Marantz (and Denon) Eco Mode

[PENG]

Great!!

Great for him if he's using very little power. The room, speaker sensitivity, seating distance has great influence on how much power you need. The fact is, with ECO on, the receiver will lower the rail voltage to limit output power/current.

 

[fast fred]

Great for him if he's using very little power. The room, speaker sensitivity, seating distance has great influence on how much power you need. The fact is, with ECO on, the receiver will lower the rail voltage to limit output power/current.

I have a small room therefore speakers are close. Probably Eco is great for me.

 

[VonMagnum]

Great for him if he's using very little power. The room, speaker sensitivity, seating distance has great influence on how much power you need. The fact is, with ECO on, the receiver will lower the rail voltage to limit output power/current.

12'x24' room. Speakers average 92-93dB sensitivity. I have no trouble hitting Dolby levels with Eco on. Two AVRs for power plus two external amps with 17 speakers and a separate self-powered sub.

ECO "Auto" sounds like a nice alternative if you're not sure you need the extra power, but the reality is it doesn't run much cooler than OFF in practice.

 

[PENG]

12'x24' room. Speakers average 92-93dB sensitivity. I have no trouble hitting Dolby levels with Eco on. Two AVRs for power plus two external amps with 17 speakers and a separate self-powered sub.

ECO "Auto" sounds like a nice alternative if you're not sure you need the extra power, but the reality is it doesn't run much cooler than OFF in practice.

Did you use an online calculator to estimate the power you are using for the spl you need?

The fact is with ECO on, you may get 30 to 60 W max, into 8 ohms, just my educated guess as I am feeling too lazy to try and figure it out.

In my HT room, I probably average less a couple watts average with peaks to may be a 100 W for split seconds. So if you don't listen at ref level and sit say 10-11 ft from the front speakers, and XO set to 80 Hz, then yes you should be able to have eco full time without losing Dynamics.

 

[fast fred]

12'x24' room. Speakers average 92-93dB sensitivity. I have no trouble hitting Dolby levels with Eco on. Two AVRs for power plus two external amps with 17 speakers and a separate self-powered sub.

ECO "Auto" sounds like a nice alternative if you're not sure you need the extra power, but the reality is it doesn't run much cooler than OFF in practice.

So to get the heat reduction benefit it should be ON and not Auto??

 

[VonMagnum]

Did you use an online calculator to estimate the power you are using for the spl you need?

I'm an Electronic Engineer (well my two degrees say so at least). I don't need no stinking online calculator.

It's fairly simple. 93dB/1W/1M = 16W maximum for 105dB continuous (at only one meter so you have to extrapolate for losses to your given listening location). But then it's not supposed to be 105dB continuous either. That's peak. At 8 feet from the front speakers, it's probably no more than 20W each for peaks at 105dB for the 5.1.4 relative speakers. The side heights get 60W each (no sharing as they have their own amp). I think my surround #2 speakers get 40W each (no sharing as it's a separate amp). The rest of the speakers are split between two AVRs (the 7012 and my old Yamaha using 7.1 external inputs with 7 on the 7012 and 6 on the Yamaha) so they probably average around half the max rated load they'd normally see. I'm going to guesstimate they get at least 50W each continuous power with peaks over 100W. So even with ECO robbing the system of like 20% of the 7012 power at all times, it's never going to stress the system. The Yamaha is not running in any kind of ECO mode (it never really gets hot as-is).

The fact is with ECO on, you may get 30 to 60 W max, into 8 ohms, just my educated guess as I am feeling too lazy to try and figure it out.

Probably somewhere around there, but I'm using only 6 of 9 on the 7012 and 6 of 7 on the Yamaha. I've never run out of power in ECO.

 

[VonMagnum]

So to get the heat reduction benefit it should be ON and not Auto??

You probably get "some" reduction in Auto, but it's night and day cooler in ON mode.

 

[Trell]

So to get the heat reduction benefit it should be ON and not Auto??

Depends. With ECO auto for my 2015 year model Denon receiver it will run cooler if volume level is below -30, and much of my listening is at that level. If I know I will listen to something with large dynamics (or quiet parts) I will just turn the volume louder than -30 or just turn ECO off from my Harmony remote.

 

[PENG]

I'm an Electronic Engineer (well my two degrees say so at least). I don't need no stinking online calculator.

