What are your thoughts of the Tower design of amps

I've had a lot of opportunity to listen to my amp new designs in both "flat" (horizontal) and "tower" (vertical) arrangements. The circuitry that I provide in my upgrades for older Counterpoint SA-type amps go into those older horizontal chassis, while the newest implementation of the technology goes into the new tower-type Aria WT amps and I gotta say that I like the sound and layout much better in the tower chassis than in the horizontal chassis. The transformer, which goes in the bottom cavity where the AC wiring and other stuff fit, doesn't get very hot -- I target less than a 15C temp rise. Then above that there is a layer of plated steel, followed by the amplifier's circuit board. The heat-generating tubes are locate at the front of the circuit board with plenty of room above them (pics at www.ariaaudio.com), while the very tall sides of the package are used as output stage heatsinks and afford a whole ton of cooling surface, much more than I could get if I made a "flat" amp like so many I made before.

I tend to agree that the mono versions of the amps are very cool when you have one next to each speaker.

Michael Elliott

An amp with a vertical configuration is better arranged for convection (rising heat causing air currents) cooling than horizontally arranged amps. This is because there is more surface area along the sides of the amp where the heat sinks are normally located. There is so much surface area that the manufacturer may be able to "hide" the heat sink and/or avoid having lots of sharp aluminum extrusions on the sides. With a well designed vertical amp a designer may be able to eliminate a cooling fan in a design that would otherwise require one.

I like it in the mono blocs,but not for stereo.I have a stereo Cary Rocket 88 tube amp with the two green tuning eyes.I never get tired of looking at it,especially in the dark.....beautiful.

I think you guys nailed it Brian. I've never seen a tower type amp that wasn't a mono-bloc-- and I do like the looks of the Levinson H amps and also Classe's new 200 and 350 monos. Cheers. Craig

I'm also with Brian- that tower design is more suitable for mono amp than for stereo that will eventually occupy less floor area.

Dekay, you bring up a point I overlooked, placing a mono amp by the speaker, the tower design may be nicer. Of those that come to mind of the tower design, all are mono's but one.

Mark Levinson 33 and 33H monos
Classe Omega monos (I think thats the name?)
Theta Citadel monos
Red Rose Music (Rossette 1 Integrated)

I have only seen one of these ("G" something, can't recall the exact name). Though this "upstanding" tube amp was directed/marketed towards the audiophile/budget group (per the press release) the specs seemed to be the same as a previous "horizontal" amp by the same company which was marketed/directed for PC speaker use and which retailed for less. When I asked the A'Gon dealer/seller of this item if it was the same electronics in another chassis, I received no response/reply. Guess this speaks for itself. Don't know if it would be possible to organize an efficient layout in this format as the heat generating parts (tubes, transformers and power supplies) would be competing for upper level placement as far as heat dissapation goes (this would also impact the length of the internal signal path cables I would think). Even with a SS amp this would seem to be problematic (to me anyway), though I am not very knowlegable in this area and this is just a layman's opinion. That said, for mono block power amplifiers there might be a nitch for this configuration (if the kinks were worked out) as many of the "new" floor standers with skinny front baffles might be more attractive (if nothing else) with such a thin and upright mono amp placed behind them (again for user's into exceedingly short speaker cables which is "part" of the joy of using mono blocks). This upright configuration also became popular in old stereo consoles (early 60's), though the "upright" was achieved only by looking down @ the faceplate which was now vertical instead of horizontal on the top of the unit, but this trend seemed to die out quickly (which means that it was probably just a different styling conceived in order to attract interest). As far as traditional racks go, good point, as I can see no way to incorparate such a design into mine, though since I use both tube amps and a TT on the same rack I am also in a bit of a predicament and may end up placing the tube amps above the rack (maybe on wall shelves) in order to keep the "heat" @ the top. In this case vertical amps (with a small footprint) might be a bonus). Being on a tight budget though my final deciding factor is always the sound and price (not ergonomics).

It is all marketing gimmick. The tower design is inherently unstable and just doesn't make sense. It will be prone to be effect by the impact of a hugh amount acoustic energy during high dB musical presentation.
Based on my observation, if the manufacturuer cannot make it sounds good. The only way to attract consumers is to make it look good or interesting........... My advice is to stay away from them.