I have one fav blowing across the back of the amp since I find that the right-back gets the warmest and I have it on 24/7... The fan is very low noise and very little power consumption so turning it on and off is not worth it to me
How hot does the Ayre EX-8 2.0 Integrated Amplifier get?
I am considering the Ayre EX-8 2.0 integrated amplifier and am concerned how hot the amplifier gets. The amplifier will be placed in my Salamander Designs Wooden Cabinet (66"long, amp in middle cabinet), so heat is a concern. The cabinet front doors will be closed, and the back is completely open (all panels removed). I know the new 2.0 upgrade added new vents to remove the heat, but I am unclear how hot the unit gets.
There are no channel markings on the back of the amp for the left and right speaker connections and balanced inputs. As you FACE the unit, is the left side for the left channel connections and the right side for the right channel connections?
I called my retailer today for answers but they are closed on Mondays so I will call them on Tuesday. To be honest, I prefer some real-world experience for how hot the unit gets. I read a review who suggested Ayre’s Myrtle blocks to help cool the bottom of the amplifier. Any other comments would be appreciated. Thanks.
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My Ayre Ex-8 2.0 integrated amp is installed and has been breaking in for several weeks. Yes, the amp gets warm, maybe hot, but it is not an issue. My amp is sitting on Ayre Myrtle wooden blocks that raise it up. This helps cool the bottom of the amp that gets very hot. My Salamander cabinet has plenty of ventilation so I have no issues. I just started some serious listening to my Ayre amp. As you know, describing how something sounds is nearly impossible. But to my ears, the music now sounds more natural, without any added “air” or artificial enhancements. There’s a noticeable increase in detail and emotional depth, and it also seems like the noise floor has dropped significantly. I am listening to my albums and the music sounds alive. I am very happy with my Ayre amp. My Infigo Audio IS-1 streamer, running Audirvana, connects to my Bricasti M21 DAC that connects to the Ayre amp that connects to my PMC Twenty5.21 speakers.
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@deone Thanks. Where did you place the AC Infinity Multifan S4 fan in relationship to your amp (behind it, where exactly, middle?). You are using one fan and not 2 fans, correct? Do I need to keep the fan on 24/7 or just when my amp is on? if I want to use the fan only when the amp is on, I would need to turn it on and off manually, correct? |
@hgeifman any update on the Ayre sound wise? |
My retailer confirms the sleep/low power mode (push left button on front of the amp) is an option when not listening. In addition, in the Ayre manual (one of the many settings), there is a setting that, when enabled, places the amp in a low power mode after 30-minutes of no input (manual page 24). The enable option automatically disables the audio circuitry when a selected input remains inactive after 30-minutes. As soon as the input becomes active again. the audio circuitry is automatically re-enabled. My Ayre EX-8 2.0 amp is still breaking in so I cannot judge its sounds quality. The Ayre manual says 100 to 500 hours are required for the amp to break-in. I hope this helps...... |
I just received my Ayre EX-8 2.0 amp and it is breaking in. I changed my amp settings so the amp will go into sleep mode after 30 minutes. It does not work. I powered down my amp for 30 minutes and restarted it. After 30 minutes, my amp did not go into sleep mode as per their manual. Am I missing a setting or something? Obviously, I will contact my retailer on Tuesday. Any thoughts? |
Yes, you can leave an Ayre amp powered all the time. It doesn't hurt anything other than your wallet when the power bill arrives. Sleep mode saves power without powering completely off. I put my AX-5 in sleep mode most nights and I unplug it if I'm gone from the house more than about a week (my previous house was hit by lightning and I lost several components of my then mid-fi system). I've read accounts of Ayre not sounding its best unless warmed up for many hours. That's not my experience but I rarely go from sleep mode to a full scale listening session, and pretty much never from completely off to critical listening. If I'm home and awake, my system is playing music so it's pretty much warm when I'm ready to sit down and bliss out. |
Why doesn't it have one, I wonder?Charles Hansen used to write on these forums: “Performance, features, price. Pick any two.” The AX-5, IMO, gives you nearly all the sound of SOTA separates but at a relatively affordable price point. I think most AX-5 owners use the amp only to drive speakers. In my setup, for example, I have neither the space or desire to listen with headphones. I have a Pono player for that. |
I auditioned the Ayre EX-8 2.0 integrated amplifier this morning. The retailer left the amp on all night and the top was warm and not hot. There are 2 large vents on the top for cooling. I was very impressed with its sound quality meaning it was like my previous Ayre AX-7e amp but even better (lots). |
My Ayre retailer reports the additional vents on the Ayre EX-8 2.0 provide the heat to escape out of the top of the chassis and should work fine in my Salamander SYNERGY Model 237 cabinet. He suggests 6” of clearance above the amp and 5” clearance on each side. All back cabinet panels have been removed. My retailer said their demo Ayre EX-8 2.0 amp runs cooler as result of the additional vents. I hope to audition the amp on Friday. The list price for the 2.0 version is $6,450. The unit includes 3 Ayre Myrtle wooden blocks to be placed under the amp. This should help cool the bottom of the amp. My retailer also said that if a cooling fan was required, it could be placed behind the amp attached to the brackets on the cabinet. He doubts a fan will be required. |
My EX-8 is also in a cabinet with the back completely shut and the door with wood slats (so ~50% open). I use the Myrtle blocks. Before the v 2.0 update, the back part of the amp would get up to 107F (this was a strip at the back bottom); the rest much less warm. So I added a USB fan (~$10 from amazon) and that basically took care of that. With the 2.0 update, I experimented with turning off the fan and after ~2-3 hours of listening, the hottest part of the amp was about 101F. With the fan it is cooler. Thus the vents have definitely helped but since the fan basically makes no noise that I can hear (once I'm more than a couple of feet away from it) I've left that going. As far as which channel is which, every amp I've ever used works the way you describe: as you face the amp, the left side is for the left speaker and the right side is for the right speaker. |