Post by davidf on Jul 12, 2017 11:43:10 GMT
A few hints and tips to get the most from your amplifier (updated 23/3/2018):
Switch on about half an hour or an hour before use, this will allow components to stabilise and work at their optimum. Some amplifiers may need several hours.
A good quality hi-fi rack will get the most from your electronics. Sideboards and cupboards will resonate, passing these vibrations through to the electronics. This will affect mechanical devices more so than solid state ones.
Unplug and plug back in all of your connections every six months or so. This will help keep contacts clean. It may or may not produce a noticable difference, but worth doing anyway.
Try and give all electronics their own mains socket. If this isn't possible and you have to use a mains adaptor, try and plug the amplifier directly into it's own wall socket.
Give the amplifier some breathing space. Don't place items on top of it - this will cause the amplifier to run hotter than it should and shorten it's life span as components will be running hotter than they're designed to. This may not be so much of an issue during winter, but certainly increases temperature excessively during the hotter, summer months.
Try and keep interconnect cables away from mains cables where possible in order to cut down on possible interference between the two.
The safe maximum output of most conventional amplifiers is about half way (12 o'clock) on a conventional "non linear" volume control (old style ones that go from 0-10 with a start and end stop). If you're reaching this half way point or exceeding it, you probably need a more powerful amplifier, or more efficient speakers for the space you have.
Just a small thing, but the top of the outer case many amplifiers tends to vibrate when tapped - placing something with a bit of weight on this will stop this. It's debatable as to whether this will make any difference to the components within the amplifier (some say it will, some say it won't), but might be worth considering, particularly on budget amplifiers where this effect is worse. Be careful not to block any ventilation holes though.
Regards
davidf
Switch on about half an hour or an hour before use, this will allow components to stabilise and work at their optimum. Some amplifiers may need several hours.
A good quality hi-fi rack will get the most from your electronics. Sideboards and cupboards will resonate, passing these vibrations through to the electronics. This will affect mechanical devices more so than solid state ones.
Unplug and plug back in all of your connections every six months or so. This will help keep contacts clean. It may or may not produce a noticable difference, but worth doing anyway.
Try and give all electronics their own mains socket. If this isn't possible and you have to use a mains adaptor, try and plug the amplifier directly into it's own wall socket.
Give the amplifier some breathing space. Don't place items on top of it - this will cause the amplifier to run hotter than it should and shorten it's life span as components will be running hotter than they're designed to. This may not be so much of an issue during winter, but certainly increases temperature excessively during the hotter, summer months.
Try and keep interconnect cables away from mains cables where possible in order to cut down on possible interference between the two.
The safe maximum output of most conventional amplifiers is about half way (12 o'clock) on a conventional "non linear" volume control (old style ones that go from 0-10 with a start and end stop). If you're reaching this half way point or exceeding it, you probably need a more powerful amplifier, or more efficient speakers for the space you have.
Just a small thing, but the top of the outer case many amplifiers tends to vibrate when tapped - placing something with a bit of weight on this will stop this. It's debatable as to whether this will make any difference to the components within the amplifier (some say it will, some say it won't), but might be worth considering, particularly on budget amplifiers where this effect is worse. Be careful not to block any ventilation holes though.
Regards
davidf