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HI All,
Ordinarily I would not recommend stacking equipment. I can't tell you how many times I have lectured my customers against such practices. I have strong opinions against stacking.
That said, my 6 month old bedroom HT system has stacked equipment and it works very well. The significance of the above six months statement is important because it tells you that I have not yet lived through a hot summer season in my non-air conditioned house. Question: will my stack melt when the weather gets hot? I will find out soon but I would not have created the stack if I didn't think it would survive and not harm the equipment. Harm is the operative term.
I had a serious space limitation and a lot of equipment that needed a home. After a careful analysis, I decided I could make a stacked organization work. My arrangement is not simply a stack; it is a super stack. In fact, I call it the "pile". It consists of 5 audio chassis plus a home made, thermostatically controlled, low air flow, super quiet, ventilator strategically placed in the pile.
The pile sits atop a 30 inch high Lead Balloon turntable stand. It's very sturdy. The stand is spiked to the house foundation. The total height of the pile plus stand is 58 1/2 inches. The top of the stand is open so as to not impede air flow at the bottom of the pile. My pile is pretty imposing. IMO, it looks nice if unusual.
I broke every rule I ever professed to my customers. They should sue me. So should the manufacturers. Here is the organization of the pile from bottom to top:
1. Krell KAV-3250 3 channel power amp (heavy and very sturdy; modest heat; potentially high heat, no fans)
2. Ventilator (very sturdy, isolated pressure zones, low flow, looks sexy IMO)
3. Denon 3805 7 channel AV receiver/processor (fairly heavy; sturdy; modest heat; potentially high heat; I am using only 2 of the 7 channels which reduces heat output)
4. Denon 3910 DVD player (not heavy; medium sturdy; less heat)
5. Krell KAV-280P stereo preamp (not heavy; very sturdy; low heat)
6. Nakamichi CR-4 cassette tape deck (not heavy; medium sturdy; low heat)
The heaviest pieces are at the bottom of the pile. I adopted this organization to keep the center of gravity as low as possible. This produced an organization that ordered the chassis sequence with the highest heat producers at the bottom and progressing to the lowest heat producers at the top. At first glance, this is not the best way to position the highest heat producers. The ventilator makes this counter intuitive organization possible.
The design and placement of the ventilator is critical. It is a 5 inch high oak box the same size and shape of the adjacent equipment. Carefully finished, it matches the black motif of the equipment. It makes the pile appear 6 chassis high. Two 12V fans (can be expanded to three) run only when necessary and are completely automatic. The thermostat actually functions as the AC power switch for the entire ventilator. A small 1A linear regulated power supply runs everything. There is a front panel mounted LCD temperature display as well as an LED indicator to tell me when the fans are running. There are large, sturdy, handsome brass handles mounted on the sides. These allow me to lift, move and rotate all the equipment piled on top of the ventilators sturdy oak box. This permits access to rear panels. It’s heavy but workable. The box is designed with air seals on both the top and bottom edges. These seal to the adjacent chassis to improve air flow efficiency. The seals are protected from damage when the pile is rotated against the Krell’s top panel surface. The fans are completely silent even with my ear placed next to the air outlet. The ventilator is the key to success.
The ventilator turns on when 106F is detected and the fans run until 97F is reached. These settings are adjustable. Room temperature when the house is heated is 70F and will rise to 80F during a hot summer day. During the winter, the duty cycle has been about 25 or 30%. Of course, this will rise during the summer. So far, when everything is powered up, the chassis get warm to the touch but never hot. I would guess the warmest I have seen is about 100F or less. Definitely not hot.
Air flow is the critical issue. Let’s look at it. First, the ventilator only passes air through the Krell amp and the Denon 3805 receiver. Above the 3805 is the 3910 which has a sealed bottom panel (no vent openings) and reasonably high feet (¾ inch). This creates a gap through which the warmed air escapes. The Krell amp and the Denon receiver have vent openings on both the bottom and top panels. Mounted between them is the ventilator. I removed the feet from the receiver so the ventilator seals would be effective. The top of the Krell is smooth with no protrusions which permits an effective seal. Of course, normal warm air convection aids the fans.
The air intake is though the Krell’s bottom panel. Air is directed up past the Krell’s internal heat sinks and out the top panel vents. The Krell’s vents are placed specifically to dump heat from the heat sinks. There are no other vents. The moving air enters the ventilators low (negative) pressure zone intake sucked in by the fans where the temperature is sampled by the thermostat. Then the air moves up through the fans into the high (positive) pressure zone where the temperature is measured by the digital thermometer and displayed on the front panel. The zones are isolated from one another with the fans providing the only air path. Flow continues into the Denon’s chassis though the bottom panels variously placed vents, up into the chassis and out through the top vents.
The primary ventilator design goal is to prevent heat buildup, not specifically cooling. The fans are low flow units which is essential to quiet operation. Since the Krell runs quite cool (unusual for a Krell!) it does not heat the air much while it is passing past the heat sinks as long as the air movement is aided by the fans. The exhaust air from the Krell is the intake air for the Denon. This scheme would not work if the Krell ran at typical Krell temperatures. But as it is, the Denon runs quite cool and well within specified limits.
So, the bottom line is that a stack (or pile) of equipment can work if proper care is taken. I still advise against it because most folks will not take the proper care.
Sorry for the long post but I thought some members would be interested in this unconventional solution. If summer temperatures defeat this scheme, I will let you know. I don’t think this will happen.
