How hot should an AVR run?

William Cladley

William Cladley

Audiophyte
I just purchased a new Denon x4200w and, while I am completely satisfied with it, I do notice that it runs very warm. I don't have the recommended 5 inches+ of clearance up top. Instead, I have about 4 inches of clearance above it and complete clearance on the sides, front, and back. Still, it is noticeably, radiantly, warm to the touch, but not hot. I've also had it running for hours and have had no problems with it. A friend of mine said that "higher end" receivers all run hot. Is that true? I have had a Pioneer 834 and 1024 and an Aventage A60 and, while they did get a bit warm to the touch, they were all cooler than this Denon.

My solution is potentially to place a Vornado floor fan to the side of my rack and run it on low, which does remove a lot of heat. Is this necessary? Do I have a defective unit? Am I simply getting paranoid?

Thanks for your advice.
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Did you measure the temperature, say on top of the enclosure? If it is under 40 deg C after running for hours then it could be normal, but for longevity, you can easily cool it down by a few degrees with a small and quiet usb fan.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
I just purchased a new Denon x4200w and, while I am completely satisfied with it, I do notice that it runs very warm. I don't have the recommended 5 inches+ of clearance up top. Instead, I have about 4 inches of clearance above it and complete clearance on the sides, front, and back. Still, it is noticeably, radiantly, warm to the touch, but not hot. I've also had it running for hours and have had no problems with it. A friend of mine said that "higher end" receivers all run hot. Is that true? I have had a Pioneer 834 and 1024 and an Aventage A60 and, while they did get a bit warm to the touch, they were all cooler than this Denon.

My solution is potentially to place a Vornado floor fan to the side of my rack and run it on low, which does remove a lot of heat. Is this necessary? Do I have a defective unit? Am I simply getting paranoid?

Thanks for your advice.

If it was defective, it would probably shut off, at least intermittently. Heat is the result of current flow and the 4200 has a pretty good amount going on inside. These run warm, but not as hot as some brands and models from the past- Harmon Kardon receivers ran about as hot as anything I have seen and they suffered because of it. You definitely want to let it cool itself, or make it cool in some way. A far less annoying and noisy way to do this is with a fan like the ones used in desktop computers. Rather than a USB fan, I would use one that runs on 120V or if you have a USB fan, use a cell phone charger that plugs into a wall outlet (or a power strip).

The difference between 4" of clearance and 5" doesn't seem like much, but it can be enough to cause problems when the amp is run hard for long periods of time or if the ambient temperature is high.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I use a cooling fan to keep temps down on my avrs. I also make sure the video settings are off or on pass thru since my display does a better job anyways (assuming they create more heat when in use).
 
WaynePflughaupt

WaynePflughaupt

Audioholic Samurai

Is the receiver in an enclosed cabinet? If so then there’s only so much you’ll get with adequate clearance above the receiver.

If the cabinet is open, you might try something like the AC Infinity Aircom S6, S7, T8 or T9 units. Same brand that afterlife linked, but they sit on top of the receiver and look like a regular system component. They have models that exhaust out the top, or out the rear.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 
William Cladley

William Cladley

Audiophyte
The difference between 4" of clearance and 5" doesn't seem like much, but it can be enough to cause problems when the amp is run hard for long periods of time or if the ambient temperature is high.
Fair point. I am not sure that I have room to place the PC fans and have them really achieve any significant cooling, as they would be pretty close to the shelf above the unit. I think I'll be stuck running the vornado floor fan next to the rack on the lowest setting. This basically removes almost all of the heat and tested only 4db above ambient noise from the main seating position, so I can live with it for now.
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Fair point. I am not sure that I have room to place the PC fans and have them really achieve any significant cooling, as they would be pretty close to the shelf above the unit.
I have less than 3" headroom and those small usb fans (3 inches) still work effectively so you are not stuck with the floor fan option. I agree with highfigh, that if you end up using usb fans it will be better to use a separate power supply instead of the AVR's usb ports.
 
newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top