Current receiver overheating, do I need an amp?

[highfigh]

Thanks for the reply, the issue is with the volume controls in the regular position. I did mess with them a bit, but it didn't help. I ended up returning the amp and am awaiting a replacement. If it has issues as well, then I will go with another brand. I did look at the MA-1240a but I preferred the fanless design of the MA-1260. Hopefully I just got a lemon and the second one will be better.

I would worry less about the fan and more about whether the amp can cool itself when run hard. Heat is what kills things.

 

[Rainman127]

Beware of trying to integrate sonos with your wired system. Sonos implements a signal delay and it is impossible/spotty to get the audio in sync even when your receiver is in 'Pure Direct' mode (I have a
RX-A2030). In my experience it doesn't matter if you generate the audio signal from sonos or from the receiver.

Thankfully I only purchased one sonos speaker to play around with and ended up putting it in my basement where it is my pool table speaker and can do no damage.

If you intend on integrating sonos to get a party mode/whole house effect that includes your wired system you may find yourself disappointed and out of sync. The frustrating thing is that previous versions of the sonos software allowed for tuning the delay of individual speakers. This feature was removed from the software many years ago without explanation. Per my current knowledge it is still not available despite many requests.

Well, that's a bummer. I have a buddy with one, so perhaps I can borrow his to test it out first. I wanted to eventually have a Sonos running to each zone's input, but it would obviously need to work for me to do that. Ah, you're talking about the wireless speakers, right? I'm referring to the Sonos Connect. I want to run a Connect to each zone's input, and then name each Sonos to that of the zone it represents. That way, anyone in the house can use the Sonos app and choose which zone they want to listen to and control the audio. We could have six different zones going with six different songs that way. I would never need all six, so will probably only get four at most. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Rainman127]

I would worry less about the fan and more about whether the amp can cool itself when run hard. Heat is what kills things.

The 1240a that I looked at was very noisy and this amp will be housed in the living room. It would make sense to get one of those if it were in a utility closet or somewhere away from where we are watching TV. The 1260 is a class D design and is suppose to run very cool without any fans, though the one I had seemed to get fairly warm when in use. I really couldn't tell much of a difference with my speaker output with the 1260 over the 1240a, I could have gone with either. We would never crank it because it gets deafeningly loud with barely any juice.

One thing I'd like to add is the wall controls are odd. They seem to only adjust the volume on the first 3-4 clicks (of the 10 clicks to max), and nothing beyond those 3-4 clicks will make the sound any louder. They're probably just cheap crap and I need to replace them with some quality controls.

 

[highfigh]

The 1240a that I looked at was very noisy and this amp will be housed in the living room. It would make sense to get one of those if it were in a utility closet or somewhere away from where we are watching TV. The 1260 is a class D design and is suppose to run very cool without any fans, though the one I had seemed to get fairly warm when in use. I really couldn't tell much of a difference with my speaker output with the 1260 over the 1240a, I could have gone with either. We would never crank it because it gets deafeningly loud with barely any juice.

One thing I'd like to add is the wall controls are odd. They seem to only adjust the volume on the first 3-4 clicks (of the 10 clicks to max), and nothing beyond those 3-4 clicks will make the sound any louder. They're probably just cheap crap and I need to replace them with some quality controls.

Remove a couple of the volume controls and look at the brand/part number, then look at the connectors- it should show 'Amp' near one set of wires and 'Speaker' near the other. If these are switched, the amplifier will not like what it sees and the control won't operate correctly.

 

[Rainman127]

Remove a couple of the volume controls and look at the brand/part number, then look at the connectors- it should show 'Amp' near one set of wires and 'Speaker' near the other. If these are switched, the amplifier will not like what it sees and the control won't operate correctly.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004TLAGQY

It's hooked up properly, but probably junk. I've been looking at some transformerless units from Knoll to replace these with.

 

[Jeffrey S. Albaugh]

I eel bad when I see someone throwing good money after bad. Here is one fact for you: You said that you hardwired about 6 -8 pairs of speakers to the speaker terminals on your A/V Receiver. That is a deadly & costly mistake. I would be willing to bet you that this speaker load was below 2 ohms. That could easily destroy your A/V Receiver and/ or your speakers. When you raise the volume with that senerio, you start blowing equipment up. That cheap switcher you used made it even worse. I use & buy Niles switchers, selectors. They are much more robust, and they give you real impedance matching. Don't buy that cheap crap. It will come back to haunt you. Everything Niles sells, including speakers are really great. Had you brought in a Pro to begin with, you would not have destroyed all of this equipment. I use a true impedance meter to know for sure.

 

[Rainman127]

I eel bad when I see someone throwing good money after bad. Here is one fact for you: You said that you hardwired about 6 -8 pairs of speakers to the speaker terminals on your A/V Receiver. That is a deadly & costly mistake. I would be willing to bet you that this speaker load was below 2 ohms. That could easily destroy your A/V Receiver and/ or your speakers. When you raise the volume with that senerio, you start blowing equipment up. That cheap switcher you used made it even worse. I use & buy Niles switchers, selectors. They are much more robust, and they give you real impedance matching. Don't buy that cheap crap. It will come back to haunt you. Everything Niles sells, including speakers are really great. Had you brought in a Pro to begin with, you would not have destroyed all of this equipment. I use a true impedance meter to know for sure.

The only thing destroyed was an old HTIB, which was beyond needing replacement. Even though I had all of those speakers attached, I never ran more than two zones at once, so I never got near 2ohms. At any rate, it appears to be all good at this point. Thanks for chiming in.

 

[Jeffrey S. Albaugh]

The only thing destroyed was an old HTIB, which was beyond needing replacement. Even though I had all of those speakers attached, I never ran more than two zones at once, so I never got near 2ohms. At any rate, it appears to be all good at this point. Thanks for chiming in.

\It's not whether they are all turned on or not. As long as they are connected, it will drag the impedance down lower.