Chill Out (Your Gear), Dude! (1 Viewer)

[DFurr]

I’m guessing that’s all rack mount stuff, so it actually pulls air through the interior of the gear from front to back. Is that correct!

John as a general rule that is correct, however the main processor actually has two fans that pulls air flow from the back to the front. The fans are mounted in the front door cover. I've had
large amps in the past that blew the air out the front as well.

 

[xx Brian xx]

Great thread! In the past I ordered my cooling controllers and fans from CoolerGuys.com. Recently I started ordering from AC Infinity. I just picked up a few new fans and a new T3 display/controller for my smart closet. Highly recommend these fans.

Brian

 

[JohnRice]

This topic brought up something interesting Friday night. I decided to just check the temp of the amps in my main HT. I have three Emotiva amps driving the system. Two of them were nice and cool, but the XPA-2 that drives my main speakers was hot. I mean, blistering hot, but only on one channel. I know this because the design of the amp has the power supply, capacitors and some other stuff in the middle of the housing, with the amp circuits along the sides, from front to back, with big heat sinks. The right side is cool, but the left side was so hot, I can't even hold my hand on it for more than a second or two.

I sent an inquiry through Emotiva's web site, and we'll see what I hear back. I was baffled how this could happen, and the only thing I can come up with is that the biasing on the left channel has gotten blown out somehow, because I can't hear anything wrong with the audio. The only thing I can come up with is the Class A isn't limiting to what it should be, but that channel is running Class A all the way to full power.

That amp is so heavy (80 lbs.) that I'm not sure how practical it even is to have it sent in. I might have to live with it, and add powered cooling. It'll be burning a lot of electricity, though. I have a power draw meter around here somewhere, so maybe I should dig it up and find out exactly how much power it's drawing.

 

[JohnRice]

The AC Infinity T8 has to run at speed #3, at the minimum, to keep the amp from getting so hot. That's a fair amount of airflow.

I did hear back from Emotiva, and they basically shined me on. Treated me like an idiot, more or less. I explained more definitively, in my response, but that was after I got home from work, so we'll see what comes from it.

 

[John Dirk]

The AC Infinity T8 has to run at speed #3, at the minimum, to keep the amp from getting so hot. That's a fair amount of airflow.

I did hear back from Emotiva, and they basically shined me on. Treated me like an idiot, more or less. I explained more definitively, in my response, but that was after I got home from work, so we'll see what comes from it.

I remember maybe 5 years ago my Onkyo TX-SR 805 would be hot enough to fry an egg on after [what I considered] moderate use. The Onkyo's were known to run hot but this one started dropping channels soon thereafter, which is what put me on my path to separates.

In summary, excessive heat, no good; so I'm very glad you've got yourself protected now.

 

[JohnRice]

In summary, excessive heat, no good; so I'm very glad you've got yourself protected now.

And electronic toys are fun.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I have a new Denon X3600h that I want to last for a long time. I am pretty sure that I will purchasing one of these devices in very short order. I am currently deciding between an S10 or T10 unit (as I need a front exhaust for my particular cabinet).

Here is the LINK to the AC Infinity AIRCOM units.

They are also for sale at the same pricepoint on Amazon.com.

I look forward to hearing the experience of others with these units. They just seem to make SO MUCH SENSE.

Trigger pulled (on behalf of my wife) on a T10 unit. It'll be waiting under the tree for me on Christmas morning!

I just can't get over how practical these units seem to be. And to think I specifically went looking for something like this a few years ago and found nothing. Thanks, guys!

 

[JohnRice]

Well, the feedback from Emotiva tech is that my 2 channel amp has a serious problem. It can be serviced, but I hesitate, since I wonder if it's a symptom of bigger problems, and I don't want to throw good money after bad. I drive that amp HARD, and the fact is, the previous amp eventually suffered the same problem. I've never had a problem with my center/surround amps, one of which is the same model line and older than this one.

 

[JohnRice]

Trigger pulled (on behalf of my wife) on a T10 unit. It'll be waiting under the tree for me on Christmas morning!

I just can't get over how practical these units seem to be. And to think I specifically went looking for something like this a few years ago and found nothing. Thanks, guys!

it's a flexible unit, which means the settings can get complicated. I've settled into what I like, if you want me to detail it.

 

[Mike Frezon]

it's a flexible unit, which means the settings can get complicated. I've settled into what I like, if you want me to detail it.

I appreciate that offer, John. I'll let you know after I unwrap it on Christmas and get to spend some time with it.

 

[JohnRice]

I appreciate that offer, John. I'll let you know after I unwrap it on Christmas and get to spend some time with it.

I think I mentioned that their little owner’s manual doesn’t explain how to adjust all the settings (like dimming the display) and sometimes finding it is difficult.

