Classé Amps: How hot do they get

[wettou]

What is the maximum temperature that Classé amps can get before it damages the amps?

[Glen B]

The amps are designed to shutdown BEFORE reaching temperatures that will cause damage. :B

[wettou]

The amps are designed to shutdown BEFORE reaching temperatures that will cause damage. :B

Does that mean they can go up to 120 or more?

[AV-OCD]

The internal temp of my SSP-800 is averaging 55 degrees celsius, which is 130 degrees ferenheit and the case is warm, but not hot to the touch. It has never shut down. My amp averages 50 degrees celsius internally (122F) and has never shut down. I read somewhere that DAC's can handle temps of 80 degrees celsius (176F), though that is their max and should probably not be sustained.

[Gump]

The internal temp of my SSP-800 is averaging 55 degrees celsius, which is 130 degrees ferenheit and the case is warm, but not hot to the touch. It has never shut down. My amp averages 50 degrees celsius internally (122F) and has never shut down. I read somewhere that DAC's can handle temps of 80 degrees celsius (176F), though that is their max and should probably not be sustained.

I'm a little surprised that the pre/pro gets warmer than the amp.

[Classe4me]

I too, am surprised the the pre-pro gets hotter than the amp. Out of curiosity, do you have your pre-pro sitting directly atop of your amp? The reason I asked was originally I stacked the three pieces directly on top of one another. I was getting pre-pro and CDP temps of up to 58 degrees Celsius. Once I bought the Classe rack and got the components separated I now run much cooler on the SSP and the CDP. To be more accurate, I am operating those two components at 10 to 12 degrees less now with the air space between them.

I find this all somewhat interesting because Classe shows many pictures of their components sitting directly on top of one another. On the other hand, the owner's manuals state, and I quote, "Classe' recommends that the unit not be placed directly on the top surface of a power amplifier (or any other heat source)." They also suggest a minimum of 8" of space behind to allow sufficient room to prevent possible crimping of cables and interconnects.

On the case of the SSP-600 they actually state to "be sure to allow 3" of clearance above it and three inches to each side to allow heat dissipation through air circulation."

Lastly, my pet peeve, the length of the uprights are either 7 or 11 inches. This gives exactly 2.25" of clearance from the top of the component to the bottom of the shelf above. In the case of my stack, I have the SSP-600 on the rack above my CA-5200 and because of the 11" uprights, it gives 4.25" of clearance. Then when you go to the next level up, I have the 7" uprights with the CDP-502 which once again gives me 2.25" of clearance from the top shelf (I only used 4 shelves). This difference in spacing is a visual annoyance of mine and affects the aesthetic appearance. Yes, I am borderline O/C but when they show the same rack in their product brochure with the three different height components, they show the same spacing between shelves which would be indicative of the availability of 9 inch uprights. After calling Classe, I learned that there are no such thing and the only choices are 7 or 11 inch. I surmise they had these uprights custom fabricated for the photos in the brochure and it sure makes it look really nice. Now I am faced with disassembling the rack, which is a royal pain, then taking the 11 inch uprights and having them professionally cut off to 9 inches, insuring that they are cut perfectly square and that the threads will be maintained to proper depth. At the same time, I have to also make sure that the threads don't get damaged so that I risk cross threading the threaded rods when reassembling the rack.

And yes, this is an enormous amount of trouble just for a slight cosmetic appearance change and one of the downsides of being so incredible particular.

I would certainly welcome any suggestions on obtaining some 9 inch uprights without going through this much trouble.

The solution I would prefer over it all is obtaining a new CHS-3 HyperSpike rack. With that we are back to the problem of having irregular spacing on the uprights because of the various sizes they come in that are all metric and leave no two distances the same.

Such is life!

They looked great stacked on top of each other but the downside was the NavCom feet left some prints on the brushed tops of the lower components that don't seem to want to come off. Then there was the heat issues to deal with and my fear that it would broil the insides of the other components.

[Glen B]

I find this all somewhat interesting because Classe shows many pictures of their components sitting directly on top of one another. On the other hand, the owner's manuals state, and I quote, "Classe' recommends that the unit not be placed directly on the top surface of a power amplifier (or any other heat source)."

Throughout their history Classé has always shown their products stacked one on top the other. The pictures are obviously for advertising purposes only, and I don't think they have ever meant for owners to operate their equipment stacked like that. They probably need to include a disclaimer with their advertisements stating that the placement of components in the pictures is for demonstration purposes only.

Its sort of like in the car commercials that show the driver zipping around sharp corners at very high rates of speed that you know could cause you to killl yourself and possibly other road users if you drove like that on public streets. Good common sense dictates that we really don't drive like that in real life (I hope) just like we don't stack our components.

[Alaric]

Just to play Devil's Advocate , has anyone seen a heat-related failure of a Classe product?

