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Does the heat an amp puts out have any effect on the sound quality ?

Does  how hot an amp runs have any effect on sound quality ?
Or is this only a concern for the longevity of the amp? I have an old Harmon Kardon
amp that supposedly puts out 60 watts at 8 ohms and has 30 amps of current.
when purchasing I was comparing it to  an onkyo with 120 watts. They were driving
a pair of jbL monitors. It flat out smoked the onk. Probably twice the volume.
I decided On a minor upgrade down the road to a Yamaha as-500 at 85 watts.
Years later I got tired of the brightness of the Yamaha. Decided to hook up the Harmon
kardon just for kicks. Instantly the mains came back to life. Much cleaner an  better bass  maybe
a little more volume. Its almost like harmon Kardon put a wrong part in this amp. Making it sound much better than it should. My only concern is how hot it runs. It doesn't seem to effect anything even
at long listening periods. Should I be concerned at how hot it runs. It has given me no problems.
Any one have any opinions ?
jcb1957
almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Does how hot an amp runs have any effect on sound quality ?
A definitive answer can’t be provided without knowing if how hot the amp is running is normal or abnormal for the specific design. If it is running abnormally hot for some reason, in other words hotter than it was designed to run, then yes, its sound quality may be affected. By both whatever is causing the abnormal temperature and by the abnormal temperature itself.

The others have made very commendable attempts to answer your question as thoroughly as possible, especially in the post just above, but we might be able to provide answers that are more focused if you would tell us what the model number of the amp is.

Regards,
-- Al


jcb1957's avatar
jcb1957 OP
8 posts
 
Thank you all for your input !
       Keep listening J.
ebm
9,311 posts
 
It will not do that.
donjr
1,339 posts
 
So for the sake of Almarg's question of the model amp, we can use mine. I have a Accuphase E-600 Class A with Harbeth C7ES3 speakers. Overkill yes, but a path to upgrades for an integrated lover. I don't find the Accuphase to run overly hot. I believe class A running hot is a blanket statement pople throw out there for all class A amps.

almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Don, the relevant specs on your equipment are:

Speaker impedance:  6 ohms nominal, described as "easy to drive."

Amplifier:

Rated Continuous Average Output Power (both channels operating simultaneously, 20 - 20,000 Hz):
150 W/ch 1-ohm load (1-ohm operation possible with music signals only)
120 W/ch 2-ohm load
60 W/ch 4-ohm load
30 W/ch 8-ohm load

Power Consumption:
160 watts idle
260 watts in accordance with IEC 60065
200 watts for rated output into 8 ohms

Maximum Dimensions:

Width 465 mm (18.31”)
Height 191 mm (7.52”)
Depth 428 mm (16.85”)

Weight:

24.7 kg (54.5 lbs) net

Consistent with what you have found, I would not expect an amp having size and weight as substantial as the E-600 and dissipating (consuming) roughly 200 watts to get particularly hot.  The same dissipation in a much smaller package would be a different story, though.

Regards,
-- Al
  
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