950/770 Stacking/Heat problems?

When I finally receive my 950/770 I will have to stack them.

I'm able to stack side-by-side in my entertainment center.

On one side I plan to place the 770 with (limited space limitations) either a DVD player or VCR on top.

On the other side the 950 with either the DVD player or VCR and also a Time Warner Scientific-Atlantic cable box.

My entertainment center has doors on the front and is open on the rear.

My questions:

Does the 770 get too hot for anything to sit on top of it?

Does the 950 generate heat that would not allow me to stack on top of it?

LQQK

I've got a DVD player setting directly on top of my 950 and have had no problems.

As for the 770, I can only go by what I've found with my 750. I try to give it an inch or so to breath, and with one inch between the top and the next shelf it's been fine.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

LQQK, I would recommend not putting anything on top of the amp. The 770 manual says to provide adequate ventilation on all sides- in particular 2 to 3 inches above the unit to provide enough air circulation for cooling. Even though I have never seen it get what I would call hot, it can get fairly warm to the touch (my 770 is in a cabinet which is open front and back for air flow). I believe heat is the enemy of any high current amplifier, therefore I would want to keep any amp I owned as free of airflow restrictions as possible. Good luck!

Also, the DVD player is probably designed not to work with a 1000W heater underneath it. The player gives off maybe 50W, so the designers had very few thermal considerations. And given the cheapness by which most DVD players are built these days (at least mechanically), any thermal margin is going to be accidental, not designed in.

Actually, I'd guess that the player gives off less than 25W of heat -- making your theory even more plausible. The 1000W number for the 770 is probably a pretty decent estimate.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

Because heat rises, some people put amplifiers on top. That doesn't always work since amplifiers are big and heavy. But an amplifier on top just might work, for you.

The think that the heat damage your equipment could be exposed to over a long period of time by stacking components in a small area without good ventalation is only asking for trouble. Look at other alternatives. Look at affordable AV racks, or look into building your own if you are handy.

In addition to the heat concern, another concern when components are stacked, is proximity interference. The advantage separates have over a receiver is potentially reduced when the separate components are squished tightly together, instead of being separated.

[This message has been edited by Will (edited September 03, 2002).]

I can verify that the 750 (and by extension, I assume, the 770) has serious breathing room requirements. I had it rather unfortunately placed when I first got it, in a shelf that was just over 8" high. There was a lot of room below it, due to the feet, and a large amount of space on all four sides, but not much more than 1/4" on the top.

Well, after an hour or so, that puppy was too hot to even touch. The shelf above it was also quite warm, bordering on hot. That concerned me, so I quickly moved it to a 10" shelf, and it's been much better now. Putting my hand over it, though, I can feel hot air coming out of it.

I would not put anything on top of it, unless you can give it about 2" of room. There's no fan, so if the vents are even partially blocked, the convection will be defeated.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

I don't stack any gear if I can help it. Other than heat concerns, I like my gear totally unblemished when I sell it... and that is hard to do when one piece directly touches another.

never stack anything on top of a power amplifier; not without additional cooling. I'm kind of surprised that someone hasn't mentioned things like electromagnetic pulses when you turn on something like an amplifier. this would never be a good thing for a vcr for example. even supposedly shielded toroidal transformers can have an initial pulse at start-up. another example would be having a power amp near a CRT-based television, etc.

ultimately, heat is the enemy. anything you can do to mitigate heat for a component is "a good thing" (sorry, Martha!)

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