Heat
No, not the movie...
Just a note for those who are considering buying this one and have paid attention to Gene's comments in his article.
I have mine on the bottom shelf of a BDI Icon 9428, with about 1 inch of clearance below a glass shelf. I've run mine pretty hard the last few days, but the top has never gotten hot enough where it would be uncomfortable to leave my hand on it. It does heat up the 1/2 inch tempered glass shelf above it though (I can feel it when I place my hand on the top of the shelf).
Yamaha has commented that they had to put that "Caution" sticker on the top of the unit because it can reach 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) in a 25 degree C (77 degrees F) room.
In addition, if you use the HDMI Standby Through feature, the Z7 generates a palpable amount of heat (still warms up the shelf above) even when in standby (and draws about 0.7 - 0.8 amps more than regular standby).
My suggestions are when planning placement before buying:
1. Make sure you can leave the left side of the unit unblocked (this is where the cold air intake is--there is no fan).
2. Don't plan on putting anything above the Z7 that has it's cold air intake on the bottom -- like an Oppo BDP-83 in my case.
3. Get as much clearance above the Z7 as you can or use some method of active cooling.
4. You
might want to avoid having a glass shelf above the unit--not sure if the constant heating makes the tempered glass more prone to failure. (I'll pose this question to a materials engineer later today)
Just my two cents.
