Aune S17 pro

[Simon Patten]

I have two headphone cables for the same headphones. With the thicker solid cable, the amp does not exceed 63 degrees, with the thin and flexible one, it approaches 67....

Which headphones are you using?

 

[Simon Patten]

I am going to buy alternative products instead of S17 Pro.

If you can find a better amp for the price then you probably should. The problem is that the S17 sounds so good that it's worth putting up with these issues (assuming you can work around them).

 

[kjp473]

Just to share my experience with long cables lengths. I have Fostex TH-X00 (3m fixed single ended cable) and Abyss Diana MR (Abyss 3.5m balanced XLR cable) and I've never had any heat issues with my unit with either headphones, nor have I noticed any extra temperature rise from one over the other.

My unit is sat on IsoAcoustics Iso-Pucks without any active cooling, is always 100mA and low-gain, and my room temp typically sits between 18 and 22 degrees.

It has never hit the 69deg threshold after many hours of use, and usually stabilises at 56-63deg depending on room temp. It also can take quite a while to reach those peak temps.

 

[AuneAudio]

To check your S17 firmware version Holding the volum button and turn on the device.
Just wondering, what version is running on the units that come with over-heating issued.

Hi, firmwares can only optimize volume and cannot modify current.

This is my firmware version, seems to be the new one and I don’t have temp problems and the volume issues, but there’s some caveats

I reported on this very thread that my amp would go nuts with the temp if I used the long xlr cable that comes stock with the focal clear’s and also another 4.4mm balanced after-market cable that I bought for my koss kph40’s(this was the most problematic by far, temps shot up crazy fast with this one). Changed cables and the temp problem went away.

As the S17 Pro is a pure class A headphone amplifier, if a cable is too long and lacks sufficient internal insulation, it may increase the overall load and potentially generate more heat. (High ambient temperatures and low impedance headphones can cause temperature increases too.)

 

[bogi]

lacks sufficient internal insulation

If a cable is detachable one can measure resistance between wires with $10 multimeter.
If a cable is OK then I could imagine some additional effects with long cable only if signal contains strong high frequency content above audio band.
If you own some other class A amplifier with similar power and you don't experience such an effect with it, then it is likely Pro 17 issue.

 

[davveswe]

My junction box surge protection, has emi/rfi filter. Is it negative for your audio gear?

 

[kopczas]

As the S17 Pro is a pure class A headphone amplifier, if a cable is too long and lacks sufficient internal insulation, it may increase the overall load and potentially generate more heat. (High ambient temperatures and low impedance headphones can cause even faster temperature increases.)

S17 takes 35W of power. The most basic power cable can power the unit constantly without any issues forever.

 

[Erick Muller]

Must be a combination of cable and HP becouse my HD800S have a 3m 4.4mm balanced and the 17S Pro runs same temp as yours. Tops out at 58c after 4-5H on 100ma high gain.

I'm also suspecting materials used and construction quality of said cables might be an issue, because I've used other longish balanced cables on other headphones and I haven't had that issue with temps rising really fast on 100ma mode. For example I have a 2m long after market 4.4mm balanced cable for my LCD2C's and I haven't experience that issue at all with temps rising on the amp crazy fast, but then again, this might also be an issue relating to dynamic driver headphones specifically, but given what @Simon Patten has experienced with this HEKS, it might be something else entirely. Hard to tell but in a way I'm happy that I'm not the only one that has experience this behavior from this amp.

 

[Erick Muller]

Greetings dear music lovers. Need your help in choosing an amplifier for sash tres 45 ohm planar headphones. I am choosing between this device Aune S17 pro and Violectric HPA V200. In priority quality, reliability, power to rock planar. I will be grateful for feedback and comparison!

Both amps are great choices, I say if you have the money and are willing to deal with dip switches on the back of the amp to change gain levels, go with Violectric, if you don't mind a little bit of quirkiness and possible having to use fans to control the temps on the amp, S17 it's a really hard proposition to beat at the price.

 

[Erick Muller]

Overheating concern
Just got my Aune 17 Pro today. I plugged it up and everything worked great. I read online that it needs to be "burned in" so I played some music in 100ma for about 1 hour and it was keeping 56. I ran some errands and left it on for about 6 hours without headphones connected and no incoming signal.

