My VTA ST 120 Faceplate

My VTA ST 120 Faceplate

My 18" x 3/8" x 2 1/2" (L x W x H) aluminum flat bar stock arrived today for my VTA ST 120 faceplate and it looks perfect except of course the length needs to be trimmed to size.

As you can see in the photos I'm going to have 1 inch overlap on the right and the left of the chassis so I have enough room to install two 2 inch rack handles on both ends of the faceplate for carrying the amplifier when I need to move it to a different location.

There is 1/4 inch above the bottom of the chassis and 1/4 inch above the top of the chassis which is perfect.

I'm also thinking about having the faceplate, the quad cap, and the original Dynaco ST 70 mesh metal cover I'm going to install over the VTA driver board  anodized a rose gold color.

Have a good day and clear skies and stay safe everyone.

Tom

See photo 2.  Do you plan to incorporate the condiments into your build?

On a serious note- I don't know how you plan to attach the faceplate to the chassis, but I would be hesitant to use the proposed handles to do anything more than slide the amp in and out of a cabinet or tilt it up to get your hands under the center of it in order to carry it.  Once the weight of all that  iron is installed on the rear end of the chassis, you have the possibility of creating some serious torques if you try humping it around with the faceplate mounted handles.  Just my opinion, FWIW.

scrotuss wrote:See photo 2.  Do you plan to incorporate the condiments into your build?

Tom should relish the opportunity.

Have you worked with aluminum before?

Asking because its a bitch; especially a dremel tool.

Tom, The ST120 weighs exactly 50 lbs stock; Of course that's with music playing thru it ! Dale

scrotuss wrote:See photo 2.  Do you plan to incorporate the condiments into your build?

Hahaha lol

Dale Stevens wrote:Tom, The ST120 weighs exactly 50 lbs stock; Of course that's with music playing thru it ! Dale

Dale.... lol

That's the reason why the faceplate is 3/8" instead of 1/4" lol
I'm gonna put some heavy duty handles on that extra 1 inch on the outside of the chassis on both sides and they're going to be heavy duty handles enough for me to be able to pick it up or thats my plan. lol

As for the music playing through the amp making it weigh a little more I'll just make sure that I turn the music and amp off before I move it. That way it should weigh 10 pounds less Hahahahaha

Tom

One thing that I did not mention that I want to point out is the backend of the amplifier is really heavy due to the transformers covering almost 1/2 of the chassis on the back. Having that thick 3/8 inch faceplate on the front will help kind of balance the weight out on the front and add some weight on the front that it needs so the weight can be kind of distributed on the chassis frame.

The steel used in the VTA chassis is EXTREMELY hard to drill or machine.. I used 3 chinese drill bits to drill a 1/8 inch hole.