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Parasound A51 - Different Temp Heatsinks?

Hello All,

I wanted to post this as I'm unfamiliar with what I'm experiencing and unsure if it'll be a problem down the road. I picked up a Parasound A51 amp and using the RCA connections with a Pioneer Elite as a preamp. The amp is running KEF XQ5's for front, KEF XQ2C for center, and KEF KHT9000ACE for rears. The amp is placed on my hardwood floor and not in my entertainment center as the space needed for airflow is not optimal for this piece of gear.

I've noticed that at normal listening volume, the back heat sink gets warm and can get hot to the touch after hours of playback. The heat sinks on the left get hot as well, while the heat sinks on the right remain warm. The unit itself is hot on the top-back and is cool moving towards the top-front. I've swapped speaker connections to see if the heat sinks change in temp but they do not.

Should I be concerned about the heat? I've had sessions of 6-8 hours + with no clipping or any affect to playback (sounds good actually). I'm wondering if this is typical of amps of this caliber.

Thanks
papagura

Showing 1 response by dhl93449

dhl93449
455 posts
 
If you have different heat sink temps left to right, your bias currents may be mis-adjusted. A high bias current can make the heat sinks warmer. The A51 may have bias adjustment pots to alter the bias currents.

I would have a good shop or Parasound check the bias current levels. This can be done by measuring the DC voltage across the emmitter resistors on the output power transistors.
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