Heat issues with Subwoofers

[Minotaar]

Hi,

I dont know if any of you remember the Microsoft Sound system 80, a 2.1 sound system made by philips and MS back in like 98 or so..

So the subwoofer makes crazy heat. And Im not talkin about heat when Im pounding out the beats - it gets hot during idle. I use it as a foot warmer in the winter.

The problem is the summer. It has been responsible for heating up my room more than a few times. So I've relegated the system to my office, where I dont pay for AC

Can anyone recommend a 2.1 system (like the logi 340 or klipsch 2.1) that will sound nice, but doesnt have a hot-a$$ subwoofer? do they all generate heat like that?

The MS 80 generates so much heat that if I were to cool it myself (hmm interesting!) I'd have to dump the heat outside or something, because theres just so much heat that it warms the ambient air in my apt.

[scalar]

High-end audio is not my area of expertise, but generally the reason it produces so much heat all the time is because it has a huge-ass transformer and power amplifier that sits there running at full power all the time. Even with the volume at 5%, the power supply runs hot, as if you were drawing 100%. These are CLASS A or CLASS AB amplifiers.

What you want is an audio amplifier that has a power supply like your computer -- a switching power supply that only outputs as much power as is needed at any given moment by slicing up the power source with a very high-frequency switch. (The more power you need, the larger the slices become.) In the audio world this is known as a CLASS D amplifier.

Lots more detail here:
http://www.eatel.net/~amptech/elecdisc/ampclass.htm



I haven't been able to find a list of all classes in my short time googling, but there are others you may want to know about.

This page on Class T amplifiers sounds like a sales pitch for the company Tripath, but note the following:

Another amazing but predictable benefit of T-Class™ is its cool operating temperature. When used within its designed power and load limitations, T-Class™ generates almost no heat.

http://www.geocities.com/phatcow2/TClassExplained.html


Here's what appears to be the main manufacturer of Class-T amplifier components:

http://www.tripath.com/tech.htm


-Scalar

[al bundy]

The Cambridge MegaWorks 2.1 THX 250D uses an advanced BASH® (Bridged Amplifier/ Switching Hybrid) power supply, which would perhaps be what you're looking for?

[scalar]

Creative's site is utterly frustrating, as there is apparantly no way to search through their products for other cool-running amplifiers of similar design..

If they have a search button, I haven't found it yet.

[Rory B.]

slightly off-topic

heat or no heat, that DSS80 has great bass thanks to the wOOx-technology passive radiator. I do Hi-Fi audio in my spare time (have DIY mains and the best-sounding 10" subwoofer I've yet to hear) and I know that passive radiators are probably the best way to get deep bass with the least amount of distortion. They are often more difficult to implement than ports because they require some special calculations, and for every woofer of X diameter, two passive radiators of X diameter are required. Where wOOx excels is that its passive radiator design has much more excursion with its dual surrounds, so only one is ever necessary. In every implementation of wOOx that I've seen, I have noticed extremely low distortion and deep, impactful bass for the speaker's size. Computer speakers and stereo mini-systems may not be the highest of fidelity, but wOOx helps get the bass out in a way that adds less distortion to the output than even a bass-reflex loading.

So, that's what I think of wOOx. Extremely unique and very effective.

[Rory B.]

Look for an amplifier with a switching power supply instead of a linear one. BASH is a switching-power-supply amplifier. The MegaWorks is also a pretty decent system as far as sound fidelity goes. Look for something that has Henry Kloss's name associated with it. He helped develop the first acoustic-suspension (sealed box as opposed to open-backed) loudspeaker for a company called Acoustic Research, and he drew upon the experience gained at AR in designing the famous Advent loudspeakers, which are still some of the only loudspeakers around to claim decent midrange from a 10" woofer. Kloss made loudspeakers at Advent to fund his research into and development of large-screen televisions, and became famous for loudspeakers in the process. For Tivoli Audio, he designed the Kloss Model One and Model Two table radios (mono and stereo, respectively, known for their good sound from a 3" driver with the small amount of active EQ applied), and then he went to work for Cambridge Soundworks. Cambridge soundworks used to make great products until Creative bought them. Their sound is not quite what it used to be, but it is still very good, especially for the price you pay. (On the other end of the spectrum is Bose which uses extremely cheap drivers, produces very colored, low-fidelity sound, and charges out the wazoo.) You will do pretty well with Cambridge Soundwork, though.

[hsdhman]

I have the altec lansing 641 (4.1) and the sub is cool after 2 hours of heavy work... im not sure but the 621 (2.1) might be similar.