Ayre amps - cool running?

I think that your experience is in line with diff btwn amps that are Class A (run hot) and A/B, although some A/B amps are biased heavily into class A and will run warm-hot most of the time.

When I was using the Ayre V5Xe, it ran on the low side of moderately warm. My tube preamp generated a lot more heat. I never drove it hard so I can't speak to its temperature if it was really stressed.
Swampwalker is correct. It has to do with how the amp is biased. A TRUE class A amp runs extremely warm where a class B amp runs cool. AB fits in between and how much it runs into class A. Of course the newer Digi amps run cool.

I have a V-1xe and it is cool in standby and runs warm but not hot while in use. I used to have Levinson which ran very warm at idle, and hot during use.

I know the MXRs are only slightly warm when playing Watt Puppy 8s at high volume.

Arthur

I had an Ayre V3 which ran hotter than any amp I've had - even at idle. I even called Ayre to ask if this was normal - their reply was "hot is good".

I had a V-1XE, ran very warm to hot. Around the same as the JC-1s, and the FPB 650Ms I have now. Beautiful, musical, amp.(V-1XE)

I had a V5/6 amp and it remained cool during idle and warm after driving it hard for 12 hours into Rockports...now have MX-Rs into Rockports and Ariel center...seems slightly cooler...no heat problems at all...but I do make sure air circulation is good...

John

I have a pair of the MXR's. They are cool when in stand-by mode and only get warm when in active use. I have never seen them get hot. You can always place your full hand on top of them and keep it there. They sound great as well. I highly recommend them.

@Aball,

You have my dream spealer/amp combo, to bad I will never own it. Heard that set once with a Mark lev. CD player it was really good but so much over my budget.

The MX-Rs can get quite warm into hot territory but that's driving them for hours on end at very loud volumes; typically they never get more than warm. My experience with the other newer amps (V-5xe and AX-7e) is that they never get more than warm.

I too have the MXR and they stay pretty cool but I dont listen at loud bolumes (<75db) and my speakers are 8 ohm nominal and fairly efficient. I used to have the Pass XA160 and there is no comparison. My room would get noticeably hotter with the Pass. I am very happy with my MXR.

I have a V-1xe and it seems to run cool to me. I never feel any warmth unless I actually touch the amp itself and then it is only slightly warm at most. I have a large room and the V-1xe sits on the floor so there is plenty of ventilation. Also, I do not play at extreme volumes for long periods of time.