Good idea...or horrible idea?

[cobbpa]

I'm sure this is on one extreme or the other--all thoughts are welcome :T

Question first, then details for those who want to read: should I place my actively cooled amplifier on top of, or perhaps underneath, my receiver? I would do this for cooling purposes, as the receiver gets fairly hot and the amplifier, which has a fan, could act as a giant heat sink.

In the setup of my current equipment shelving, the very bottom piece is my Behringer EP2500. It powers my subwoofer off of 1 channel, non-bridged. It has active cooling front to back & a solid case all around.

On the top shelf, with no barriers above/beside/behind it sits my receiver, the Marantz SR5600 (nobody make fun! I'll catch up someday..). This powers 5 speakers: a CJD center, Zaph's BAMTM mains, cheapie purchased side channels. Over the course of a couple of hours of stereo music the receiver gets very warm, almost hot. I know this is not good, and I want to help.

Thoughts? The Marantz is fairly tank-like, so I wouldn't expect any structural issues so long as I place it gently. It may look a bit funny, but if the cooling helps then I'm all for it. Note that anytime the receiver is on, the sub amp is also on. Thanks for any advice!

[audioqueso]

No, I would not recommend putting the amp on top of the Marantz receiver.
1 - The bad thing is that the first generation of Marantz' 7-channel receiver were known to get hot. While their 6-channel receivers the same year operated very cool.
2 - Putting the amp on top of your receiver would NOT act as a giant heatsink unless you had a solid bond between both metal chasis. (i.e., top of receiver metal chasis + thermal transferring solution + bottom metal plate of amp. no isolation feet in between)
3 - If you have the receiver in "open air" right now, and it's STILL hot, I don't think placing a large object in its way would help as much as a fan would. I would recommend adding a fan instead of a "giant heatsink". You could get a Scythe fan (pc parts manufacturer). They're so quiet, it's hard to hear that it's even on.

[Glen B]

A range of very quiet fans are available at Endpcnoise.com, including ones with integrated thermistor speed control.

http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std/category=Quiet_Case_Fans.html

[David Meek]

Definitely don't stack the two together. If your rack configuration requires that, then look at a dedicated cooling unit. Here's an enclosed 2-fan unit ($96) that might be of interest:

Cool Components CP-DF