Pass Labs Amps - Does the heat bother you?

I have XA 60.8 monoblocks in a below-grade 18’ x 28’ x 8’ basement room that typically starts out around 68 degrees Fahrenheit before a listening session.

375 watts at idle times two yields one half the heat output of a typical 1500 watt space heater. They take about 45 minutes to reach full temp, at which point they are hot but not too hot to touch. I estimate they heat the room at a rate of 0.5 to 1 degree/hour but the room reaches an equilibrium after 5 or so hours. Totally acceptable in this environment but I can understand why others might suffer heat stroke in an attic during the summer.

Obviously, other Pass models put out more or less heat. I suggest looking at output at idle and converting to units of space heaters (SH). The XS 300 puts out 900 w so their combined output would be 1.2 SH. The XA 25 outputs 0.3 SH. The X350.8 is 0.8 SH.

Hope you can swing it. It’s a very nice sound.

My XA 30.8 doesn’t produce the heat my 300B mono blocks do and in either case the heat produced in minimal. The joy of hearing what the 30.8 brings to my listening sessions far outweighs any concerns or perceptions about it producing heat. If you are inclined to try Pass Labs I encourage you to!

I am running four Pass amps. Two X260.8 and two XA30.8 ion my tri-amped system.  The listening room gets slightly warm...the amps never come out of Class A operation no matter how loud I make it.  So full heat at idle and stays that way.  I put a Thermoworks BBQ thermometer on each amp and they stay at ~107-112 F.

If I remember correctly they weigh about 80 lbs. each. So that is a lot of metal.  No its not uncomfortable here in North jersey.

Regards,

Paul

I used to own a pair of XA200.5 amps, and heat never bothered me.

1. 350 wpc, wth, what speakers do you have?

2. 132 lbs (or more), add the cost of knee surgery (torn meniscus) or back surgery (herniated disc). Wait till you get old, know any teenagers? I just changed my 15" woofers. Speaker weighs over 100 lbs (but less than 132), all I did was tilt it, lower it on a blanket, back off, change the woofer, tilt it back up. Not a hernia, but my belly and back are just calming down 4 days later. I tore a meniscus moving an 80 lb McIntosh amp.

3. leave on, that is absurd IMO. Believe in warm up, ok, on, 20 minutes, listen, OFF! Aside from wearing out parts unnecessarily, heating up the room, consider conservation: it is just plain irresponsible to waste electricity.

4. ac. run the room a few degrees cooler, then turn it OFF for a listening session so there is no fan noise or gets too hot too quickly.

5. block ac vents?

They make filters, and shutters, so you can let the house cool, and partially or completely block the vents in the listening area

a. near any speaker so the heat does not dry out the cones

b. near your ears.