Suspending Power Amp??

[Hk Chuck]

Was talking with a home theater salesman today who suggested that some instals he has been associated with involved suspending the power amps from the ceiling of the floor below the home theater. Has anyone hear done such a technique? Did you use a home built one or is there something available from an amp supplier?

 

[highfigh]

Was talking with a home theater salesman today who suggested that some instals he has been associated with involved suspending the power amps from the ceiling of the floor below the home theater. Has anyone hear done such a technique? Did you use a home built one or is there something available from an amp supplier?

Is this in some kind of rack or supposed to be a way to keep it free from vibrations? If it's the latter, it's a bunch of BS. If it's in some kind of rack, how is it staying cool?

I don't know of any amp makers that sell anything like this but Middle Atlantic, Fat Cat and other rack makers sell whole racks and rack parts that would allow this to happen. If you know a cabinetmaker, they can make a case that hangs from the joists, with a set of rack rails for mounting the equipment. As long as the amp has rack ears or you buy a special shelf for each piece, these would screw into the rails.

How is the basement finished? That will determine how and if it's practical to do this.

 

[audiofox]

Keeping the power amps physically isolated makes sense from a thermal standpoint, since they are usually the biggest source of heat in the system. Unfortunately, the amp is usually on the bottom of a typical equipment rack, which is the worst possible location from a thermal perspective but is usually necessary due to the weight of the amplifier. Hanging the amps from the ceiling below the HT would certainly isolate the amp thermally from the rest of the equipment (and would be a lot of labor cost as well!), but I suspect that the salesman was asserting other advantage, especially if it was part of a spiel to sell you expensive cables or other such "enhancements".