Sparky
Ordinarily I would not recommend stacking equipment. I can't tell you how many times I have lectured my customers against such practices. I have strong opinions against stacking.
That said, my 6 month old bedroom HT system has stacked equipment and it works very well. The significance of the above six months statement is important because it tells you that I have not yet lived through a hot summer season in my non-air conditioned house. Question: will my stack melt when the weather gets hot? I will find out soon but I would not have created the stack if I didn't think it would survive and not harm the equipment. Harm is the operative term.
I had a serious space limitation and a lot of equipment that needed a home. After a careful analysis, I decided I could make a stacked organization work. My arrangement is not simply a stack; it is a super stack. In fact, I call it the "pile". It consists of 5 audio chassis plus a home made, thermostatically controlled, low air flow, super quiet, ventilator strategically placed in the pile.
The pile sits atop a 30 inch high Lead Balloon turntable stand. It's very sturdy. The stand is spiked to the house foundation. The total height of the pile plus stand is 58 1/2 inches. The top of the stand is open so as to not impede air flow at the bottom of the pile. My pile is pretty imposing. IMO, it looks nice if unusual.
I broke every rule I ever professed to my customers. They should sue me. So should the manufacturers. Here is the organization of the pile from bottom to top:
1. Krell KAV-3250 3 channel power amp (heavy and very sturdy; modest heat; potentially high heat, no fans)
2. Ventilator (very sturdy, isolated pressure zones, low flow, looks sexy IMO)
3. Denon 3805 7 channel AV receiver/processor (fairly heavy; sturdy; modest heat; potentially high heat; I am using only 2 of the 7 channels which reduces heat output)
4. Denon 3910 DVD player (not heavy; medium sturdy; less heat)
5. Krell KAV-280P stereo preamp (not heavy; very sturdy; low heat)
6. Nakamichi CR-4 cassette tape deck (not heavy; medium sturdy; low heat)
The heaviest pieces are at the bottom of the pile. I adopted this organization to keep the center of gravity as low as possible. This produced an organization that ordered the chassis sequence with the highest heat producers at the bottom and progressing to the lowest heat producers at the top. At first glance, this is not the best way to position the highest heat producers. The ventilator makes this counter intuitive organization possible.
The design and placement of the ventilator is critical. It is a 5 inch high oak box the same size and shape of the adjacent equipment. Carefully finished, it matches the black motif of the equipment. It makes the pile appear 6 chassis high. Two 12V fans (can be expanded to three) run only when necessary and are completely automatic. The thermostat actually functions as the AC power switch for the entire ventilator. A small 1A linear regulated power supply runs everything. There is a front panel mounted LCD temperature display as well as an LED indicator to tell me when the fans are running. There are large, sturdy, handsome brass handles mounted on the sides. These allow me to lift, move and rotate all the equipment piled on top of the ventilators sturdy oak box. This permits access to rear panels. It’s heavy but workable. The box is designed with air seals on both the top and bottom edges. These seal to the adjacent chassis to improve air flow efficiency. The seals are protected from damage when the pile is rotated against the Krell’s top panel surface. The fans are completely silent even with my ear placed next to the air outlet. The ventilator is the key to success.
The ventilator turns on when 106F is detected and the fans run until 97F is reached. These settings are adjustable. Room temperature when the house is heated is 70F and will rise to 80F during a hot summer day. During the winter, the duty cycle has been about 25 or 30%. Of course, this will rise during the summer. So far, when everything is powered up, the chassis get warm to the touch but never hot. I would guess the warmest I have seen is about 100F or less. Definitely not hot.
Air flow is the critical issue. Let’s look at it. First, the ventilator only passes air through the Krell amp and the Denon 3805 receiver. Above the 3805 is the 3910 which has a sealed bottom panel (no vent openings) and reasonably high feet (¾ inch). This creates a gap through which the warmed air escapes. The Krell amp and the Denon receiver have vent openings on both the bottom and top panels. Mounted between them is the ventilator. I removed the feet from the receiver so the ventilator seals would be effective. The top of the Krell is smooth with no protrusions which permits an effective seal. Of course, normal warm air convection aids the fans.
The air intake is though the Krell’s bottom panel. Air is directed up past the Krell’s internal heat sinks and out the top panel vents. The Krell’s vents are placed specifically to dump heat from the heat sinks. There are no other vents. The moving air enters the ventilators low (negative) pressure zone intake sucked in by the fans where the temperature is sampled by the thermostat. Then the air moves up through the fans into the high (positive) pressure zone where the temperature is measured by the digital thermometer and displayed on the front panel. The zones are isolated from one another with the fans providing the only air path. Flow continues into the Denon’s chassis though the bottom panels variously placed vents, up into the chassis and out through the top vents.
The primary ventilator design goal is to prevent heat buildup, not specifically cooling. The fans are low flow units which is essential to quiet operation. Since the Krell runs quite cool (unusual for a Krell!) it does not heat the air much while it is passing past the heat sinks as long as the air movement is aided by the fans. The exhaust air from the Krell is the intake air for the Denon. This scheme would not work if the Krell ran at typical Krell temperatures. But as it is, the Denon runs quite cool and well within specified limits.
So, the bottom line is that a stack (or pile) of equipment can work if proper care is taken. I still advise against it because most folks will not take the proper care.
Sorry for the long post but I thought some members would be interested in this unconventional solution. If summer temperatures defeat this scheme, I will let you know. I don’t think this will happen.
Sparky
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