Recommendation for component cooling.

[Gilbert Lopez]

Hey all, I'm looking for any ideas or recommendations for cooling down my amps. All my components sit in an AV cabinet made by salamander that has 3 doors with metal grills that you can see through and allow for air flow. My system consists of a Yamaha CX- A5100 , OPPO BDP-205, Parasound A51, Parasound A31 and a Panamax M5400. I've been giving my system quite a beating lately regarding listening to louder levels than usual movies and music. I don't always listen that way but when I do, i don't want to worry about over heating my components and lately I've been noticing a lot of heat coming from my amps especially my A51. I know one of the solutions is to just turn it down some but sometimes you just want to cut up and crank it! Any ideas or solutions would be much appreciated.

 

[ryanosaur]

Ive been a fan of AC Infinity! Pun intended.
For my AVR I use an Aircom T10 ((?) front venting unit with digital display and additional ports for controlling extra fans). They also sell smaller units and fans only... wide range of gear. And I think the T8 model is rear venting which is ideal if the back of your cabinet is open.
Depending on your cabinet, you can also just rig up your own series of ultra--quiet PC cooling fans.

Also important is most of the manufacturers recommend 6-8" around all sides and top for proper ventilation.

 

[Trell]

I'm using a Noctua fan controller that I've attached two 80 mm 5V PWM fans that is powered by my Oppo player. The Noctua 5V PWM fans vary in size from small 40 mm to large 200 mm. The fans also comes with extra extenders and splitters that is handy.

Noctua items are available on Amazon and other places.

Noctua NA-FC1 fan controller
Noctua fans

 

[brettski]

Agree with just adding some fans to the back of the case.

You'll also need an AC to DC Molex adapter to power them.

I have a similar setup for a PC that I keep in a cabinet and it works great!

 

[Verdinut]

The Noctua brand is a good product and is available from Amazon and eBay.

I have been using AC Infinity fans on top of my Marantz AVR and have been satisfied. Amazon has a good assortment of their products at very decent prices. Their Airplate Series feature a complete system designed for cooling cabinets.

 

[GrimSurfer]

Hey all, I'm looking for any ideas or recommendations for cooling down my amps. All my components sit in an AV cabinet made by salamander that has 3 doors with metal grills that you can see through and allow for air flow. My system consists of a Yamaha CX- A5100 , OPPO BDP-205, Parasound A51, Parasound A31 and a Panamax M5400. I've been giving my system quite a beating lately regarding listening to louder levels than usual movies and music. I don't always listen that way but when I do, i don't want to worry about over heating my components and lately I've been noticing a lot of heat coming from my amps especially my A51. I know one of the solutions is to just turn it down some but sometimes you just want to cut up and crank it! Any ideas or solutions would be much appreciated.

Your A31 and A51 are examples of very high quality three and five channel amps. Are you running them together (ie. at the same time) or using one for music and the other for movies?

 

[Trell]

Agree with just adding some fans to the back of the case.

You'll also need an AC to DC Molex adapter to power them.

I have a similar setup for a PC that I keep in a cabinet and it works great!

A 5V USB power source is more convenient for cooling AV than 12V used to power PC fan cases, and this is where Noctua has a great product with their fan controller and 5V PWM fans that can be powered by an USB output from a receiver or a player.

The downside of the Noctua 5V PWM fans are their color in case you see them.

 

[Gilbert Lopez]

Your A31 and A51 are examples of very high quality three and five channel amps. Are you running them together (ie. at the same time) or using one for music and the other for movies?

I'm running them together to bi amp my fronts and center. I know it doesnt seem logical to bi amp my center but its a monster center channel ( Paradigm Sig C5 ) with two sets of binding posts.

 

[Gilbert Lopez]

Ive been a fan of AC Infinity! Pun intended.
For my AVR I use an Aircom T10 ((?) front venting unit with digital display and additional ports for controlling extra fans). They also sell smaller units and fans only... wide range of gear. And I think the T8 model is rear venting which is ideal if the back of your cabinet is open.
Depending on your cabinet, you can also just rig up your own series of ultra--quiet PC cooling fans.

Also important is most of the manufacturers recommend 6-8" around all sides and top for proper ventilation.

Just did a little research on AC Infinity. Looks like the Aircom models sit right on top of your components! That might be what I'm looking for. The T8 seems it could work for me because it vents from the rear and I have an open back on my AV cabinet. Thanks for your input!

 

[Gilbert Lopez]

You might want to avoid bi-amping... either of your amps have very good stereo separation and more than enough power to do their respective jobs on their own.

