Subwoofer Amp is Hot...Is this Normal??? (1 Viewer)

[GrahamJW]

Hi:

Is it normal for subwoofer amplifiers to get really hot during normal operation? I have a Paradigm PW2200 version 2 and I noticed that the amplifier gets very hot. By hot I mean you can barely stand to keep your hand on the amplifier back plate for any length of time. I also noticed that the amplifier stays very warm after it has been off for a while (12 hours or so). I am not really pushing the sub as the gain is set below half.
The PW2200 v2 does have a 400 watt RMS 1500 watt peak amplifier, so I was wondering if this was normal operation for a subwoofer amplifier. I do know that the earlier version of the PW2200 had heat fins on the amplifier while version 2 does not have heat fins.

Cheers..John

 

[Mitch Stevens]

I don't know how much this will help you, but my old sub, probably about 3-4 years old now (lost count) used to get EXTREMELY hot. If you touched it, it would burn your hands, and I have never had any air conditioning or coolers in my rooms so the summers would almost over-heat it. Anyway, it still played perfectly, but just a few months ago, it started giving out. What I mean is that If it's "On" for a period of time, it won't play any more bass. Now, I have it on Auto mode, and it works perfect, but if I leave it on "On" after a few hours it will completely stop playing, but still be "on."

I think that after all these years the heat did damage it. It took a pretty long time though.

Now that I have my SVS 16-46 pci, it NEVER gets hot. Not even in the summer. Strange....

 

[TanT]

My M&K MX100 never gets hot even if I push it hard for an hour or 2. I left it on constantly and the heatsink is cool when it's not playing. Sounds like there is a problem with your PW2200.

 

[Allen Marshall]

Mine gets hot

 

[GrahamJW]

Allen do you have a PW2200 or is it a different model?