the fan. The plastic fan brackets are not flimsy, but since I planned to use only the top two screw holes on the bracket to hang the fan down from the back edge of the shelf above the MC501 amps, I did not want the brackets to vibrate and add any type of noise. The Dynamat damped the brackets well.
I drilled two pilot holes in the back edge of each shelf, then screwed the brackets with fans attached to the back edge of each shelf above the amplifiers, centered left to right and hanging down in the openings below. I plugged the two speed control boxes with their knobs into the power controller, then used double sided 3M tape to attach the two small speed control boxes together. I added two more pieces of 3M double sided tape, then attached the two speed controllers to the center metal rack support so that the knobs faced out where I can easily reach them should I want to adjust the fans speed. I used nylon reinforced 3M tape, and attached each respective temperature sensor to the bottom side of the shelves over the right heat sinks of each amplifier. After that it only took a few minutes to snap the keyed cable connections in place to each fan, and plug the controller into a switched outlet on the Power Plant Premier that feeds my sources. One touch of the Standby button on the C1000C energizes the entire sound system and the fans.
Running wide open, the fans can be heard, but no louder than the fan on the MS750, which is very quiet. I adjusted both speed controllers until I could not hear the fans at all, then tested the air flow with my hand. Good air movement over both amps, and no noise. That pleases me. I can turn off the fans individually if I want, leaving the temperature sensors on. The power controller also has a power switch on the rear that turns the entire fan system off. This fan kit is very nice, works like a charm, and is quiet. The blue temperature meters look cool, and are very, very close to the McIntosh blue on the amps and preamp.
I had thought about smaller fans, but now I am glad I chose the 120mm size. At lower RPM settings they are still able to move plenty of air, and do it silently. The entire fan kit including shipping from Kirkland, Washington to Florida was $89.18. That is very cheap insurance for cooling amplifiers installed in racks and cabinets.
