AV receiver running very hot. Is it normal?

[Mystery]

I recently traded up my Yamaha Natural Sound 5.1 receiver to Onkyo 7.1 receiver.
The Yamaha used to be warm/hot but never too hot and I could touch the cover without much discomfort. Also, it used to be hot only on the top front part of the cover.
The Onkyo gets so hot that I can't place my palms on the cover for more than few seconds and it's hot almost the entire top cover except the back portion.
It's on it's own on a open rack shelf with openings all around and a wood shelf on top and it's not even very powerful receiver (TX-SR505). It's rated at 75 wpc @ 8 ohms and 100 wpc @ 6 ohms and I never go above 45 volume out of 70 or something max as I live in town home.
I'm using Polk CRS+ as fronts, Polk 5B's as surrounds and Polk monitor 4's for center and rear surrounds.

It has not gone to protection yet but just wondering if it's normal heat or amp is in stress. :scratch2:

 

[charles 1973]

That does seem hotter than normal. Is the heat comming from the area of the heat sinks or the transformer. The transfomer's often get very hot. When I took the cover off my Power Amp I couldn't touch it for more than a few seconds. Also do you have a switch with an 8 ohm/6 ohms in 6 ohm position. Some recievers just connect a resistor (AKA Heater) in series with the speaker to keep the amps outputs stable and cool.

 

[ericzim]

The 505 is very similar to my Onkyo HT-R550 which will run very warm when in full surround mode. The heat is due to the discrete amplifier transistors for each channel. if you don't have adequate space in what ever you have the amp installed into you might consider a small muffin fan mounted to the AV cabinet to exhaust the hot air or just run a cage fan in front of the unit. It works wonders for mine to disapate the heat.

 

[frankbooth]

My Onkyo (tx-nr708) runs rather warm, so did my old one. Never as hot as you described and I had my older one in a closed A/V cab. After an hour or two of high volume listening it would be hot but I could always touch it.

 

[hardwareguy]

They do run hot and require unobstructed ventilation for proper operation. Make sure it has plenty of space underneath and on top. I'd give it at least 6" (15cm) of breathing room on the top with open access or a fan at the rear of your cabinet.

 

[bad400]

this does sound pretty warm to me as well.

i had an onkyo 515pro a long time back. it wasnt high power really, but it never got even warm when in full 5.1 and full volume.

i now have a yamaha r-v703 6.1 and a denon avr 1802 5.1. the denon when running both A&B speakers at the same time at mid-volume and higher, gets really too warm for my liking.
the yamaha gets warm when running both A&B speakers at the same time, but no where near the warmth of the denon.

both receivers when running just A or the B channels stay pretty cool at all volume levels, its running A&B together that makes mine get warm.
but again, the denon gets way hotter in A&B mode.

 

[Mystery]

It appears that Onkyo in general runs hotter than Yamaha receiver.
I tested another 5.1 Yamaha in surround mode and it never got near that hot.

Onkyo in stereo mode gets hot in front right area only but in 7.1, it's hot all over so it is due to the discrete amplifiers for all channels. The amount of heat in Onkyo's stereo mode is same as 5.1 mode in Yamaha.
I guess next upgrade will be to Yamaha now. :scratch2:

 

[bad400]

i like my yamaha better than the denon to be honest.
the r-v703 is an older model than the avr-1802, but the 703 just plain sounds better to me.
it could be my speaker set-up, im not really sure though.
the yamaha has better bass and highs, the denon has a auto volume thingy which doesnt let it get as loud as the 703.
the 703 is 10w`s per channel less than the denon, but plays louder and cooler.



EDIT: spelling

 

[audiofred]

I have an older JVC surround and that sucker is heavy and it does run hot even at moderate volume.
It still sounds very good.
Still amazes our visitors and makes their heads turn as the effects start in an action picture.

 

[chefg1]

I have two sony 1011-s surround sound receivers from 1994 . One runs hot the other one you can leave it on all night. And it will never get hot.:scratch2:

 

[yrly]

All depends on the unit.

My dad's got an old Sony STR-DE935 which was one of the higher end ones, that thing gets HOT. In fact its not even the amp that gets hot, they have the DSP board mounted near the top of the unit and that generates a lot of heat. Of course that was when Sony made 30lb+ consumer units not the stuff they've got today forcing you into the ES line.

Pioneer VSX-1017 runs moderately warm, not hot, I use all full size floor speakers with it (my bedroom where I use it is 24x14), doesn't seem to stress it too much and you have to push it a bit to get the volume up there.

I use a Denon AVR-687 in the livingroom, it barely gets warm and the livingroom is as large as the bedroom. Unit is slightly less powerful than the Pioneer but I less frequently use it.

Computer room has a Kenwood 1090VR which was a higher end model using some sort of proprietary drive called TRAITR, that thing gets pretty darn warm, the computer room is more a standard bedroom size 12x14, using smallish infinity speakers and you don't really have to push it.

 

[Hyfi]

Both my Integra 30.3 and HK AVR635 run real hot, which prompted my post the other day about what the unused amps are doing since I only use 3 out of 7 in both units.