[nalth]

Hello!

First of all I must confess that I'm very new in this field. However, after a few intensive days reading these forums I'm slowly learning more and more. Well, no to my question/concern:

To me the LD2++ looks like a very good amp for the money.
However, I'm concerned about the heat issues that I read a lot about.

Since heat and electronics never go well together (and it could possibly take years of its average lifetime),
it would be interesting to know if anybody has successfully modified their LD2 to run cooler?
Some type of passive cooling maybe? Extra heatsinks? Holes? New box?

Or, I would like to get replies convincing me that the heat is truly not a problem, but then again, cooler is always better, right?
Also, any tips on what components (excluding tubes...) could be changed for better quality ones?

Thanks for any help!

 

[yrh0413]

the hotter the tubes, the better they sound. You might try slapping some watercooling modules to the side of your LD2++ haha!

Don't worry about the heat, its normal for all LD2++/LD2+. I used to have a LD2+ myself, and it runs pretty hot. In fact you can even keep your cup of coffee warm by placing it on top of the power supply

 

[Mrjabba]

don't most tube amps run hot/warm?

i've been to a few local hi-fi shops listening to various tubes amps and they all put off a lot of heat! and those huge class-a solid state power amps are like heaters!

 

[penguindude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrjabba /img/forum/go_quote.gif don't most tube amps run hot/warm? i've been to a few local hi-fi shops listening to various tubes amps and they all put off a lot of heat! and those huge class-a solid state power amps are like heaters!

Yea, tube amps do get a bit warm. Especially those that run on directly heated pentodes.

 

[Tech2]

I suppose that most tube amps throw more heat than SS amps, but I would never say that all tube amps are the same. My LDII emits WAY more heat than my Woo amp. It easily gets twice as hot. Besides the actual tubes themselves, the Woo amp just gets warm.

I think it's the design of the LD amps that causes them to get much hotter than other tube amps, though I don't know why.

 

[John D.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nalth /img/forum/go_quote.gif Or, I would like to get replies convincing me that the heat is truly not a problem, but then again, cooler is always better, right? Thanks for any help!

If your real concerned about the tubes heating up, why not buy one of those Igloo coolers, that should help cool things down.

JD

 

[Gautama]

I saw someone on here used Sovtek power tubes and that lowerd heat a lot.

 

[penguindude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gautama /img/forum/go_quote.gif I saw someone on here used Sovtek power tubes and that lowerd heat a lot.

Yea, the sovtek power tubes prolong the time ld2++ reaches "critical mass."

EDITED

 

[GotNoRice]

Hmmm, well with my Ld2+ I just have a desk fan in my room that is almost always on and the fan hits it as part of it's 90 degree rotation.

I leave my Ld2+ on 24/7 unless its a REALLY hot day, in which case i turn it off to keep my room cool more than anything. I thought the Ld2++ was supposed to be cooler than the Ld2+. If so, then leaving it on should not be a problem at all.

 

[Advil]

I have one of these Antec Notebook Coolers laying around SOMEWHERE. I've been looking for it to try out with my Little Dot II++. I think it would be sweet!

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=75004
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-NOTEBOOK...4107288&sr=8-2

check it out

 

[penguindude]

All those ideas to integrate fan and drilling holes in the amp's body/even leaving the amp half open all have been tried before. The conclusion was they don't make a difference. All i can say is dont leave anything touching it, and ull be fine.

 

[nalth]

Well, using fans is out of the question, don't want a more noisy environment. But since my apparent gets very hot during the summer months I feel that something needs to be done, at least for that time period.

Maybe some cool heatsinks?

http://www.conradheatsinks.com/produ...at100_350.html

Those would increase the surface area by 8 times on the sides.
But using passive heatsinks it's hard to say how big the gain actually is. But if those could be found relatively cheaply it could be worth trying.

 

[Gautama]

I figure when I finally get mine, I'll slap the stock cooler for A64s on since I have that laying around, fanless and with Arctic Silver 5 of course. On the other side all Ive got is an old p3 cooler so lol and lol.

 

[Spareribs]

The heat from the Little Dot amp does not bother me. And if the heat does cause the amp to break in a few years, ya got your money's worth and you can buy another amp for an upgrade or buy a used Little Dot amp for even cheaper.

If my Little Dot breaks down in a few years because of the heat, I won't mind. I'll just get another one or similar.

 

[Tech2]

Though the fan or laptop cooler are nice ideas, I would think that the tubes would pick up the vibration. I know that my LD II is very microphonic and the tubes ring if I even tap on the body of the amp, so I wouldn't even try putting it atop a fan (HD cooler). Mine is an original LD II, not a + or ++, so maybe the newer ones are improved or use tubes that are less microphonic.

Passive cooling (heat sinks) seems like the best idea, IMO. That is if you are concerned about the heat. Personally, like Spareribs, it's not really an issue to me.