[Erick Muller]

What is the temperature in Mexico now? Do you have AC in your house?
Thanks!

Right now, in my city we're reaching above 25 degrees centigrade in the afternoon, it varies a lot because we're entering spring and wild temperature swings are the norm during this season. I do have a minisplit in my room but I haven't had a need to turn it on, what I do most of the time it's just open my window, for the time being, once summer hits, I'm definitively turning on my minisplit.

I have my audio set up on a metal rack, the amp is on the top ant below it I have the USB control double 120mm fan, because the top plate it's perforated, it allows it for air to cool down the amp, but again and as I've mentioned before on this very thread, I only turn it on once I reach above 65 degrees on the amp, and that's only to bring down the temps around 60 degrees. Hope this clears up any questions you have regarding my setup and how I'm running things.

 

[Erick Muller]

I do wonder about this and the different use cases. I am a quiet listener and my volume PEAKS at no more than 75Db's.
My only hard to run headphone is the HE6se V2's and I only use those on my iFi.
I am really curious about it would run my Clear's (OG), HD660S2's, Grado GH2's, Cascades, Radiance's and even my newish FT5's.

I have the clears and it runs it fine but Idk if it's an issue with my clears or the amp itself, but i you turn on 100ma the left driver on my clear it seems to be clipping, Tbh both the clears and my radiance sound a lot better with my shanling H5 compare to my desktop set up and I don't have any driver clipping issues with my shanling H5 and Clears, my elegias are the only one's that synergize well with this amp.

SENN HD600s line and S17 on the other hand, on high gain an 100ma is god tier sound wise, also the SENN 560s it's incredible on this amp.

 

[Erick Muller]

For those using fans, aiming at the amp from the rear would do the most, that's where the ventilation holes are. I'd aim it at the set of vents on the left side since the vents by the power cord are going to be hard to position a fan over. It will help to promote cross ventilation used that way. Aiming it at the other sides is going to be less effective in extreme cases - but might be better in middling cases. The amp is built to run best at some range of temps - so if you live in an igloo, running a fan at all times could be wrong. If your room is say 90 F al the time, then maybe all the time is right.

People used to tube amps or Class A amps probably wouldn't be stressed vs those used to Class AB or D which is much cooler generally. In facts tubes and Class A is usually designed to work best at those higher temps. So maybe this is all a tempest in a tea-pot - outside of the heat threshold being tripped causing issues.

It's actually better to put the fan underneath the amp because that's where the main heatsink of the amp it's located and it contacts the bottom plate of the amp, in this way you can control better the temps on the amp, this has already been tested by several people on this thread, and yes like you mentioned, you don't want to cool down the amp all the way down as possible, what you actually want to achieved maximum sound performance it's to operate above 60 degrees, the fan it's only there to control the temp rise and avoid it reaching the 69 degrees threshold, people are getting nervous because they see and feel their amp getting really hot and they're not used to their electronics getting that hot usually.

 

[Erick Muller]

My thoughts exactly.

Mine never exceeded 61 in 100mA after I raised it. No active cooling. With less demanding headphones it stays below 60.

Now, and this is interesting - I always put a headphones stand on top which is all metal with a quite large and flat foot. Today I put another, wooden one instead and for the first time I saw 62 degrees C. It looks like the metal stand acts as a radiator When I swapped them the temp stabilized at 61 again.

As for the burning your hands, when the amp wasn't elevated and I stacked another one on top, it reached 65 in a few hours and kept rising. At this temperature I wasn't able to touch its bottom where the heatsinks are.

Yep, before I got carried away with the comments in this very thread, I bought some very basic speaker stands like Zeos recommended and the temps never reach the 69 degree cut-off, if you can raise your amp at least 3cm above the surface you have it on, it's going to be more than enough to cool down your amp.

I would also recommend people that if they see the temps on their S17 rise really quickly, you should check the cables on your headphone, I was having that problem with my amp with a couple of cables that where causing it to freak out and the temps rise really quickly, that could also be an issue and this is because your cables don't have proper insulation like mine did.

 

[Shane D]

Right now, in my city we're reaching above 25 degrees centigrade in the afternoon, it varies a lot because we're entering spring and wild temperature swings are the norm during this season. I do have a minisplit in my room but I haven't had a need to turn it on, what I do most of the time it's just open my window, for the time being, once summer hits, I'm definitively turning on my minisplit.

I have my audio set up on a metal rack, the amp is on the top ant below it I have the USB control double 120mm fan, because the top plate it's perforated, it allows it for air to cool down the amp, but again and as I've mentioned before on this very thread, I only turn it on once I reach above 65 degrees on the amp, and that's only to bring down the temps around 60 degrees. Hope this clears up any questions you have regarding my setup and how I'm running things.

Not too hot (but WAY warmer than Canada!).
I live in Atlantic Canada which is pretty temperate. We don't have really hot summers or really bad winters. We get the odd blizzard and the odd heat wave, but that is about it.

There does seem to be a lot of variance in the units. I would hate to get a machine that doesn't let you stay in the 100 range for more than 30 minutes, if I enjoy that feature. That, to me, is a defective unit.

Last summer I couldn't have my two tube amps on at the same time as it was just too hot. I have already sold one and might sell the other.
I doubt that one Class A amp would bother me heat wise, but I wouldn't want my amp to have a feature that I couldn't use.

