silly question what metal is the casework made of.

altogether now...Aluminium!

why this type of metal regards tel

Non magnetic characteristics and weight. Eaier to cast too i would think.

James

Not cast, extruded.

Alan

Unobtanium!

But the naim casing looks and feels much more sturdy than my opinion of what aluminium is like.

Aluminium is sturdy.

I don't want to "hack" this topic, but I have a related question:

Why is it that the casework of the Series 5 components has a slightly less black finish compared to that of the Reference components?

You can notice this when you compare e.g. CD5x and SuperNait.

Regards,
Michel

quote:

Originally posted by silklee:
But the naim casing looks and feels much more sturdy than my opinion of what aluminium is like.

A thin sheet of aluminum does not seem sturdy compared to steel, but remember its about one third the weight of steel.

Funny, they make car engines out of aluminium now (US not included or course )..must be quite sturdy!

Aluminium alloy, not pure aluminium.

IIRC silicon is one of the major alloying elements used in a lot of aluminium alloys. (Could be wrong though as it was a long time ago and I didn't pay much attention in class).



Willy.

aluminium/zinc alloy. or is it the other way round

Extruded aluminium alloy typically contains silicon, iron, copper, manganese, magnesium, chromium, nickel and zinc. Then heat treated if required.....

There are two main cases:

5-series - Aluminium/zinc panels

Reference - Thicker Extruded Aluminium/zinc box sections

The 500 power amp obviously has a unique case, once again made from CNC machined aluminium/zinc alloy.

As for finishes, there are three:

5-series - powder coat

Reference - smooth powder coat

500 Series (inc 300) - anodised

Aluminium is a good material for audio kit because it "rings" less than some other commonly used metals. Try tapping the casework of almost any mass-market amp and it will "ring".
I have Piega speakers which have exruded or cast (depending on model) aluminium cabinets. The cabinets sound absolutely solid and acoustically dead.
Ken