noob rolling around on the floor

[LuncHwagon]

I see lots of people who have, what appear to be, amps sitting on the floor of their listening areas. Why is that? Even in some "high-end" setups I see that people have those down on the floor. Are those amps? or possibly some kind of electronic crossover? Is this just a kind of aesthetic thing? It seems kinda strange when you see a rack of components 5 feet from these setups. Just curious. Thanks
CM

[---k---]

A picture would be helpful.

Amps are heavy. Mine is almost 100 lbs. As close to the ground as possible is the best place for it, because my back can't lift it higher.

Place amps as close to the speaker as possible so that you have the shortest length of speaker wire as possible. The longer the speaker wire, the more impedance you have. This impedance with the right selection of wire gauge is usually insignificant, but the less the best.

[ch83575]

Quite frequently you see the setup you are describing when the owner want's to show off the fact that he has monoblock amps, meaning that there is only one channel per amp with each speaker having its own amp. Sure there is the issue of getting away with less speaker wire, but the audible benefit of that will depend on the output impedance of the pre-amp, the input impedance of the power amps and the quality of interconnects used. It can really go either way. Some monoblocks these days are so large that you would be hard pressed to maneuver them into a rack in the first place, so the ground seems like a logical place.

-Chad

[cjd]

You don't really want to be using long RCA runs though, so amp-in-the-middle on single ended source outputs isn't always the best idea running either (note that some components can handle this just fine)

Often these folks are also using exotic, expensive speaker cable that doesn't route well AND probably they're not interested in putting another $20k down for a few more feet, besides. So that could be part of the story.

[bluewizard]

I think a certain percentage of this is, 'see - mine is bigger than yours'.

I can understand not wanting to lift heavy amps onto (somewhat) high shelves, and also, expecting those shelves to support a couple hundred pounds of amp.

But is the floor really the best location?

You certainly don't want to set them on carpet, that can't be good for cooling.

Then, carpet or hardwood, there is the issue of dust. Anything that sits on the floor, like a computer, is going to become clogged with dust very quickly.

It would seem to me the best thing would be to make some kind of low plinth for the amp. I used some common marble tile to make some rough 12" x 12" stands from my bookshelf (ha-ha) speakers. They are rock (all puns intended) solid, and look great too.

I've heard of some people going to tombstone makers, and getting granite or marble plinths to put their speakers or turntable on, why not amps too? That cold granite would draw away a lot of heat, I would think.

Still, it is there amp, their house, their room, I guess they can set it up however they choose. Still, the dust alone has got to be murder.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bluewizard