Anyone tried running PS Audio P-300 with no fan ?

I have a ps 300 with multiwave. I purchased it new. I use it to power up my Samsung DLP rear 50", my Faroudja NRS dvi, and my Samsung Hi def receiver.

We placed the ps audio upside down and removed the fan. It has been like this for about two years now with no problems.

I got an aftermarked cooler. Not a Papst, which happend to backordered, but some chineese stuff. I took the most quiet I could find - 19dB. It costed 10$ in a nearby computer shop. I also got a manual speed controller, which added 5$ to the bill.

With the speed set to max, the cooler as efective as a PS Audio unit - at least judging from the temp of the housing. Plus, as expected - it is 10x more quiet !

I can stil hear it from my listening possition - but now barely. And when I want it to be DEAD quiet - I set the controller to min speed. At min speed, you can't even hear it at late night listening, with everything switched off in the house !

I estimate, that the air output at min is about 50% of the output you get when you set the controller to the max. The unit gets considerably hotter - but not excessivly so.

And since the the regulator came with 0,5m of cable - I placed it OUTSIDE the P-300 and can controll the fan on the fly.

Now I turn it down every time I listen to some music, and turn it up when I don't.

I couldn't be happier.

As I suggested before: go ahead!
It's OK that a unit like a PowerPlant is running hot! Every Class A amp does, let alone tube gear. So I never understood the introduction of the fan at all, because if you intend to run high loads where cooling down might be a necessity, there is always the 500, the 600 and the 1000 PowerPlant. And sure Paul knows what he is doing which you can see taking a closer look to the housing which certainly IS a heatsink!

Yeah, that is strange - the whole P-300 housing is made of aluminium anyway and it is a one, big heatsink, so enlarging those heatsink "wings" should be easy and cheap.

Hasn't Paul McGowan heard of heatsinks and/or heatpipes? I would never buy an audio item with a fan - just seems to me like there are better ways to achieve the required cooling. He must be hitting a price/size point in order to use a compromise such as a fan in his design.

I got this answer from PS Audio:

"The fan can be unplugged if you are not running the unit too hard. Loads under 100 watts should be fine without the fan."

So I disconnected the fan, but I also decided to try an
ultra quiet (only 11dB!) Papst cooler. When I replace this el-cheapo cooler I will let you know about the resoults.

Yes. I still own one of the original P300s with original Arrow Hart orange color duplex outlets. However, it shuts down when I connect my 100 w/ch power amp along with the preamp, transport and DAC. Appears to work only with low power draw front-end components.

After checking with PS Audio, I disconnected the blasted thing as it simply made to much noise. While it ran pretty hot it operated without a hitch.

Go ahead! My PS 300 is feeding the Wadia 270 transport, the Wadia 27ix DAC, the AudioResearch SP14 and a Sony DAT-Recorder. No problem whatsoever. Display reading 80 watts.
It's HOT, yes, but I don't care. The Multiwave II upgrade has cooled things down a bit, though. Just make sure that the PS 300 can "breathe" top, bottom left and right and you'll be ok.- If still in doubts ask Paul McGowan (PS-Audio owner), he is very friendly and will answer all kinds of questions - a pro to all PS-Audio gear by the way.
Good lcuk!