I never understood this problem. If a room is hot enough to be uncomfortable I guess a tube amp could be a focus of your misery. I own 8 output tube amps in two systems running class A and if you a close they are very hot. It seems as though you need better overall temperature regulation for your room. I have been fortunate to have very quiet central air and a sub grade cool basement. |
buy a decent SS amp for summer, keep the tube amp for rest of the year.
w/o tube, you will never be happy. if you are never happy, why bother to have any stereo at all? |
I had the same issues.Pretty simple, sell the tube amp and go with a nice SS amp.You will also save $$ not having to buy those expensive tubes |
This is part of the reason I went with tube preamps and Ice amps. |
I used to pack my tube amps during summer and unpack them when things got colder now I use only SS amp. |
I dealt with it by going SS. |
You would probably be better off with that 'lap top cooler' under you instead of the amp !
Butt seriously...about the only answer is to get a small window A/C unit for that room .
Good luck . |
A very practial solution would be to put a laptop cooler under the unit. There are cheap usb wall wart adapters, say $5, that will power the coolers, so you don't actual need a laptop. |
I have a box on the other side of the wall that has the amps in it. It allows very short speaker cables to the speakers, and keeps the heat of the amps outside of the room.
I have a customer in Guatemala City who runs our biggest amp (42 power tubes per channel) day in and day out, without the need for air conditioning. He had some inexpensive ductwork added into the ceiling, that opens above the amps, which are on all day and all night. The hot air is ducted out of the room, there is a fan at the other end of the ducts that forces the air out. The room stays comfortable, even when its not so cool outside. He says it did not cost that much to do- and the system is very quiet.
Good sounding electronics are going to make heat. If you design your system around minimal heat production, the sound quality is obviously taking a back seat, and it will show. So I recommend simple approaches like the ones I mentioned above as they are low tech, inexpensive, and more effective than air conditioning. |
Simple.... if they're big heat producing amps... don't be in the same room.
Neither of my tube amps, the Butler or Dodd MK II, put out so much heat the AC can't keep things under control.
using a small fan will eventually develop a new air flow pattern and aid cooling of the amp.
AS the input here regards a smallish room, large amps don't really seem in order, or the speakers ought be changed out probably.
A large wing span slow moving ceiling fan could be just the ticket too.... along with the aC of course.
|
I am curently limited to a very small listening room (10' x 12.5'), and have a few comments to add:
1- all electronics get hot and will heat the room. Bif power tubes are worse but if you leave your SS gear on all of the time the net effect is the same. I just replaced my CJ Premier 11A w/ an Audio Note Oto. Much less heat from smaller tubes.
2- As 4est mentioned, a ceiling fan is of limited help. After a while you are basically roasting in a convection oven. You need to exchange the hot air for cooler air somehow.
3- Do not underestimate the amount of heat that you and the lights will generate. I have switched all of the bulbs in my room to compact fluorescents - I hate 'em but they make a big difference. Needless to say, you will appreciate a dedicated AC line if you do this. |
Small room, tube amp, summer heat, sold mine.
Like stated above, unless you have a SS for the summer, or know of one you like, then get used to the heat. I had a quad set of EL-34s that just roasted my 2nd story apartment even with the AC on. It had to go. |
You know some tube amps run hotter than others.You could have a SS amp for summer,otherwise above posts are good to know.Ceiling fans are real nice.Almost impossible to vent heat out of a room short of running ducts[unlikely].Are there any vents by floor you could position amp by?I personally would try and change out amp for summer though its not inexpensive.You could try long speaker cables.Nothing real solid or creative I'm thinking of,good luck,Bob |
|
overhead ceiling fans works quite well along with nude listening. |
Okay... I have a small-room system set up (14'x 11') in Tucson AZ. It does have an overhead ceiling fan and that works quite well. But I do limit my output tubes to 2 per side of either the EL34 or KT88 variety. No need for more that 50 or so watts/channel tube power in the small room even with my Magnepan SMGa's.
Alternately, a nice combination it to use a Wyred 4 Sound ST-250 amplifier with either a tube line buffer or a good tube preamplifier (that doesn't run hot). Good luck, it can be done, and done well. |
A light breeze from a fan will keep the faceplate and other metal parts from getting as hot. Just don't put it on high, and keep it several feet away. I have a Cary CAD 120's and it works fine. The V12R was another story, you could fry a burger on the transformer, so you need a big room for one of those. The Mac 275 runs very cool for a tube amp, but sounds more SS than tube. Tubes can be a bit of a pain, but to me they are well worth it. Good luck. |
That's one of the reasons why I switched to Hi Effeciency speakers and single ended amps. |
I run a Prima Luna PL2 with EL-34s inside a well vented bookcase in a 10X15X9 room. There is a MDF shelf about 10 inches above the amp which bears the brunt of the heat. I keep the windows open and there is a whisper quiet ceiling fan usually running at a moderate speed and tube heat has never been a problem. Granted I live in NYC (Queens) off of a bus route street, so I may have different expectations about how quiet the room will ever be, but tube heat is not a problem.
Best regards,
Rich |
The fan will just spread the heat around, you would need to vent it out of the room quietly. |
