My brother, I too have been down the Aragon/Audio Research path. I had an 8008 driving my 'pans. Then put in an ARC Classic 60 and passed through the pearly gates of hifi and into the heavens of sound.
I'd go with the ARC D115. Heat in an entertainment center from tubes would definately shorten tube life. Obviously you should place it as high as possible relative to the other components in there.
Since you have an open back, it shouldn't be too bad. I'm not sure if the D115 has internal fans like most of the other ARC tube gear I've seen. If it does then you should be okay. However you could do the external fan routine as mentioned by J_K above (although I'm not sure what "muffin" fans are).
My amp is in an closed entertainment armoire. I bought a couple of little 3" or 4" black fans with the square housing from Radio Shack. You have to wire them up yourself with a little switchable lamp cord but they are quiet and pump out a lot more air than the ARC internals do. I have one fan blowing into the armoire at the bottom through an access hole and one blowing out at the top of the shelf area. This "push-pull fan system" works beautifully as the inside of the armoire with the front doors closed doesn't even get warm.
I think that it'd probably work just as well with one fan but haven't tried it. Originally I was looking to maximize airflow through the component area...
Ciao,
Daniel
I'd go with the ARC D115. Heat in an entertainment center from tubes would definately shorten tube life. Obviously you should place it as high as possible relative to the other components in there.
Since you have an open back, it shouldn't be too bad. I'm not sure if the D115 has internal fans like most of the other ARC tube gear I've seen. If it does then you should be okay. However you could do the external fan routine as mentioned by J_K above (although I'm not sure what "muffin" fans are).
My amp is in an closed entertainment armoire. I bought a couple of little 3" or 4" black fans with the square housing from Radio Shack. You have to wire them up yourself with a little switchable lamp cord but they are quiet and pump out a lot more air than the ARC internals do. I have one fan blowing into the armoire at the bottom through an access hole and one blowing out at the top of the shelf area. This "push-pull fan system" works beautifully as the inside of the armoire with the front doors closed doesn't even get warm.
I think that it'd probably work just as well with one fan but haven't tried it. Originally I was looking to maximize airflow through the component area...
Ciao,
Daniel