General Question About Hi-Fi Amps

[madmonda]

Quick question...As a look through photos of various member audio rigs, I notice that alot of folks have their amps on the floor, or very close to floor level. Is there a reason to do this? If so, what are the benefits?

[pinkmouse]

I could give you some nonsense about the effect of quantum gravity on semiconductors, or reduced air pressure on electrolytic caps, but I'm 99.999% certain that it's because they're too heavy for a shelf or stand, or there is no shelf/stand available.

[wintermute]

Yep in my case the amp is by far the heaviest component so it makes sense to put it at the bottom! Another possible reason is that the amps will generally run hotter than everything else and heat rises, so close to the floor will have the coolest ambient temperature, especially if other heat producing equipment is above it.

Tony.

[dave_gerecke]

I would agree with pinkmouse and wintermute. I would also add that since a power amp (not counting integrateds) doesn't need to be accessed as often as the preamp and sources, it doesn't need to be as high up. It can also help to have a large weight at the bottom of a rack to stabilize it.

Peace,

Dave

[DF96]

Amps are meant to amplify music, without being noticed. The best place for an amp is the floor, or the bottom of a rack, as others have said.

Two exceptions: amps which are mild effects boxes, and amps which are items of furniture/art so meant to be seen - these two are sometimes combined. Third exception: amps with lots of LEDs or magic eyes, although these could be considered a subset of the first two exceptions.

[Johnny2Bad]

A combination of factors and reasons, but the short answer is no, there is no particular reason why they are on the floor rather than a rackspace, except for the personal reasons of the owner.

The one significant audio performance-related reason is it may allow very short speaker cables. Since there is a compromise involved there (interconnect cable length plus possible issues driving long interconnects), it's not a hard-and-fast rule that will automatically lead to improvement in every case.

Do what's right for you.

[gmphadte]

My active triamp will definitely be sitting on the floor as it is too heavy with three transformers. I have even thought of fixing castors so that the floor below can be cleaned by moving it(not the floor).

Gajanan Phadte