Originally posted by neildavis
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So it looks like the rear board needs to stay connected to operate.
Since most would probably be thinking of using this as a table radio/boombox head unit like myself -- where the entire radio may be 6 to 10" deep, I wonder if the ribbon cable that connects the front and rear boards could be replaced with a longer cable to facilitate the rear board being placed independently in the cabinet. As-is, the unit is maybe three inches deep, and that cable is maybe 4" long at the most; the rear panel can't be moved very much currently -- I can just barely get it perpendicular to the front plate. The actual metal 'case' could be removed leaving a 3/4" thick front panel to mount, and that would allow for more leeway when mounting the rear board. The rear circuit board can be removed from the total rear panel/heatsink, which makes it a good 2" shorter. If one were to not use the built-in amp and had disconnected it, loosing the heatsink wouldn't hurt anything.
I suppose any lengthening of the cable would make it more susceptible to noise though, and I haven't tested this out with an amp board in close proximity, only a Lepai 2020 amp 2 feet away. I should hook up the 320-606 TDA7492 amp that I frequently used next to it to see what the noise issues are.
Anyway, thank you again Neal for clearing up some questions for us. If the click on/off issue can be eliminated, The more I tinker with this, the more I think this may be a real nice unit to mess with for small radios and such. As much as I like the feel of knobs and buttons, the touch screen on this seems like it would work well for a close-proximity radio unit in the kitchen or what-have-you; and all of the other small faceplate preamps don't have this knob/touchscreen combination.
TomZ
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