Hi Everyone, just wondering if upgrading to a denon 3808 would help solve or at least slow down the heating up of my amp. Im currently running a denon 2808 with paradigm studio 60's, paradigm titans v6, klipsch rw10d, monster thx center and mission m35's. I always turn it down if the amp is overheating, and have a small deskfan next to it to slow down the overheating.
The only things that should make a 2808 hot to the touch when in use are:
1. Ventilation (both beneath and above the unit). Ensure it's not on a carpet-like platform so it can draw cool air from below and ensure it has at least 3 inches above to allow the air to flow.
2. A short in the system. Speaker cables with an intermittent short can cause this kind of problem. If you have cats, check the speaker cable runs to see if any of them have been chewed.
3. Speakers which are difficult to drive. If you're using 4ohm speakers (should say on the back), these will use a lot more power than 6 or 8 ohm speakers. In this case, a more powerful receiver may be required, but only if the unit has had to shut down. If not, then it's working within tolerance and will continue to do so happily.
Your 2808 is a fairly new unit. You'd only need to upgrade if you wanted the newer bluray high res audio features and/or more power (or a better receiver, and the better fidelity that should come with it).
James, how do you know it's overheating or just running at normal operating temp. for the volume level? If it's running warm and not shutting down, you should be o.k. Using a fan will help but who want that extra noise. As Frank has mentioned, ensure adequate ventilation all around including back and bottom. Check all speaker wires and replace any that are suspicious. What you can try doing is running just he front two speakers with everything else unhooked and see if it gets to the same temperature. Then add the centre back in and test again. Slowly add the remaining in sets. The 3808 will be more powerful but not a whole different story.
Warning: A fan May Not Help. If the fan blows air in such a way as to impede the natural convection, you may create dead air in the receiver and make it run hotter. Best bet MAY be to get a couple 4" box fans......like computer cooling fans, only house current driven, and put them on top of the vents, sucking up/out of the receiver. I did something similar with a Carver Cube many many years ago and I could run the cube ALL DAY at 200watt + peaks and it wouldn't even get warm. The fan sucked air right over the output transistors thru vents in the amp.