I've always tried to keep the amplifier on top of other components to avoid heating up the component above. I do like the idea of having the important things close at hand, having the source close to the seating position is a natural outcome, this includes a mini/bar fridge next to that same seat.
When stacking equipment there are a couple of things to watch out for. Anything that runs warm has to the top component so it can shed the heat without affecting another component. The second thing is not to put anything heavy on top of a CD player because anything more than 7 or 8 pounds might distort the cd mechanism causing it to lose focus. A little weight does help in some cases because less expensive cd players have pretty flimsy steel cases, a little damping does help but not to much. I found that out when my old NAD 5335 cd player had a cassette deck, tuner and preamp (Conrad Johnson preamps are a little chunky)on top of it. After a while the cd player began to skip. I brought it down to the bench and it worked fine until I rested something heavy on it, the weight was distorting the chassis enough to cause the cd assembly to warp. I made the cdplayer the second from the top in the stack and it worked fine for another decade.
I love seeing the work benches of other technicians to see if they're messy than mine. We're all about the same on this. A clean bench is a sign that you need to hire another tech.
Paul... I'm constantly made fun of because I tell some stories more than once. As a member of the post half century club I think we have earned the right to forget that we've told a story already. Besides I enjoy listening to your experiences, thank you for sharing.
I've never heard Paul tell a story more than once but I've only watched about 50 of his vids so far. I loved hearing about how he and his cohorts concocted a scheme to get back at his neighbor in such a sophisticated way for such a young age. Probably why he's still tinkering with audio and in his own way standing up for the fact that intelligent, thoughtful, creative, life-affirming people still have a place in the world. I bet that neighbor, who actually detested the sound of children at play, was a vivid example to young Paul on what kind of person not to be. Paul and his young co-conspirators saw the enemy, in this case the desire of this man to eliminate the sights and sounds of youthful exuberance, and decided to dump a pile of rocks on it. Brilliant
@@trolabee , hes told a couple repeats... but mostly, i think he thinks hes repeating because he told while writing the book. he saw it again while proof reading the book (a few times) he told it again while reciting for the audiobook. even if hes telling it here for the 1st time... its likely been the 5th time hes told it overall.
I am planning to buy one of you DACs and Amp in the future- but I will probably fly to Colorado to meet you in person and listen to your audio room- really like your videos
I don't have PS audio but for my system spliting instead of stacking made huge improvment. I don't know why but it did. I tried stack/split several time and I could clearly hear the difference. It was better when each component was on its own sufrace. The same thing is written in guide for my equipment. But I wouldn't pay huge amount of money for the shelf/rack.
I believe casing vibration can introduce interferences of those not high end gears. So I use weighted decorative objects sitting on top. I also use glass (should be granite or cheaper marble) to separate them with spikes. Some high density rubberised materials are also used for damping out vibrational energy. It is simple, cheap and feel good. Why not?
If you ever stack audio components, make sure to NOT put anything directly on top of the power amp, integrated amp, or receiver, that blocks any of the amps ventilation holes in its top cover, otherwise you run a good risk of overheating your amp or receiver, even if only listening at low to moderate volumes, because power output components such as those need cooling for not just just the actual power output stage, but also for the relatively large power supply componentry inside their chassis' also! That's why most amps run relatively warm even when in "idle" mode with no signal... Class D amps produce MUCH less heat than Class A/B or especially Class A amps do, but even Class D amps STILL need to breathe good when being played at a normal to high level! Most DVRs and Satellite receivers and Cable boxes also get really hot if not allowed to breathe, (mainly due to the processing CPUs they have in them, like a computer), so don't block any of those components' vent holes by stacking anything on top of them either! Most source components run cooler than the above stuff does, and pre-amps (if applicable to your system) can vary significantly, depending on its design and type. (tube or transistor, etc.) So basically, you just have to keep the hotter running components on or near the top of any component stack you do make, that way the heat from them can rise and dissipate without them overheating, OR overheating any components above them either!
Well yes it’s comfortable to have your source components next to your listening seat ...BUT the thought of having many meters of interconnects (even when balanced XLR) makes me feel REALLY uncomfortable regarding the diminishing sound of the cables. Cables should not be much longer than let’s say about 6 feet for interconnects and 8 to 10 feet for speakers. But that’s just my audiophile 2cents.
Paul’s childhood antics was the genesis of a future engineer. Ingenuity is as well suited for revenge as it is for designing electrical signal pathways.
I stack mine in a cabinet according to size. Being the 5 disc is the biggest it sits on the bottom followed by my receiver. On top of that I have a AC Infinity cooling system that sucks air out of the receiver and blows it out the front of the cabinet. then the rest on top of it.
Come on Paul . Give us the one we all need to hear . Please give us a breakdown on what % of your audio budget would you spend on your components . What % of your budget would you invest on amplification , cables , speakers , source , etc. Please put us on the right path . Many thanks .
Edgar Ortiz Problem with that is not everything of the same price has the same level of sound quality. I have a Bottlehead Quickie with the PJCCS upgrade, a cheap Ebay dact style (I think that's what it's called) attenuator pot, and Cornell Dubilier capacitors (I think it's just the big ones). I bought it used for $200. Which is about what it cost to buy (it's a kit) to buy new. And it absolutely smokes my $1000 Solid State preamp. I'm not telling you what that is, because I want to sell it. It's a good preamp, and if I didn't have the Quickie. I would think it was great. But nonetheless. The Quickie is much better. And there's plenty of other giant killers out there too. The trick is. Go find them like I've been doing. Just use your common sense. And research, research, research. You'll figure it out.
Dear Paul, Robert Deutsch mentions in his review of the M700 mono blocks (stereophile Feb 18) that they sound better when they are not stacked on on top of other. I had a hard time understanding why that maybe. So, somehow, in that review, stacking mattered. Whats your take?
I have cheap RTV rack with shelves nade of tempered glass. CD and amplifier are placed on separate glass shelves do i dont have problems with overheating Amp.
Dear, Paul, lately the audio level has been varying too much, causing frequent hard clipping. Possibly the lavalier mike is too close to the skin or whatever. Please, look for a more neutral position of it. Thanks anyway; it`s always a great pleasure to attend your posts.
Absolutely correct. In my system the Power Amp (Marantz 250M), has 8+ inches of space above it for heat dissipation. All other components are separated by about 2 inches. It is housed in a rack with shelves and a wooden front panel. Only two the the components are mounted to the rack directly
I needed to save the space so I had to put preamp system on top of tube amplituner. To secure its cooling I made side window ventilllation from tubes and framed there two cooling fans used originaly for laptops. Tubes have better cooling then before and pream is layed at thick wooden separator. No heat coming.
I can't believe that you also had an old man who yelled at you for playing ball!!!. We had on too! Everytime a ball would go in the tiny front yard of his NYC house he would take them and put them in a milk carton right next to his front door. SO we got a bunch of dynamite and taped cigarettes to their fuses after my dad without question showed us how to lace dynamite and we put it behind his front door so that when he opened it to yell at it it would be right behind the door about a foot away from him. We threw a ball in his yard and he took it and we kept yelling at him to keep him next to his door until the 4 sticks went off. Well we got all of our balls back and he never bothered us again...............Good times!!!!
I remember when living in Canada and this guy living about 20 houses down and shot at us with a shot gun loaded with salt. Yet we were not on his property but on the street. But maybe my memory fail me.
Good advice. Racks are best for keeping vibrations and digital equipment away from turntables & phono preamps. In fact digital is best turned off for a vinyl only evening. PauI, hope the neighborhood kids don't find your home ( speaking of isolation ;-)