I guess I will keep lurking.

 

[SmartCheetah]

I would also recommend people that if they see the temps on their S17 rise really quickly, you should check the cables on your headphone, I was having that problem with my amp with a couple of cables that where causing it to freak out and the temps rise really quickly, that could also be an issue and this is because your cables don't have proper insulation like mine did.

I'd plug the headphones off to see if it's still overheating, the easiest way to rule out the cables. In my case the temperatures stay the same with different cables connected or without them.

There does seem to be a lot of variance in the units.

There's a theory that the first batches are overheating more. Mine was produced in December and it's cool (and with the improved volume knob). It would be interesting to hear from @AuneAudio whether there were any ninja-improvements of the cooling system implemented in the meantime next to the potentiometer. Unless it's considered confidential

 

[MiguelP]

One easy way to check room temperature is to see the unit temperature when the unit is turned on. Mine is at 27C.

 

[MiguelP]

Raised unit. Metal perforated stand. Even so, I need to use two fans at low power (USB 5 Volt) to be able to listen for hours in 100ma (unit temp reaches 65 C even with the fans turned on - the photo shows them underneath the amp). I guess that if I was able to open a Window near the rack it would have the same effect as the fans.

 

[bagwell359]

It's actually better to put the fan underneath the amp because that's where the main heatsink of the amp it's located and it contacts the bottom plate of the amp, in this way you can control better the temps on the amp, this has already been tested by several people on this thread

I see, thanks for getting the right info out there.

, and yes like you mentioned, you don't want to cool down the amp all the way down as possible, what you actually want to achieved maximum sound performance it's to operate above 60 degrees, the fan it's only there to control the temp rise and avoid it reaching the 69 degrees threshold, people are getting nervous because they see and feel their amp getting really hot and they're not used to their electronics getting that hot usually.

Yes, the newer generation w/ Class AB and D amps. I had an Bedini 25/25 Class A amp (good for Quad ESL's) that the cover used to get to over 165 F. That made me nervous. My Rag 1 gets hot by design too - bit more than the S17 pro, although I wasn't beating the S17 pro, and I have beat on the Rag 1 w/ Maggie .7i's in a big room.

 

[Erick Muller]

Not too hot (but WAY warmer than Canada!).
I live in Atlantic Canada which is pretty temperate. We don't have really hot summers or really bad winters. We get the odd blizzard and the odd heat wave, but that is about it.

There does seem to be a lot of variance in the units. I would hate to get a machine that doesn't let you stay in the 100 range for more than 30 minutes, if I enjoy that feature. That, to me, is a defective unit.

Last summer I couldn't have my two tube amps on at the same time as it was just too hot. I have already sold one and might sell the other.
I doubt that one Class A amp would bother me heat wise, but I wouldn't want my amp to have a feature that I couldn't use.

I guess I will keep lurking.

Humidity also plays a role there, I live in a very dry place, humidity when it's high it's about 30% so, it's also going to influence somewhat how much the amp warms up or cools down besides the ambient temp.

If you don't feel sure about this product then you shouldn't buy it, better trust your gut, maybe come here in a years time to see how these impressions have been holding up when we actually reach long term use on our equipment.

 

[Erick Muller]

Raised unit. Metal perforated stand. Even so, I need to use two fans at low power (USB 5 Volt) to be able to listen for hours in 100ma (unit temp reaches 65 C even with the fans turned on - the photo shows them underneath the amp). I guess that if I was able to open a Window near the rack it would have the same effect as the fans.

I have the same rack, I think it was actually you that recommended me to get this rack.

I'm not even raising my unit above the top rack and I'm not anywhere near 65 degrees most of the time, even on high gain, so I think there's an issue with your amp. Does the room you have your set up has a window to the outside or some kind of ventilation?.

 

[MiguelP]

I have the same rack, I think it was actually you that recommended me to get this rack.

I'm not even raising my unit above the top rack and I'm not anywhere near 65 degrees most of the time, even on high gain, so I think there's an issue with your amp. Does the room you have your set up has a window to the outside or some kind of ventilation?.

No ventilation. 26 C, 60% humidity. And it's winter time

 

[Erick Muller]

No ventilation. 26 C, 60% humidity. And it's winter time

Ooof, and with that humidity, double ooof, you need to talk with the guys at HARP so they stop playing with their weather control weapons lmao!!!!

 

[Shane D]

Humidity also plays a role there, I live in a very dry place, humidity when it's high it's about 30% so, it's also going to influence somewhat how much the amp warms up or cools down besides the ambient temp.

If you don't feel sure about this product then you shouldn't buy it, better trust your gut, maybe come here in a years time to see how these impressions have been holding up when we actually reach long term use on our equipment.

We are right on the Atlantic ocean so it gets good and muggy. And the heatwaves are unbearable due to that.

Almost traded for a different amp last night. Not a clue what I am going to pick up in the end.

 

[Erick Muller]

We are right on the Atlantic ocean so it gets good and muggy. And the heatwaves are unbearable due to that.

Almost traded for a different amp last night. Not a clue what I am going to pick up in the end.

Unfortunate because this is a really good sounding amp, but if you're having issues then if you can return it, do so.