Removing the lid of your amp/preamp

Sure. Removing tube cages or the lids on tube amps/pre-amps can accomplish 2 things, one all the time the secord some of the time. 1) Improve heat disapation, 2)Eliminate surfaces which can or do resonate without having to add weight to damp them. I would only avoid doing this on CDP's because of the additional dust build-up possibly effecting operation of the laser. Removing lids on SS stuff - I would only do this if I had to to damp a transformer hum. Can't think of much other benefit, but perhaps some ss experts can sign in with their views.

I have done it with a Cary tube preamp but for heat dissipation not sonics. I am no running with the cover back in place now because who wants to dust circuit boards?

I noticed no discernable differences with or without the cover.

Ralph

Removing the cage doesn`t automatically bestow sonic benefits. I`ll grant it MAY facilitate ventilation in pwr. amps which tend to generate max heat. The downside is that it can make gear susceptible to the dreaded RFI & EMI. Tube gear is generally more @ risk of RFI than SS. While not all tube amps fall victim, with these it IS more the nature of the beast.

I only take mine off once a year to blow the dust out. Never had a heat issue and I would be afraid of some freak accident that could result in a short from something dropping on a circuit board. Oh and I take the covers off to change the bulbs....it's a McIntosh thing.

Tube pre-amp is fine to remove lid. Solid State amp is a very bad idea. The SS amp bias is set according to temperature. Remove the lid and the amp will be all over the map in regards to stability/performance due to too much heat loss.