At the 7th hour, It was idling at about 65C. I started playing music and it rose to 69c degrees and auto switched down to 50ma. I kept playing music and It slowly KEPT on climbing to 74 degrees, at 50ma. I got worried and turned it off as I am not sure what the upper limit is.

Question is... Why it getting so hot. Below is room temp, connections, etc.

Ambient Room Temperature: 73f (22c)
DAC Connection: XLR from an EverSolo DAC-Z6 set to 0 db.
Headphones: Hifiman Edition XS 18 ohm with 95db sensitivity.
Headphone Connection: 4.4 Balanced 6N OCC Copper Silver Plated Cord. 6.6ft long.

On paper and for what my experience has been running this amp for several months now, if you ever reach 69 degrees it should automatically change to 50ma mode and temps should start coming down gradually, I think you can still change it manually to 100ma but it should again change back to 50ma because it has reach the limit at 69 degrees, I heard of people that sometimes see temps go up to the low 70s in 100ma but then changes back to 50ma, but that's mostly people doing extreme stuff like opening the windows in their rooms or actually using the amp outside in the middle of winter when it's really cold, not recommended of course.

What I never heard of is the amp changing to 50ma and temps still keep rising after that, try changing the amp to another plug and see if it still exhibits the same behavior and maybe change the power cord.

 

[Erick Muller]

Just to share my experience with long cables lengths. I have Fostex TH-X00 (3m fixed single ended cable) and Abyss Diana MR (Abyss 3.5m balanced XLR cable) and I've never had any heat issues with my unit with either headphones, nor have I noticed any extra temperature rise from one over the other.

My unit is sat on IsoAcoustics Iso-Pucks without any active cooling, is always 100mA and low-gain, and my room temp typically sits between 18 and 22 degrees.

It has never hit the 69deg threshold after many hours of use, and usually stabilises at 56-63deg depending on room temp. It also can take quite a while to reach those peak temps.

It has been my experience now with this amp since I'd the cable situation sorted out with a couple of my headphones for a couple of months now, it never reaches above 61 degrees in any case and I hadn't have to use my fans to control the temps on the amp for a while now... We'll see once summer hits if this still holds true tho.

 

[Erick Muller]

As the S17 Pro is a pure class A headphone amplifier, if a cable is too long and lacks sufficient internal insulation, it may increase the overall load and potentially generate more heat. (High ambient temperatures and low impedance headphones can cause even faster temperature increases.)

Thx Aune.

Well I'm not surprise about the 4.4 balanced cable for my koss given that it was a Zeos recommendation and it was cheap for a balanced 4.4mm cable on amazon, but this doesn't bode well for focal and the stock cables that come with their headphones if they have insufficient insulation.

 

[SpiritualAbies2600]

UPDATE:
Okay... I have been using for two days now... Hifiman Crystal Single Ended Cable and the temperatures have not gone past 67c using XLR input, High Gain, and 100ma mode. The Hifiman Cable is 1.4m (4.9 feet) and it is working well.

To rule out a bad cable, I have ordered another Balanced Cable also 1.5m. The new cable is a Linsoul balanced 4 pin XLR to dual 3.5m. It should be arriving tonight and I shall how that fairs.

On a side note: What is the "Safe" maximum temperature for the Amp before one worries about it being damaged? 70c, 75c, 80c?

 

[SmartCheetah]

I'm torn between the Aune S17 Pro and the SMSL SP400, any advice would be appreciated. The amp will be used with the HIFIMAN EF400 (R2R) in DAC mode, replacing my Earmen ST-AMP. I want a big, layered, 3D soundstage and a "cinematic", lush sound for both music and single-player games.

 

[Ichos]

I'm torn between the Aune S17 Pro and the SMSL SP400, any advice would be appreciated. The amp will be used with the HIFIMAN EF400 (R2R) in DAC mode, replacing my Earmen ST-AMP. I want a big, layered, 3D soundstage and a "cinematic", lush sound for both music and single-player games.

Can't get what you want from THX amplifier.