I built monoblock Aleph 2's with this chassis using the Aleph UMS boards available on Etsy. The case works great for that application. The chassis can dissipate a good amount of heat and is pretty big for the price. I have used the 4U, and these 5U cases as well as Aliexpress cases. They all have their merits. The Aliexpress cases that I have used have fancier machine work (as a stock option) but the anodizing isn't as tough. Also, you have to do a lot of work drilling holes etc. These 5U cases, you just put them together and bolt your boards in. The only drilling that is needed with these is to bore out the hole for whatever transformer you are using. Otherwise, just go to town and get your amp going. :)
I built these Aleph 2's for a friend who opted to have the fronts machined which was very nice. There was a lot of back and forth with the chassis manufacturer and my friend to settle on a design.
It would be good to have a general instruction video for a new builder. Other than that, everything is pretty good.
Yes they are expensive but the look and time saved over fabricating a chassis was well worth the money.
Get the delux and the associated hardware kit. My f5 amplifier was a perfect fit.
Ill be back to repeat my order for the f6
Arrived timely. Easy to assemble but a few instructions would help. Had to drill holes to mount the provided feet. Heavy and nice quality materials. I thought there would be a LED hole but you have to drill it out which I probably will not do for concern to damage the face. Lots of mounting options. Overall very satisfied.
I purchased two of these. They both look great. The build quality is exceptional. It was a little finicky to put the first chassis together, but the second one was pretty easy as I knew what I was doing.
Note that the back panel comes pre-cut for the DIYAS chassis kit.
Chassis was a little expensive but if your doing an F5 you probably don't want to go smaller. Assembly was easy and the chassis look great and it's pretty much made for the Diyaudio boards. Rear panel has no center support and while it seams thick enough pushing on it too hard while inserting a power cord will bow it in so think about adding a brace. The predrilled front panel made mounting the handles easy. When assembled one of the handle bars was loose and the other fine so it may need a little shimming. That said I'm actually pretty happy with the chassis and would purchase again. Chassis arrived in California in 5 or 6 days.
I built the Pass DIY Sony VFET amp kit with this chassis and it turned out very nicely with drilling countersunk holes for the faceplate mounting screws and the two LEDs.
This is my third Deluxe Chassis. Two 4U and one 5U. It's a beast when you put it together....especially with the 10 mil front plate. The heat dissipation that your amplifier requires will dictate what size chassis you get. The bigger the chassis, the bigger the heat sinks. A long shanked Phillips screwdriver will be helpful in putting it together. The one nit I have is the supplied feet. It appears they just came up with a slightly improved foot this time, but it's still plastic. All that steel and aluminum.....and you get plastic feet. Large rubber bumpers would be better than what you get. I don't use the supplied feet. These chassis are expensive. One idea diyaudio has is that you can build any of the First Watt clones and use the 4U Deluxe Chassis. The idea is you build a robust power supply once and mount it in the chassis. Then you can swap out the amp boards each time you build a different amp. I don't do that because I actually use the amplifiers I build. I'm not experimenting.
Bottom line is: it's a great chassis. Warning: if you drop this chassis outside your bedroom window it could very well kill someone if it hits them. Yea, it's that heavy.
The chassis is well built and is very heavy. I did not realize how heavy it would be. The heatsinks are way over kill for most firstwatt builds. It would be ideal for the F5 turbo. Over all I am very satisfied.
I like this chassis, it’s very convenient to have the heatsinks and rear panel drilled. I really like the new captive nuts for the top and bottom covers, very slick.
I will purchase again!
Everything from the DIY is nice and well packaged. This a great chassis for a whole range of projects.
I couldn’t be happier!
Like it very much. Easy to assemble and pre drilled/tapped holes make it so easy. Would love it cut right down the middle for mono configuration
When I bought my first Deluxe 5U chassis I was surprised at how big it was. It makes the Deluxe 4U chassis look like mini-me in comparison. However, it turned out to be the perfect size for a big class AB stereo amp or a First Watt style class A stereo amp with the bias cranked up. It has enough space to lay out a fully dual mono power supply with separate transformers. The heat sinks barely get warm when housing a typical 200 watt class AB amp.
