# MMATS Amplifier - How To Replace The Noisy Fan



## JimmyDee (Mar 8, 2014)

I think I saw another post somewhere, about how a member had replaced the fan on his MMATS amp.
As I recall, he used a Noctua fan (which might be better than the one I used - time will tell).

At any rate, I figured I'd give a step-by-step on how to replace the fan in a MMATS amp.
I did both my MMATS amps, and the whole process took about 20 minutes (10 mins per amp).

First of all, here is the link to buying the fan:

Noctua Fan:
https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-Cooling-Blades-Bearing-NF-A4x10/dp/B009NQLT0M/ref=pd_ybh_a_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=2KA3729BP34C3MXB5MPG

Here's what I ended-up using:
https://www.amazon.com/2-packs-0-10A-Brushless-Cooling-AV-F4010MB/dp/B01GPEQZ8A/ref=pd_ybh_a_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=1EZVYQ7GVEDR15Y18498


First, you need to remove the top plate from the amp, by unscrewing the 4 allen bolts at each corner:









Here's a 'guts shot' of the MMATS HiFi-6150. It's a stout little beast.
They maximized real estate by mounting the PC boards upright (kinda like what Mosconi does).









MMATS uses Fujicon capacitors. Not the best, but far from the worst. Comparable to Nichicon.

















Here's the offender... his days are over.









Remove the 2-pin connector for the fan. Remember which way the plug is positioned. (if you forget, then I've detailed it below)









Carefully cut the top edge of the fan. It is glued to the amp chassis with silicone.









After cutting it, I got in there with a very small flat screwdriver and pried it away from the chassis.
Then just pull it away, and clean the silicone from the amp chassis.









Then apply some glue (or silicone) to the four corners of the new fan.
I used Gorilla glue. Notice I got a drop on the fan blade... fffaaaa! I cleaned that off before installing it.









Then just press it back into place. I also added a drop of Krazy Glue, to quickly hold it there, while the Gorilla Glue dried.


Note: when putting the new fan in; the connector should have the white plastic facing the SCR chip (right beside the pins on the PC board).









The other side of the connector has two exposed metal pieces. This faces away from the SCR.


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## seafish (Aug 1, 2012)

Nice write-up....

That said, I would seriously recommend against using gorilla glue as the adhesive for the new fan!!!

Not only will the silicone add a bit of physical vibration damping between the fan and amp chassis, but also, in case the new fan ever goes belly up, it will be nearly impossible to remove and replace it if it is glued to the amp with gorilla glue!!! 

Simply use a silicone caulk just like MMATS did.

Just my .02


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## JimmyDee (Mar 8, 2014)

seafish said:


> Nice write-up....
> 
> That said, I would seriously recommend against using gorilla glue as the adhesive for the new fan!!!
> 
> ...


I get what you're saying, with regards to the damping potential of silicone... but this fan is so small, I doubt there's much vibration potential there.
With that said; if I ever do it again, I'll take your advice and use silicone. 

Removing the Gorilla Glue isn't an issue. 
Those couple drops I got on the fan blade was keepig me awake at night, so this morning I pulled the amp apart and ripped the fan out, and replaced it with a new one.
It came out just as easy as the silicone. OK... maybe the silicone was a bit easier, but it was a fairly easy razor knife process to remove the Gorilla Glue.


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## JCsAudio (Jun 16, 2014)

Weird my post is gone?

I originally asked if there was an issue with the stock fan and if it would be heard inside a regular cab truck? I also said that mmats should include a better fan at their price point assuming the production costs are inline with that.

EDIT: never mind I’m an idiot. My question is on CAJ, lol.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

jimmydee said:


> I think I saw another post somewhere, about how a member had replaced the fan on his MMATS amp.
> As I recall, he used a Noctua fan (which might be better than the one I used - time will tell).
> 
> At any rate, I figured I'd give a step-by-step on how to replace the fan in a MMATS amp.
> ...


Very cool, man! Thanks for this! I don't think I'll have an issue with mine in the trunk of the Jeep, but it's a great guide if I do...


