NV-FM1 Stand and NV-AA1-12 Amplifier

The two largest components that Noctua sent over other than the combined fan itself was the NV-FM1 Stand and the NV-AA1-12 Amplifier.  The combination of the two along with an NF-A12x25 120mm fan are the main components of the NV-FS1 desk/room/multi-purpose fan set. Starting with the NV-FM1 Stand, its box has that same black box with the information sticker wrapping around from the front to the back. The sticker has a grey background and the Noctua brown along the edge. The model name and the Noctua logo and branding is all small with the description being the big font. The front does have a picture but it is extremely zoomed in and doesn’t really showcase what is inside. The front also lists three of the stand’s features. Around on the back is a full description and a second picture but honestly that picture barely shows the stand as well. When you open the box up on this one the stand is featured there and sitting in a way that you can see and read the Noctua Home branding on the stand as well as on the flap The flap also lists out what all you will find inside of the box which is nice as well. Other than the stand itself you get a bag with a variety of mounting solutions in it. There are fan screws and the pull-through rubber vibration mounts. Then there are four long black zip ties and a set of long black screws along with drywall or mortar anchors.

So the reason I mentioned that the packaging doesn’t really capture what you are getting with the NV-FM1 Stand is because once I got it out of the box I was blown away by its construction. I’ve seen lots of different fan mounts and I’ve 3D printed that were very similar in the overall design of this but this mount is on a completely different level of construction. For starters, it is made out of thick steel and it's clear that Noctua wanted this stand to be very flexible. You can see that on the underside of the bottom. They have everything on the bottom labeled and there is also a QR code to a manual. There are two rubber strips for feet if you are using this on a desk or sitting it on something traditionally. But things get more interesting when you see the double magnets on both sides that let you stick the fan to something. Then closer to the center there are four slotted screw holes, two are slotted horizontally and two are vertical to give you flexibility to adjust it to how you need it. Then in the center, there are longer slots for using the included zip ties to mount. There are also circles around the threaded holes for the arms of the stand which can be adjusted out to fit either a 120mm fan or a 140mm fan. Those arms are held in with thumbscrews. The two arms are A-framed and have the same thick steel construction. There are large thumbscrews at the top of each arm, which hold the fan mounts on each side. The fan mounts are also steel and have mounting holes for both 120mm and 140mm fans. All of the fan mount holes and the stand mount slotted holes are machined for flush mounted screws to keep things flush and looking good.

You might be wondering what an airflow amplifier is and I was wondering the same thing until I saw the NA-AA1-12. Once you see it, it makes sense. This was a big box and where a lot of the products here have the same black box with a sticker for branding, the NA-AA1-12 airflow amplifier has a proper Noctua box with its grey background and brown trim. The top of the box has the model name and description as well as three key features. The front has a big picture of the NA-AA1-12, and then on the back, there is a small picture and a long description of what it is all about.

Inside the box, you get the NA-AA1-12 airflow amplifier and a small baggie with four black fan screws for mounting it to a 120mm fan. The idea behind this is twofold. There are some situations where you want to blow air a longer distance. But also in a desk application for example sometimes you want to amplify the fan effect but be able to run the fan at lower speeds. The NA-AA1-12 airflow amplifier does that by using a helix energy recovery, progressive flow acceleration, and Venturi-effect volume enhancement. In short, this takes the airflow from the full face of a 120mm fan and pushes it into four sections to get more pressure, the helix design recovers more airflow from the axial fan design, and because of the gaps in the outputs it uses the Venturi-effect to pull in more air in behind it. This can be used on any 120mm fan, but Noctua did design it specifically to work with the NF-A12x25 fan.