Does actively cooling a Class A amp negatively or positively affect the sound?

[joeinid]

Wow, surprisingly inexpensive!

I know that my Audio Mirrors sound a lot better after 30-45 minutes. I do believe most of that is stabilizing the tubes. After that warm up time I do not notice a difference. I can not imagine a little cooling being an issue after they have warmed and the tubes stabilized. The heat sinks get toastier than the tubes .

Randy,

It does a great job but is not totally silent. Even at the lowest setting, there's a little noise but it's not a problem. I would love a variable speed fan and control it myself but I will rig up my own thing just keep air flowing at a quiet pace.

 

[Randy Myers]

Next time the Valvet is in the system, I’ll take a reading. Typically my other amps reach 120-130 F. I have not measured the SIT3 but right where the output devices are in the middle of each heat sink, it damn hot.

I remember when I had the F6 and it got dang hot also. If I am recalling correctly I think the heat sinks on the First Watt and the Audio Mirror were probably about the same. Hot, but not to a point where my hand would instantly get burnt ...

 

[Randy Myers]

Randy,

It does a great job but is not totally silent. Even at the lowest setting, there's a little noise but it's not a problem. I would love a variable speed fan and control it myself but I will rig up my own thing just keep air flowing at a quiet pace.

The little T+A amp has a small fan on the bottom that is controlled by an on-board micro processor. I think they do this because the case is so small that the thick Aluminum top and bottom may not be able to keep it cool under every circumstance. I have never once heard it running when I have been using the amplifier. They claim it is so quite that you will never hear it.

 

[Audiophobiac]

Wow, surprisingly inexpensive!

.

Yes surprising indeed! I'm running a long discontinued Parasound Zbreeze that is just now barely starting to get noisy on the lowest setting, Probably at least 3 or 4 months before it gets really annoying, but ACinfinity units are nice for the money provided they are quieter than the Zbreeze. I may just go ahead and pull the trigger on one to replace the Zbreeze. I like the T units with the read out and all, but $110 is a bit much,...still though....? The $49 ones are probably more than fine, but I do like the display...gonna have to think on this one.

 

[nile49]

Good topic Joe. I had a fan ventilate my Luxman Class A integrated amp when I had it and didn’t notice any drop off in sonics compared to without. That said it didn’t move a ton of air and probably didn’t keep it dramatically cooler.

Warren


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[joeinid]

Thank you Warren.

The acinfinity cooling fans really do cool the gear down, almost too much

In the winter now, I love the extra heat in my room. Come the summer, I'll be in trouble, maybe need the air conditioning on a little earlier. Ugh!

 

[Alrainbow]

I’ve been wondering about this for a while.

I have a couple of smaller solid state Class A running amps that I’m using for my Duo XD speakers.

Depending on the amp and where the output devices are located, I’ll run a little fan on top drawing hot air out or underneath cooling the bottom.

Do Class A amps need to run hot to sound their best? Does cooling the amp off a little affect the sound for better or worse? Does cooling the amp a little help make it sound better?

I’m curious what everyone thinks about this and if you know if any testing has been done.

To answer your questions
a class amp technically gets cool while being used as it's bias gets to move away from
class power draw. But how much the amp is in class and the load of the amp in imp ,and loudness shown in speaker eff matters
my amps don't run hot to the touch but it's due to design. They do heat up my room
the amps do need to be warm as this allows for bias to sound best.
If I turn on my amps cold it's bad yet they are biased right.
I keep a silent fan on top of each tower not for output devices but the regulation devices on top.
Heat may be part of great sound but it's not good for any parts in the amp.
Worse is caps inside.