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## dgage (Oct 1, 2013)

JCsAudio said:


> Weird my post is gone?
> 
> I originally asked if there was an issue with the stock fan and if it would be heard inside a regular cab truck? I also said that mmats should include a better fan at their price point assuming the production costs are inline with that.
> 
> EDIT: never mind I’m an idiot. My question is on CAJ, lol.


Based on my reading, I’ve seen at least one complain about the fan noise in a truck and another one with a truck that said the fan wasn’t an issue.


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## JimmyDee (Mar 8, 2014)

When the amp is new, the fan is dead silent (maybe a whisper). 
But after about 6 months, they seem to get unbalanced or something, and they are loud as heck.

I also have my amps in the trunk, so I never heard it (until I opened the trunk).
However, just knowing it was making noise annoyed me... so I replaced them.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

jimmydee said:


> When the amp is new, the fan is dead silent (maybe a whisper).
> But after about 6 months, they seem to get unbalanced or something, and they are loud as heck.
> 
> I also have my amps in the trunk, so I never heard it (until I opened the trunk).
> However, just knowing it was making noise annoyed me... so I replaced them.


White noise. It helps me sleep better.


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## JCsAudio (Jun 16, 2014)

DavidRam said:


> White noise. It helps me sleep better.


Let me guess, you spent so much money on your vehicles that the wife found out and now you have to sleep in that vehicle because now she is  

:laugh:


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

JCsAudio said:


> Let me guess, you spent so much money on your vehicles that the wife found out and now you have to sleep in that vehicle because now she is
> 
> :laugh:


Lmao!

That's where "we" sleep after the 3way...


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## Bnlcmbcar (Aug 23, 2016)

Excellent tutorial jimmydee! Much clearer than the post I did. The reason I recommended the Noctua fan is because of its specs. It is quieter, moves more air, and uses less current than other options.

*Ambeyond fan:*
Acoustic Noise: 27
Air Flow: 6.86CFM 
Current: 0.10A

*Noctua fan:*
Acoustic Noise: 17.9
Air Flow: 8.2CFM 
Current: 0.05A


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## porscheman (Jan 1, 2012)

Noctuas are hard to beat right now for just about any fan. quiet, move good air and last


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## compuwiz1937 (Jun 5, 2017)

Nice. I thought about replacing the fan in mine but it's in the trunk and I can only hear it if no music is playing after I shut the car down for the 5 seconds or so before it turns off the amps. Maybe one day I'll do it anyway.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

Are the Noctua fans available in black, too, or just the brown?


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## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

DavidRam said:


> Are the Noctua fans available in black, too, or just the brown?



https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-redux...octua+fan&qid=1574959503&s=electronics&sr=1-3

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NF-F1...octua+fan&qid=1574959560&s=electronics&sr=1-5

This one is even quieter

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NF-S1...ctua+fan&qid=1574959560&s=electronics&sr=1-27


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## dsquared (Aug 10, 2016)

I’m wondering why MMats just doesn’t put a quieter fan in their $1000 amps.
I’ll be buying one or 2 down the road and mention it to David .
Nothing to loose .


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

So it looks like they need to be 2 pin and 40x10mm, but the Noctua link is showing a 3 pin. Am I misunderstanding something?


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## Bnlcmbcar (Aug 23, 2016)

It comes with a 3 to 2 pin adapter.

Noctua Website:


> *3 to 2-pin Adaptor and Polarity Protection:*
> The NF-A4x10 comes with an adaptor from 3-pin Molex to the 2-pin connectors used on many graphics cards or network and storage devices. An integrated diode provides polarity protection on 2-pin connections.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

Bnlcmbcar said:


> It comes with a 3 to 2 pin adapter.
> 
> Noctua Website:


I just saw thought in the Amz description too. Thanks!
-Low-Noise Adaptor (L.N.A.)
-3:2 Pin Adaptor
-OmniJoin Adaptor Set
-30cm Extension Cable
-4 Vibration-Compensators
-4 Fan Screws

Then there's that 70s brown color...  Lol


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## JimmyDee (Mar 8, 2014)

DavidRam said:


> Then there's that 70s brown color...  Lol


The brown color is hideous... but you'll likely never see it.
Just get the Noctua fans, and have that piece of mind knowing you'll never hear them.


