AV receiver ventilation - is it overkill?

[admin_exported]

All my stuff's finally arrived but I have a problem. The manual insists on minimum 30cm clearance on top with 20cm at the sides and rear. I've already ordered (and payed for) a storage unit with doors to keep it in which will allow 20cm at the top, 23cm at the sides and 14cm at the rear. I thought this would be plenty but now I'm worried.

The minimums in the manual seem overkill to me but I don't wish to damage it and burn the house down! What's your experiences? Would the 20x23x14 clearance seem too little to you too? I'm also interested to know how much to cut out of the back of the unit for ventilation, any suggestions. It's a Yamaha RX-V2067 running B&W M1's

 

[davejberry]

i would suggest you try it and see. at normal domestic listening levels (-15dB blu ray, -25dB CD) my sony amp gets warm at most, it's in a rack open at front and back with about 2cm each side, 10cm behind between it and the wall and about 8cm above... my sky+ box gets far hotter and is therefore sat on the top of the rack

 

[davejberry]

forgot to mention, last summer my lounge got to over 40 celsius and i still had no problems with it

 

[Anonymous]

I've Just taken a piccy of my amp in on it's shelf for you. It just shoe-horn's into the shelf, has been there for 18 months and I let the thing rock never had a single hiccup.

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z365/Mick_Curry/DSCF1370.jpg

 

[chudleighpaul]

If your lounge reached 40 celsius you are badly in need of air conditioning. 40 is horrendous!

 

[RobinKidderminster]

OK - I am a great fan of this subject !

But seriously

http://community.whathifi.com/forums/t/523521.aspx

I use small fans which really cool things down

 

[Anonymous]

That's a FANtastic PUNN

Damn, I just noticed the dust. Ahem please note that I am not a smelly stig. The major drawback of squeezing your amp in a tight spot is cleaning under it regularly.

Guess I know what I will be doing this Saturday afternoon.

 

[Tonestar1]

I suspect it is overkill. The manufacturers don't want to leave themselves open to any legal action, 99% of the time you wont have a problem. Strange how these requirements only ever appear in a small paragraph on page 47 of the manual as opposed to prominently on the shiny adverts or even clearly as part of the standard specs.

 

[Anonymous]

Relapse:
I've Just taken a piccy of my amp in on it's shelf for you. It just shoe-horn's into the shelf, has been there for 18 months and I let the thing rock never had a single hiccup.

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z365/Mick_Curry/DSCF1370.jpg

Man that's crammed in there!

Even with your set up, you'd have to run it long and hard. No pun intended! Before it got dangerously hot. I cooked a DVD player once, by running the amp it was shud on flat out for three hours. Couldn't even touch the thing and the CD I was spinning went all floppy. All was ok after a couple of hours rest. Well Robbie Williams never sounded the same again but that's another story. I think that's what ended his solo carrier.

I'd say most quoted spacing is OTT. I think manufacturers are more worried about fires than anything else. But your thermal cut out would kick in before ignition I'd guess. Mine did. No damage in the long run.

 

[Anonymous]

Thx for comments everyone (and photo's). I'm gonna have to give it a try and keep an eye on it I guess

 

[Anonymous]

30 cm clearance on the top seems very much to me to be overkill! Surely there can't be many people with that much clearance around their amps...

 

[iainl2005]

I had a Yamaha Z7 in a spectral 1552 cabinet there was only around 4cm height gap between the glass shelf above and I had no problems with it.

 

[Anonymous]

dougolada:30 cm clearance on the top.....Surely there can't be many people with that much clearance around their amps...

Me.

If you check out my avatar on the left you will note that I have my amp. plonked on a wall-mounted isolation platform (which was left over from my Linn Sondek days) just above the left hand main speaker.

I don't know what this obsession about hiding equipment in cabinets is all about!

Unlimited fresh air on 5 sides!

I've never had any problems with my amp, whether heat-related or not, but why take the chance?

Bob A.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not one for hiding my kit either. If anything, I want to show it off! I think for a lot of people, there are other halves that instigate the hiding of kit in cabinets to make it more "aesthetically pleasing" rather than it being the choice of the proud owner...

