heat


i only use my stereo on sundays for 6 hours. i recently started to put paper towels above the air vents on my pre amp tuner and power amp to keep the dust out. i have a mcintosh mx132 and mc602. is this a bad idea? i know heat is the worst enemy for electronics but i don't play it loud anyway!
128x128g_nakamoto
Never cover vents on electronic equipment when that equipment is on. Heat is the enemy of electronics (even tubes). Covering vents on operational equipment is asking for failure!
If you want to keep dust off of and out of your audio equipment, buy MERV 11 or above rated furnace filters and change them every 30 days.  Don’t believe the claims on the filter that they last 90 days or more.

They are mainly clogged after 30 days and the dust just blows around the edges of them.
Our system is within a few feet of our wood burner. The audio system has cooling (Infinity) fans where needed. But we went through two TV's. Big screens. A Panasonic and a LG. Finally quit using the wood burner for anything other than coziness. No more heating that room with the wood burner. It's nice in these Ohio winters, but electronics and heat don't mix. At work, we had fans in all our electronic cabinets to try and keep the heat to under 100..And this is industrial equipment...    
All electronics fail first due to mechanical fatigue. This can be caused by several things, vibration, hot and cold thermal cycling and intermetallic formation.
I use covers for each component when not in use.  Easily removed for playing time and easily put back into place after playing time (but only do so after the equipment has completely cooled down).  In order to have a nice look of fit & finish, I went to a local yardage shop and picked out a light weight and nice color of soft velvet.  I gave them the specifications for size that I wanted for each individual component (components vary in size).  They cut the pieces and sewed a box stitch around all edges.  These look as nice as the purpose and function they provide.  And low cost, too.  I hope this and other comments above help you in your quest.

Number one most important comment in the above posts, that you absolutely must pay attention to, is NEVER to play your equipment with a cover on it.  Ventilation during playing time is essential to product life, if not survival, including fire hazard, which could mean your own survival.