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## Midway (Nov 19, 2019)

The MMats HiFi series carries a 3-year factory warranty; aren't you concerned replacing the fan prior to the warranty expiring could *void the* *warranty*?

I just ordered a pair and would prefer being proactive and replace the fans before installing them. Depending on where they are installed it probably won’t matter as I wouldn’t hear them but a quieter fan that moves more air can’t be a bad thing.

As a professional sports photographer, not my day job, I build a custom editing PC every three years or so and routinely replace case fans and CPU cooler fans with Noctua. The PC sits right next to my desk and are built with a high end CPU and video card, lots of memory and can work pretty hard while doing batch processing and that will ramp up fan speed. The Noctua fans have been bullet proof. With a clear case side wall on my current build, the brown color does distract from the rest of the components and pretty motherboard and GPU lights.


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## Bnlcmbcar (Aug 23, 2016)

You could always swap the stock fan back in before you send it in for any warranty work.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

Midway said:


> The MMats HiFi series carries a 3-year factory warranty; aren't you concerned replacing the fan prior to the warranty expiring could *void the* *warranty*?
> 
> I just ordered a pair and would prefer being proactive and replace the fans before installing them. Depending on where they are installed it probably won’t matter as I wouldn’t hear them but a quieter fan that moves more air can’t be a bad thing.
> 
> As a professional sports photographer, not my day job, I build a custom editing PC every three years or so and routinely replace case fans and CPU cooler fans with Noctua. The PC sits right next to my desk and are built with a high end CPU and video card, lots of memory and can work pretty hard while doing batch processing and that will ramp up fan speed. The Noctua fans have been bullet proof. With a clear case side wall on my current build, the brown color does distract from the rest of the components and pretty motherboard and GPU lights.



Just my opinion here: the impression I am getting from this company is NOT one of a company that would look for petty reasons to void the warranty. I am sure the noisy fan is not news to them and we would be among a number of guys who have swapped it out... Again, just my opinion.


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## veleno (Sep 16, 2006)

Good write up with great pictures. I can vouch for the Noctua fan as that's what I used and it's whisper quiet. The original fan bearings probably gave out as it was noisy as hell and whenever I ran an autotune I was afraid the noise would interfere with the settings. No worries with the new and upgraded fan. The amp is in my double cab truck behind the rear seats and it was loud. It reminded me of a bmw that when shut down sounded like an airplane.



Midway said:


> The MMats HiFi series carries a 3-year factory warranty; aren't you concerned replacing the fan prior to the warranty expiring could *void the* *warranty*?
> 
> I just ordered a pair and would prefer being proactive and replace the fans before installing them. Depending on where they are installed it probably won’t matter as I wouldn’t hear them but a quieter fan that moves more air can’t be a bad thing.


It's not hard to replace the fan so I wouldn't worry about them until they become a problem. I'd order the fans though and have them on the side for when you need them.


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## JCsAudio (Jun 16, 2014)

I know this has been said already but if the fan is really so loud that it distracts you during music play then isn’t that something that shouldn’t happen on a $1000 amplifier? I wish I knew someone who had one close by and we could put it on my test bench for a blind test against something else and measure the fan noise too.


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## veleno (Sep 16, 2006)

JCsAudio said:


> I know this has been said already but if the fan is really so loud that it distracts you during music play then isn’t that something that shouldn’t happen on a $1000 amplifier? I wish I knew someone who had one close by and we could put it on my test bench for a blind test against something else and measure the fan noise too.


The fan is only an issue when it starts to fail. I do agree that they could use a better fan from the start especially at that price point. However, the fan is cheap so it's not a big deal if you have to replace it.


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## les_garten (Feb 17, 2019)

Midway said:


> The MMats HiFi series carries a 3-year factory warranty; aren't you concerned replacing the fan prior to the warranty expiring could *void the* *warranty*?
> 
> I just ordered a pair and would prefer being proactive and replace the fans before installing them. Depending on where they are installed it probably won’t matter as I wouldn’t hear them but a quieter fan that moves more air can’t be a bad thing.
> 
> As a professional sports photographer, not my day job, I build a custom editing PC every three years or so and routinely replace case fans and CPU cooler fans with Noctua. The PC sits right next to my desk and are built with a high end CPU and video card, lots of memory and can work pretty hard while doing batch processing and that will ramp up fan speed. The Noctua fans have been bullet proof. With a clear case side wall on my current build, the brown color does distract from the rest of the components and pretty motherboard and GPU lights.