As for why take the chance? Well isn't that what life is all about, taking chances? Some are bigger than others, but if it was a case of having 29cm available clearance and being advised by the manual to have 30cm clearance, I for one would be more than happy to take that chance... At the end of the day, there are all sorts of reasons for cutting corners and the OP is simply looking for a bit of reassurance that his chance isn't going to be a costly one

 

[Anonymous]

II'd go with others in saying 30cm is way over the top IMO. My Reciever is about half that.

Mind you if it had been an Onkyo then I'd have to rethink.

 

[Anonymous]

piobob:
Mind you if it had been an Onkyo then I'd have to rethink.

I have an Integra that is in a tv shelve with an open front. There's approx 20cm clearance to the next shelf that holds the CD player. When running the amp, the underside of the shelf holding the CD player gets very warm. It's warm enough to make me want to move the CD player and think about a fan...

 

[pete321]

iainl2005:I had a Yamaha Z7 in a spectral 1552 cabinet there was only around 4cm height gap between the glass shelf above and I had no problems with it.

Seconded, no probs with my Z7 with a small ventilation gap, my previous Onkyo was a different kettle of fish. It used to cut out due to overheating with a 6 inch gap above it.

 

[chrisup]

Hi Mr Burns,

I have an Onkyo 905 and it sits on top of a piece of furniture with nothing on top except the Cat! it runs hot in the summer and most of the year the cat sits on his radiator except when crank up the volume via the B&W 685 Theatre.

Best wishes

Chris

 

[Anonymous]

Hello all, new to the forum after a fair bit of lurking but hugely impressed at the very friendly and knowledgeable advice here. On the ventilation theme, I was wondering if anyone had any idea of
the sort of area needed to ventilate an Onkyo TX-NR808 amp - the instructions say leave 20cm at the top and sides and 10cm at the back for ventilation, but I was wondering if about 5cm to 10cm at the top would still be adequate / safe, especially with Onkyo's reputation for running hot.

The Onkyo is a huge beast as it is (20cm high and 18kg) so finding rack / TV stand space is tricky enough - my current glass TV stand isn't big enough (only 20cm between the shelves) and I'm having real difficulties finding a reasonably priced rack / stand that will accommodate it in relation to both size and strength. I've seen a few that would give about 4cm - 5cm of space above the unit, but I'm guessing this may not be enough. Another, much more expensive, stand that I've seen would give about 5cm to 10cm so perhaps might work.

Any ventilation advice / experiences (especially from 808 owners) very gratefully received. In fact I'm in a bit of a dilemma AV / hi-fi wise over the Onkyo (which I've got already) and other impending kit (new Onkyo still not out of its box!), but I'll save that for a separate post. Big thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

noddycat:
I'm having real difficulties finding a reasonably priced rack / stand that will accommodate it in relation to both size and strength. I've seen a few that would give about 4cm - 5cm of space above the unit, but I'm guessing this may not be enough. Another, much more expensive, stand that I've seen would give about 5cm to 10cm so perhaps might work.

What would you consider to be a "reasonably priced rack"? Something you could consider is a modular rack such as the Atacama Equinox (that's what I've got) but for that extra clearance on top, remove a glass shelf from the level above the AV amp... That way, you can have as much clearance as you desire/need.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks dougolada, to be honest it's space that's one of the real problems - all the AV kit including amp, DVD, PVR boxes, a centre speaker (poss a B&W HTM 62 - 17" high - but not yet bought) and a 42" Panasonic G20 has to fit in an alcove that's 106cm wide and it all (including the TV) has to fit under a shelf (that's already in the alcove) that's 135cm above the floor. The Panny TV is 70cm tall from its base, leaving a maximum height of 65cm for any rack, and the rack would need a bottom, middle and top shelf to fit everything in.

Some of the cheaper (circia £100 to £150) stands that would fit have 24cm between bottom and middle shelf, but I suppose this wouldn't be enough ventilation space for an AV amp, especially the 808 at 20cm. One option would be the Alphason Soundstyle ST310 (about £320) (http://tinyurl.com/696w7b9) which just fits and has adjustable shelves so the lower shelf to middle shelf can be 24cm to 29cm. At 29cm this would leave 9cm above the 808 - would this be enough? Perhaps the 808 is just too big for where I'm trying to put it?