[Endless]

Just received my Asgard. Amazing piece of work when driving my HD 650's. It runs hot but the volume knob isn't burning.. 

 

[upstateguy]

Quote:

As for the running temp of the Asgard. It's hot? It's not hot? It's too hot? It's not too hot? Yes it's a real issue.
 

The real questions are how hot is too hot?  And how long the board can withstand the heat?  Remember the Single Power boards? 
 
Here's a worse case scenario:
 


 
Quote:

Oooooo! Ouch! Owiee! OWIEEE! OWIEEEEEEEE!!!!!
 
NOT!

 
se
 

LOL  
 
 
USG
 

 

[Clayton SF]

^^^ OMG.

I better take apart my Asgard to have a better look at the board.

 

[kwkarth]

 

Originally Posted by kwkarth 

Speaking of BBQs, I dragged out my IR thermometer gun today.  My Asgard runs @ 56C (132.8F) laying down and 53C (127.4F) standing on end with an ambient temp of 23C (73.4F).  Still air.  Temps measured at the hottest part of the external casing.  Measurements were taken after amp had been idling for several hours in these ambient conditions.  That's really not all that bad.

Quote:

KW, yeah, it's actually less than what we used to run the Sumo Tens at (100WPC Class A into 8 ohms, 200WPC Class A into 4 ohms, in a chassis about 7 x 19 x 27" with 2.5" deep heatsinks along both long edges.) 

 

I expect the top of the Valhalla to run about the same, and the bottom to be pretty chilly. The tubes pump a reasonable amount of heat into the chassis.

Quote:

The real questions are how hot is too hot?  And how long the board can withstand the heat?  Remember the Single Power boards? 
Here's a worse case scenario:
LOL  
USG

Aparently you did not see my quote of Jason's response above regarding temperature... 

 
Or my post more recently;
 
So today's measurements are as follows:

 

Ambient temp: 22.1C (  71.8F)

Bottom of unit: 53.5C (128.3F)

knob:              40.7C (105.3F)

 

[Beefy]

Quote:

^^^ OMG.

I better take apart my Asgard to have a better look at the board.

*facepalm* That amp IS NOT an Asgard.

 

[kite7]

I think this whole heat issue is overblown. Jason knows the amp will be fine operating at those temperatures or else he would be less inclined on offering 5 year warranty. It is hot, we get it but unless someone has shown that their Asgard has failed because of heat there's not much to worry about.

 

[revolink24]

Exactly. Has anyone's Asgard overheated and died yet?
 
No?
 
Didn't think so. Those MOSFETs heat tolerances are much higher than you would expect.

 

[Steve Eddy]

Quote:

Those MOSFETs heat tolerances are much higher than you would expect.

Right. What we consider "hot" and what a power transistor considers "hot" are quite far apart.
 
That 128 degrees F that has some people freaking out is just a balmy afternoon for a power transistor of the type used in the Asgard.
 
se
 

 

[Jason Stoddard]

Hey guys,
 
Just to clarify the heat "issue." Yep, the Asgard runs hot. We make that totally clear on the site, in the owners manual, etc.
 
Too hot? No. Like I said, we ran the Sumo Tens hotter. Other top-tier Class A (speaker) amps run hotter. Having run multiple prototypes continuously for over a year before launching the company, having designed and produced lots of Class A amps, we're confident there will be no failures caused by excessive heat.
 
(Unless, uh, you start unscrewing the row of 4 screws on the bottom right side of the amplifier, just inside the screws at the edge. Those hold the MOSFETs to the chassis. Then it will be a bad day.)
 
The difference is that we are using the entire chassis as a heatsink, rather than isolating the heat on a single board-mounted or chassis-mounted heatsink. So, you feel the heat more. This chassis design allows us to avoid the additional cost of heatsinks--and put the money in better parts.
 
If the heat bothers you, I totally understand--and there are many other fine headphone amps out there to choose from.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Right. What we consider "hot" and what a power transistor considers "hot" are quite far apart.
 
That 128 degrees F that has some people freaking out is just a balmy afternoon for a power transistor of the type used in the Asgard.
 
se

Heck, that's a balmy afternoon in IRAQ!

 

[debitsohn]

Quote:

Hey guys,
 
Just to clarify the heat "issue." Yep, the Asgard runs hot. We make that totally clear on the site, in the owners manual, etc.
 
Too hot? No. Like I said, we ran the Sumo Tens hotter. Other top-tier Class A (speaker) amps run hotter. Having run multiple prototypes continuously for over a year before launching the company, having designed and produced lots of Class A amps, we're confident there will be no failures caused by excessive heat.
 
(Unless, uh, you start unscrewing the row of 4 screws on the bottom right side of the amplifier, just inside the screws at the edge. Those hold the MOSFETs to the chassis. Then it will be a bad day.)
 
The difference is that we are using the entire chassis as a heatsink, rather than isolating the heat on a single board-mounted or chassis-mounted heatsink. So, you feel the heat more. This chassis design allows us to avoid the additional cost of heatsinks--and put the money in better parts.
 
If the heat bothers you, I totally understand--and there are many other fine headphone amps out there to choose from.

Thanks Jason

 

[ZeusAudio]

I was looking at this amp as a possible new purchase but wondered if anybody has heard both this and the Little Dot MKIII? I will be matching them with my Senn HD580 and have heard both of these amps match well with the entire Sennheiser line-up. Any one chime in on which creates a 'better' sound in their opinion? As well as which does what to their HD580/600/650?

 

[tunarat]

Quote:

For those of us who use tube amps daily, I bet it would be a complete non-issue

 
(full disclosure: never seen or touched an Asgard)

Yup! I have it placed 3/4" from a shelf on the right (hot) side of the unit with no noticeable heat transfer to the shelf after running half the day

 

[baka1969]

I keep reading more about the heat and less about how it actually sounds and compares to other Class A amps. I was partially quoted talking about the heat the Asgard gives off and the rest of my post was tossed out. Which, to me, was more valid.


This isn't the Asgard appreciation thread. I know no-one wants to believe there are other amps that compare or excel over the Asgard but there are. I'm sorry but I just don't believe the Asgard is the lone panacea of a price gap in the head amp market. It shares it with other well performing amps.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

I keep reading more about the heat and less about how it actually sounds and compares to other Class A amps. I was partially quoted talking about the heat the Asgard gives off and the rest of my post was tossed out. Which, to me, was more valid.


This isn't the Asgard appreciation thread. I know no-one wants to believe there are other amps that compare or excel over the Asgard but there are. I'm sorry but I just don't believe the Asgard is the lone panacea of a price gap in the head amp market. It shares it with other well performing amps.

that's fine that you believe that.  And your conclusion was???