It's fairly simple. 93dB/1W/1M = 16W maximum for 105dB continuous (at only one meter so you have to extrapolate for losses to your given listening location). But then it's not supposed to be 105dB continuous either. That's peak. At 8 feet from the front speakers, it's probably no more than 20W each for peaks at 105dB for the 5.1.4 relative speakers. The side heights get 60W each (no sharing as they have their own amp). I think my surround #2 speakers get 40W each (no sharing as it's a separate amp). The rest of the speakers are split between two AVRs (the 7012 and my old Yamaha using 7.1 external inputs with 7 on the 7012 and 6 on the Yamaha) so they probably average around half the max rated load they'd normally see. I'm going to guesstimate they get at least 50W each continuous power with peaks over 100W. So even with ECO robbing the system of like 20% of the 7012 power at all times, it's never going to stress the system. The Yamaha is not running in any kind of ECO mode (it never really gets hot as-is).



Probably somewhere around there, but I'm using only 6 of 9 on the 7012 and 6 of 7 on the Yamaha. I've never run out of power in ECO.

Of course if you are a EE and have the knowledge then you don't need a calculator, but we typically recommend the use of one just in case. Sorry if I offended you..

The good calculators allow one to account for sensitivities given in xdB/2.83V/1m, an assumed room gain based on placement and distance. You can of course figure that all out yourself but It may be quicker to just enter a few data and press the Cal button. I have developed a spreadsheet for more accurate calculations and flexibility too, but most of the time I found that the online calculator is usually the quickest way to get a good idea of how much power one needs based on speaker sensitivity, impedance (if given in 2.83v/m instead of 1w/m), distance, and placement. Regarding the number of speakers, I normally just base on one, because once upon the time, someone corrected me that the THX ref of 85 dB average 105 peak was for each speaker. That's just my choice, everyone can enter whatever number they prefer.

 

[PENG]

So to get the heat reduction benefit it should be ON and not Auto??

The issue is that it is triggered by the volume position only, not temperature or current. So if say you normally have the volume at -28 (just an example), eco may never be "on" if set to auto, regardless of how loud and/or how hard the amp is working if you always have the vol higher than -28.

You can find out at what vol position ECO gets turned on. Then you can decide if "auto" would work for you.

 

[fast fred]

So here's a kicker!

I used ECO ON all night and the temp shot up to 100 degrees according to my AC Infinity unit thermometer

So in my case I dont think Eco mode is doing much at all.

Funny thing is though, when I feel the AVR, it is warm but NOT hot, so perhaps the AC Infinity is not accurately portraying the internal temps of the AVR??

I have the Infinity alarm set to 105 and smart mode on so maybe the fans did what was needed to keep the Marantz cool enough.

Anyway, I thought I would share this tidbit.

 

[PENG]

So here's a kicker!

I used ECO ON all night and the temp shot up to 100 degrees according to my AC Infinity unit thermometer

So in my case I dont think Eco mode is doing much at all.

Funny thing is though, when I feel the AVR, it is warm but NOT hot, so perhaps the AC Infinity is not accurately portraying the internal temps of the AVR??

I have the Infinity alarm set to 105 and smart mode on so maybe the fans did what was needed to keep the Marantz cool enough.

Anyway, I thought I would share this tidbit.

100 deg F on top of the case is not that warm at all.

 

[VonMagnum]

Yeah, your body temperature is almost 99 degrees and anything less tends to feel "cool" to touch. 100F isn't hot. It's luke warm. My case feels more like 115 with ECO off.

 

[fast fred]

oh wow - cool! (no pun intended)

I thought I was on the high Side in terms of heat!

I guess I am ok then,

**can you say whats the MAX temp for the Marantz 4K units in terms of temp before I need to scratch my head and hit it with a deep freeze??


Also when should I let AC Infinity Fan kick in? @ 115??

 

[ryanosaur]

oh wow - cool! (no pun intended)

I thought I was on the high Side in terms of heat!

I guess I am ok then,

**can you say whats the MAX temp for the Marantz 4K units in terms of temp before I need to scratch my head and hit it with a deep freeze??


Also when should I let AC Infinity Fan kick in? @ 115??

I’d fire the fan up at 80° myself and try to keep the temp down lower. I keep mine on smart , too, but in my room it almost doesn’t need it as I have good ventilation for the Marantz. That cubby of yours it brutal!

 

[fast fred]

I’d fire the fan up at 80° myself and try to keep the temp down lower. I keep mine on smart , too, but in my room it almost doesn’t need it as I have good ventilation for the Marantz. That cubby of yours it brutal!

I have since Drilled 10 4" size holes along the top and sizes of the cubby, I feel it has helped with better air flow - I may need to add vents on the front cabinets also (a loftier goal) of course.