 

[JohnRice]

It seems fairly obvious that the 2 channel amp I use to drive my main speakers is suffering a pending failure. I'm not sure I want to spend money to have it fixed, fearing that it's more than an isolated problem. In fact, it seems to be suffering the same failure the previous amp did. My main speakers are so hard on amps, and I definitely have tended to drive them hard, that they seem to be killing them. That's two amps in 25 years, so it's actually not all that bad. Has anyone here only had two receivers in 25 years? Now I'm just deciding how far I want to go with a replacement, considering that fact I seem to be hard on them.

Do I replace my Gen 1 Emotiva XPA-2 with a Gen 3, or do I go better, knowing I seem kill them?

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Perhaps it’s time to move up to a professional amplifier. I’ve heard great things about Yamaha’s P series, and QSC’s DCA amplifiers. They are stable at 2 ohms, which might help your situation.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[John Dirk]

That's two amps in 25 years, so it's actually not all that bad. Has anyone here only had two receivers in 25 years? Now I'm just deciding how far I want to go with a replacement, considering that fact I seem to be hard on them.

Great point about receivers.

I can't help but wonder if it's not more your speakers than how hard you drive them. I recently drove my SVS PB12 Plus/2 [I know it has a dedicated amp but the other speakers were also cranking] so hard it started spewing out insulation [and loved every minute ] and even then it was only may at 60 percent. Remember?

Is there any inherent advantage to 4 ohm speakers as opposed to 6 or 8?

 

[JohnRice]

Perhaps it’s time to move up to a professional amplifier. I’ve heard great things about Yamaha’s P series, and QSC’s DCA amplifiers. They are stable at 2 ohms, which might help your situation.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Call me a skeptic, but I don't want to try out a P/A amp without a satisfaction guarantee. I'd give it a try. Of course, Class D amps are getting more common at the higher end, but they're pricey.

 

[JohnRice]

Is there any inherent advantage to 4 ohm speakers as opposed to 6 or 8?

Speaker design is a variety of trade-offs. In order to make a speaker efficient and easy to drive, you have to make other sacrifices. It's not like higher end speakers that are easy to drive don't exist, they're just not very common. In reality, there's also an "attitude" to designing higher end speakers. If someone is going to spend several $K on a speaker, they're probably willing to spend more to drive them, so the designers don't tend to put much priority on making them easy to drive. Again, there are rare exceptions.

The fact is, I don't push my Thiels as hard as I used to, and if I buy a new amp and it lasts 10 years, there's really not much to complain about. I'm limited by the fact I've set up my system to use balanced interconnects, so that really limits my options.

 

[John Dirk]

Speaker design is a variety of trade-offs. In order to make a speaker efficient and easy to drive, you have to make other sacrifices. It's not like higher end speakers that aren't difficult to drive don't exist, they're just not very common. In reality, there's also an "attitude" to designing higher end speakers. If someone is going to spend several $K on a speaker, they're probably willing to spend more to drive them, so the designers don't tend to put much priority on making them easy to drive. Again, there are rare exceptions.

Thanks John. Informative, as always.

 

[JohnRice]

Thanks John. Informative, as always.

I just make stuff up to see who believes it.

 

[JohnRice]

I've pretty much decided to replace the Emotiva XPA-2 that's powering my main speakers (the one that's failing), and I think I'm going to upgrade from Emotiva. I've almost decided to try a Parasound Halo A23+. It's an "old school" amp with pure Class A circuitry until the outputs, which are high biased AB. In other words, where Emotiva has gone more efficient and higher tech in their designs, the Halo is like a "muscle car" design, though it was recently updated. I figure we've gotten so efficient in our use of electricity, I can burn a few extra watts. I suspect it's a pretty hot running amp, so the Aircom T8 I got will probably be useful keeping it cool.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I just wanted to come back to his thread and bump it up with word that I think the Infinity unit is terrific. I have the T10 (front exhaust) unit. And my receiver is housed on a shelf in a wooden cabinet so heat had been a problem for me. I had tried to use a small personal desk fan to push air from the back of the cabinet across the receiver out the front. But I would have to turn it on/off manually and it was loud. The T10 is slim and quiet and quite efficient.

I have my fans set to run on Speed #2. Although I don't have central air in my home and during the hot summer months will bump it up to Speed #3 (I'm not sure that's really necessary, but it seems to make sense to me). I like to use Speed #2 because I can't hear the fans at that level. Once they get up to #3 I can hear the fans at my seat.

I don't play stuff really loud for long stretches at a time (although my wife would disagree as to what constitutes loud) so I'm sure I don't push my Denon nearly as hard as you other fellas run your gear. But I see after hours of usage my receiver getting up to about 81 degrees or so and holding steady. When it's been off for a while, it usually registers in the high 60s. I have the fans set to kick on at 75-degrees.