I'm going to answer this question. I am looking at buying 3 MMATS amps. So I called them yesterday. David, who I assume is the owner/Manager spoke with me for some time. Immediately asked me what I was interested in and how I had come to decide on MMATS. Asked very specific questions. Ended up talking for about an hour about all manner of things. Very interesting guy. I do data engineering. I have swapped over to using lots of these Noctua fans where they are appropriate. I also use them in my PC's at home. The PC I am typing this on has 5 or 6 of them in it. They are number one in their niche for fans. They are butt ugly though. After you use them for a while, you come to appreciate their look because they are so good.. Kinda like Porsche 911's.

Anyhow, I wanted to know what would happen if I swapped a fan out, because I had read about the fans here. I had also thought that since I was not going to mono the 5/6 channel that I might just pull the fan connector from the PCB and run no fans. 

He told me both of these actions were fine with him. The fan is basically glued in with clear RTV it seems, just like Autozone sells. Slice and it's done. He also said that the fans were there to deal with a little added heat when running channel 5/6 bridged into a 1 ohm load. I won't be doing that. So basically he doesn't have an issue with the fan mods at least for me he didn't. Since I live 30 minutes from him he offered to let me come and pick up the gear from him and hook me up with a look around and some swag. Totally awesome guy to talk to.


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## Anu2g (Nov 4, 2020)

FYI, I just got off the phone with owner David Thompson, and he said that, for the last 3 months or so, these amps have been shipping with quieter fans


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## clange2485 (Dec 10, 2020)

Anu2g said:


> FYI, I just got off the phone with owner David Thompson, and he said that, for the last 3 months or so, these amps have been shipping with quieter fans


I talked to him about 2 weeks ago and he said the same thing about the fans also that my 6150 from 2018 is due for at least 3 and possibly up to 7 upgrades but didn’t go into detail about what specifically. Since that time i picked up another 6150 from 2019 and I’m waiting to hear back if it can use these updates as well.


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## teh_squirrel (Jan 16, 2020)

The 6150d I got a month ago is very loud and I'm replacing the fan in it tomorrow. I can hear it clearly from the front seat through the backseat when the car is off. With the car on you can only hear it from the backseat. It sounds like a gaming computer or loud video card (my pc is quieter than it, though). The amp makes the speakers sound amazing and there is no noise floor, but man wtf is with the fan, they must test them and hear the fan...


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## Anu2g (Nov 4, 2020)

teh_squirrel said:


> The 6150d I got a month ago is very loud and I'm replacing the fan in it tomorrow. I can hear it clearly from the front seat through the backseat when the car is off. With the car on you can only hear it from the backseat. It sounds like a gaming computer or loud video card (my pc is quieter than it, though). The amp makes the speakers sound amazing and there is no noise floor, but man wtf is with the fan, they must test them and hear the fan...


Did you buy new or used?


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## JCsAudio (Jun 16, 2014)

Maybe it’s not meant for SQ.


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## teh_squirrel (Jan 16, 2020)

Anu2g said:


> Did you buy new or used?


Brand new ordered right from mmats website 8/22/22... I will say that other than the fan its the best sounding amp I've ever heard, but I haven't heard any of the big time sq amps. The 6150 has excellent low-volume detail, undiscernible noise floor, and lots of headroom. I think the next amp I order will be either an arc or the SI 3k.


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## SNCTMPL (Nov 23, 2014)

I have two 6150’s powering my system, one was new bought new from Mmats and one was bought from here and then sent to Mmats for all the upgrades. Since they are in the cab with me I upgraded to Noctua fans and an SMD fan controller, thankfully I have never heard the fans.
The transformers (or whatever those donut shaped things are) have been a different story, they both took a couple of attempts to get the high pitched whining to finally quiet down.