It sounds like the cabinet is really the problem though. A fan might help but powering it will add heat and dust too, however incremental this may be. Either way, you need to adjust your cabinets for better air flow.

I have 4 to 5 inches between all my components and an open back on my AV cabinet. Non of my other components seem to be getting hot so maybe its the bi amping that's causing the extra heat from the amps. I'm running 5.2 but my original plan was to run 7.2 when I bought the second amp ( A31 ) but never got around to it because of room demographics so I decided to bi amp to utilize the extra amp channels.

 

[brettski]

A 5V USB power source is more convenient for cooling AV than 12V used to power PC fan cases, and this is where Noctua has a great product with their fan controller and 5V PWM fans that can be powered by an USB output from a receiver or a player.

The downside of the Noctua 5V PWM fans are their color in case you see them.

Definitely more convenient! When I tried, I wasn't getting sufficient power for two fans, thus the adapter. If the USB port has sufficient amperage, that's definitely the way to go though!

 

[Trell]

Definitely more convenient! When I tried, I wasn't getting sufficient power for two fans, thus the adapter. If the USB port has sufficient amperage, that's definitely the way to go though!

Yeah, absolutely! The USB power output from my Oppo player is 0.5A and that is more than sufficient to power my two fans, in particular as I have reduced RPM to have a very low noise. Noctua fans in general is quite power efficient, and I can't see them on top of my receiver, so they work very well for me.

 

[Montucky]

Since you have Salamander, talk to your local dealer and they can hook you up with the active cooling accessories they have that's made to fit:
https://www.salamanderdesigns.com/chameleon-active-cooling/

It's good stuff. That said, I've always been super happy with the AC Infinity products I've used as well. Glad you have a good brand of cabinet either way, as it's thankfully made with A/V and proper cooling in mind. Should be very easy to address.

 

[Gilbert Lopez]

Since you have Salamander, talk to your local dealer and they can hook you up with the active cooling accessories they have that's made to fit:
https://www.salamanderdesigns.com/chameleon-active-cooling/

It's good stuff. That said, I've always been super happy with the AC Infinity products I've used as well. Glad you have a good brand of cabinet either way, as it's thankfully made with A/V and proper cooling in mind. Should be very easy to address.

Wow, was just about to pull the trigger on the Infinity Aircom T8. Great point! Completely forgot about Salamander. I bought the cabinet several years ago and now that you bought this to my attention, I remember that the Salamanders can be made custom and have plenty of lighting that can be installed along with many other accessories.

 

[Gilbert Lopez]

Mucho's Gracias to all for all the ideas regarding my component cooling issue. After much time and research, I decided to go with the Infinity T8's. I bought 2 of them from Amazon for $109.00 each and just got them today. Set up and install was very easy. Heat measurements before the T8's got up to 109. Set the T8's on smart mode at 85 degrees and the alarm at 90 with the max fan setting to 3. The fans are very quiet even at the 3 setting. Love the led display even at highest setting.They look really great sitting on top of my Parasound amps which sit behind black mesh doors in a Salamander AV cabinet. I know the led won't turn off once when I turn off all my components, but I've always enjoyed looking at all my led's especially in the evening. Popped in some John Wick 2 on the OPPO 205 at some pretty high dbs followed by some live Joe Satriani on Tidal to warm things up. So far the amps are holding steady at 83. At the moment, I think the T8s are worth every penny!

 

[mx416]

I have had the infinity t8 for over a year now. It works great on my X4300H. The controls are great because you can limit the fan speed. I keep my fan speed limited to second knotch and have never heard it. Solid buy!

 

[Gilbert Lopez]

I have had the infinity t8 for over a year now. It works great on my X4300H. The controls are great because you can limit the fan speed. I keep my fan speed limited to second knotch and have never heard it. Solid buy!

I have had the infinity t8 for over a year now. It works great on my X4300H. The controls are great because you can limit the fan speed. I keep my fan speed limited to second knotch and have never heard it. Solid buy!

Yea I really like them so far. Ran my system all day yesterday from TV, to music and movies. The temperature never got above 86 degrees. I did play with the fan speed and increased to the 4 and 5 settings and it does get much louder however, because I have a large living room I have a tendency to turn up the volume especially when I'm watching sporting events so I really don't hear it. I think the fan setting at 3 seems to be doing the job, putting the fans at 4-6 didn't cool the amps any more than the 3 setting so I just left it at that. Got two more on the way for my OPPO's!

 

[Montucky]

At the moment, I think the T8s are worth every penny!

Nice! I've had nothing but great experiences with the brand. Good call on addressing your thermals!