[Classe4me]

Glen B, I suppose I have never been one to always practice good common sense. Perhaps I should have been more aware of the potential problems or issues with stacking the equipment. When I started out I had the CA-5100, the SSP-600, and the CDP-300. The three pieces fit perfectly in my Bell'O stand. I sort of thought if they showed it then it wouldn't be a real danger if I did it. If you go through and look at some of the pictures of people's systems in the Club Classe picture section there are others who have also stacked some components. I never had any problems or issues whatsoever thank goodness.

As for the television commercials showing the way they drive fast, corner hard, and actually have fun. Perhaps once again I do not always exhibit the highest level of common sense, but automobiles and driving them are one of my passions. Driving in a sporting manner (safely of course), sometimes taking my cars to their limits when the opportunity arises, and in a safe environment, I am totally guilty of putting a big 'ol grin on this face of this 46 year old kid.

It's always been my opinion that if cars weren't meant to be driven in that manner on occasion, then they wouldn't have the handling capabilities, the highest level of horsepower in the history of the automobile, direct shift gearboxes with paddle shifters, aggressive sport seats, incredible braking capabilities, turbochargers, wide, sticky tires, and spoilers and other aerodynamic aids to create downforce at high speeds. They also have speed rated tires that are designed to be safe at speeds that are up to triple the speed limit. My newest car has all these features and even a feature caused launch control that allows you to slingshot off the line like a catapult. I think if these cars weren't meant to be driven aggressively on occasion then they wouldn't have these features.

The best part of it all is it's just a little VW GTI that I have "tinkered with to increase my horsepower about 30% and my torque by about 35% and I get over 30 miles to the gallon out of it, so I don't feel like I am being "fuelish!"

Please don't take offense to anything I had to say, as I took no offense to what you had to say. We are all individuals and have our own ways of enjoying life. We are also guilty of making mistakes based on things that we see and assume is okay.

Mr. ADD here is always trying to set things up, put things together, and make it work. If and when all else fails, I attempt to read the instructions and/or owner's manual.

It's all in good fun!

Tom

Throughout their history Classé has always shown their products stacked one on top the other. The pictures are obviously for advertising purposes only, and I don't think they have ever meant for owners to operate their equipment stacked like that. They probably need to include a disclaimer with their advertisements stating that the placement of components in the pictures is for demonstration purposes only.

Its sort of like in the car commercials that show the driver zipping around sharp corners at very high rates of speed that you know could cause you to killl yourself and possibly other road users if you drove like that on public streets. Good common sense dictates that we really don't drive like that in real life (I hope) just like we don't stack our components.

[Glen B]

Please don't take offense to anything I had to say, as I took no offense to what you had to say. We are all individuals and have our own ways of enjoying life. We are also guilty of making mistakes based on things that we see and assume is okay.
Tom

Good. :B :B No offense intended on my part and none taken.

[AV-OCD]

FYI - I was told by Classe tech support that the external temp of Classe components should be +10 degrees Celsius over the ambient room temp.

Looks like I will need to find a better cooling solution for my enclosed rack (already outfitted with fans).

[Glen B]

Check out this cooling system. Its pricey but will protect your investment in electronics.

http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/cabracenvens.html

[AV-OCD]

Glen -

Thanks for the link. The cooling systems there are actually a bit less than the ones I had been looking at.

- Tim

[wettou]

Check out this cooling system. Its pricey but will protect your investment in electronics. http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/cabracenvens.html

A bit excessive?

[AV-OCD]

A bit excessive?

Yes it is, but there are other more practical solutions on that site.

[wettou]

Yes it is, but there are other more practical solutions on that site.

Like this http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/19ramocofans.html

How noisy are these? My equipment is in my room and I hate the noise the PS3 is too noisy as well.

[Classe4me]

Variance of heat sink temps

For those of you who are running multi-channel Classe amps and CAN-Bus are you experiencing varying temps on the different heat sinks? I am running a CA-5200 and heat sink #2 is running about 5 degrees Celcius hotter than the other 4. I haven't tried to figure out which channel heat sink #2 takes care of or where it's location is but I have a sinking feeling (pun intended) that it's the internal heat sink. Currently I am watching Iron Man and #2 is running about 57 degrees compared to a fairly consistent 52 degrees on the others, give or take a degree or two.

[garak]

For those of you who are running multi-channel Classe amps and CAN-Bus are you experiencing varying temps on the different heat sinks? I am running a CA-5200 and heat sink #2 is running about 5 degrees Celcius hotter than the other 4. I haven't tried to figure out which channel heat sink #2 takes care of or where it's location is but I have a sinking feeling (pun intended) that it's the internal heat sink. Currently I am watching Iron Man and #2 is running about 57 degrees compared to a fairly consistent 52 degrees on the others, give or take a degree or two.

My CA-5200 is running about the same as yours. If it's been running for a while, heat sink 2 runs about 5 degrees C hotter than the others. For me #2 gets to 54 degress, the others run about 48-50 degrees.

[gross30]

I run a pair of Classe 15's in monoblock formation and after several hours of music and a movie, they are just warm to the touch. I have never had a problem with them heating up. The Krell 250a3, now that's a different story. I could probably heat the room with that thing. Fan for sure on that one !!