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## VCJester (4 mo ago)

For anyone looking to add a PC fan to pretty much anything. They come in multiple flavors, but can be integrated fairly easy.
First off, make sure it's a 12 volt. (They can be 5v or 24v sometime)

3-pin
Black wire is ground.
Red wire is +12v
Yellow wire is rpm sense, and unneeded. 
The fan speed can be controlled by varying voltage. 

4-pin (can be different colored wires, except black is always ground, so use the following method)
Black wire is ground
Next wire over is +12v
Next wire over is rpm sense
Last wire over is pwm speed control (need a pwm controller for speed control)

Both styles can be connected to a 12v + ground header, you just won't have speed control, and they'll run full speed. Alternatively, there are fan speed controllers out there in the PC Hardware market, and some can use thermal readings to adjust for speed. 

Also, Noctua does make Black fans, but not in the 40mm size. They have sizes ranging from 200mm to 40mm


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## clange2485 (Dec 10, 2020)

I replaced the fans in both my 6150’s as well, the noctua are great and silent. I ended up having 1 amp go into protect and sent it in for repair & upgrades. When i got it back they took my noctua out and replaced it with there newly updated i wanna say 8 blade fan,they didn’t send the noctua back either. It was noisy from the get go and then when into protect again after 5 days of use.

I didn’t think i needed to rush to install it after getting it back from service but i should have. They supposedly bench test every amp for 3 days so I didn’t worry about it. It’s not a quick amp swap because i need to pull my backseat to gain access. When i finally got around to swapping it, it was out of the warranty repair period. So i paid $350 for the same upgraded amp to go into protect after 5 days of use.

The other 6150 has been going strong from day 1 and sounds great except for the transformer whine snctmpl described. Which is fixable but for the price should you have to?

Even though i own 2 of these, I’ve only ever used 1 at a time in the exact same configuration. So this isn’t install related.

I really do want to like these amps, because they sound incredible when working correctly but after my experience I wouldn’t recommend them.


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## clange2485 (Dec 10, 2020)

To be fair i bought both my amps used on here, but after repairs and shipping. It would have been cheaper to buy them new with a warranty.

They are great, especially for the size and what they can do.


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## veleno (Sep 16, 2006)

teh_squirrel said:


> The 6150d I got a month ago is very loud and I'm replacing the fan in it tomorrow. I can hear it clearly from the front seat through the backseat when the car is off. With the car on you can only hear it from the backseat. It sounds like a gaming computer or loud video card (my pc is quieter than it, though). The amp makes the speakers sound amazing and there is no noise floor, but man wtf is with the fan, they must test them and hear the fan...


Did you replace it with the Noctua fan or another brand?


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## teh_squirrel (Jan 16, 2020)

SNCTMPL said:


> I have two 6150’s powering my system, one was new bought new from Mmats and one was bought from here and then sent to Mmats for all the upgrades. Since they are in the cab with me I upgraded to Noctua fans and an SMD fan controller, thankfully I have never heard the fans.
> The transformers (or whatever those donut shaped things are) have been a different story, they both took a couple of attempts to get the high pitched whining to finally quiet down.


What do you do to get rid of the whine?



veleno said:


> Did you replace it with the Noctua fan or another brand?


A noctua, but I ended up mounting it on the outside of the case because of the way the fan was glued into the inside, in order to get the frame of the fan out I would have needed to take the whole amplifier apart. They used some kind of super glue (generously), it was not just a silicone that comes off. The case for the fan broke, and I cleared out the pieces I could and just mounted the noctua on the outside. The noctua has a wire that goes through the inside for those types of situations (along with various adapters and such). From just a cheap app on my phone it dropped the noise about 11db or so. Now the whine is what you hear, but you can't really hear that through the backseat.

These are some wav files to show what the sound was like: recordings of mmats


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## SNCTMPL (Nov 23, 2014)

teh_squirrel said:


> What do you do to get rid of the whine?


Resonix ccf. Two thin strips, one I rolled up and put in the middle, the other went around the outside. 
I had used a wooden handle and rolled it around on the inside and it got rid of most of it, but every once in a while one wire would start to sing a little bit. The Resonix finished it off and they are both dead silent now and my system is sounding really good.


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