I recently bought a second chassis to make Aleph 2 mono block amps. The heat sinks are able to handle the dissipation, but they do they get very hot. I guess the chassis is not too big after all. The entire chassis gets hot. I imagine my two cats will love them come winter. This latest version of the Deluxe 5U chassis now has machined screws to hold on the top plate, which is better than the first version I bought a couple of years back, because the rail holes wont strip if accidentally over-tightened. The only negatives were that the proper size screws to hold the feet on the bottom plate / rail were not included, and if you buy handles, you have to widen a bit of two of the pilot holes, because the screw heads that ship with the handles are just a little too wide to fit into two of the four pilot holes that are machined into the face plate.
All in all a very nice chassis.
Especially in rural regions of developing countries it's impossible to buy the required tools and materials to build enclosures / frames / casings or anything else "metal working". So I ordered the Deluxe 4U Aluminum and after unpacking immediately saw that most of my "DIY design" amp + power supply projects would be doable the easy way. An improvement I would consider is holes in the front for power, volume and status lights. No problem if that would be an extra option. When ready I'll post pics of the amp.
Great quality! I wish these products were stocked in North America.
Very nicely made chassis kit. Especially the machining on the heat sinks and the front and back panels. Arrived in perfect condition because of the extensive care taken in how everything was protectively packed and fitted into the shipping box. This is my second one. The last one I assembled houses an F5. This one will be fitted with F6 boards.
This is the best amp chassis for a newbie DIYer, and it is also excellent for an experienced one since it offers a lot of possibilities for extension. So, I think, this is the best chassis one can buy. You need to build the whole chassis ground up to get any better performance. No, I am not compensated by the Seller in any way! I just appreciate the many ways these experienced audio enthusiasts have made it easier for a new person to pursue this hobby - the more I work with it the more I appreciate their foresight.
I did look around for alternatives, otherwise I cannot claim myself to be an audiophile, right :) This chassis won hands down. BTW, the serrated heat sinks are a very good thing to have, especially if you are trying to build a space heater otherwise known as a class A amp...
Took longer than expected to arrive. The pandemic has obviously impacted the supply chain. The chassis is very high quality and worth the wait.
Very easy to work with. The tolerences on the brackets that hold it together aren't tight so you have to put it together and square it up as you go. However, it is very easy to understand and work with. The F6 board went in with no issues. The aluminum covers seem to help extract some more heat which is very nice. I would say it is worth springing for the ultimate chassis if you can afford it.
I ordered the chassis with Milled Handles unfortunately the handles have been discontinued. I was given a refund for the handles. The chassis is very high quality and makes the build a pleasure. I just need to find a compatible set of handles to match my other existing amplifier.
Very good Chassis.
I use this Chassis for F6 and F7.
I'm waiting for the parts to build a First Watt F5 in it so I can't comment yet on the build but the chassis is of high quality material and excellent tooling. I'm sure the finished build will owe much of it's appeal to the chassis. You could say the chassis matches the high standard of the circuit design.
Great case and the right size for my project. Only negative is the really poor assembly instructions. For just a little bit of effort the OEM could include a sheet of instructions on how to assemble. The included sheet is pretty useless. Some hardware appears too short for its intended purpose. Well packed and sturdy.
This is a great a great enclosure/chassis. It is well designed and produced. I built Papa's F6 amp with this enclosure. And this enclosure made my project easy and fun. It looks great too! Initially, I set a low budget for enclosure. But I am glad that I changed my mind and purchased this. It was a game changer for me.
This is a great enclosure. Initially, I set a low budget for an enclosure. But I really am happy that I changed my mind. It is well designed and it looks fantastic. Assembling this enclosure was really easy. This enclosure cased Papa's F6 amp which is another great product. And it made my project much easier and therefore fun. In fact, it was a game changer for me. Well worth the price.
Great chassis, easy to work with. Maybe a little expensive but worth it for ease of building. Somewhat still a beginner but complete the F6 without issue and the chassis works great for it.