A/V Receiver Cooling

[skerdoba]

I'm ramping up to purchase a new A/V Receiver and my research to this point has me leaning towards either the Onkyo TX-NR906 or TX-SR876. However reading reviews and comments in this and other forums I've noted there is almost always a comment about the Onkyos running hot. Which leads me to wonder if any of you have implemented cooling solutions or have seen or know of cooling products, particularly those that sit on top of a receiver (or any hot-running component, not necessarily just the Onkyos). Most of what I've seen on the internet are homebrew solutions that are just PC case fans sitting on top of the A/V component. Perhaps more to the point is I wonder if there is any quantifiable evidence that cooling fans do any good in terms of extending the life of the equipment. I mean, Onkyo in particular is widely admired for their build quality, fit and finish so we can assume some pretty smart engineering types have put a lot of thought and effort into the design of their products. If the heat they generate is really an issue, wouldn't they have engineered a quiet $10 exhaust fan into the case?

[wes]

Originally Posted by skerdoba

I'm ramping up to purchase a new A/V Receiver and my research to this point has me leaning towards either the Onkyo TX-NR906 or TX-SR876. However reading reviews and comments in this and other forums I've noted there is almost always a comment about the Onkyos running hot.

Heat is fine as long as you are not melting anything inside, keep 6 inches clearance on top and 3 inches on the side with 6inches in the back and you will be fine.

My seven year old Integra Research made by Onkyo works like a charm and I use it every day at least four hours a day during the week and over 10 hours a day on weekend. This translate to about 13,440 hours of playing RDC7 pre/pro and it is still working like a charm.

[rppb]

I have the 806 and I use a sony cooling fan with adjustible speeds. I tried running it about an hour without the fan and it ran warm. The sound is great. I still have my Onkyo tx ds787 and that runs cool. I think people do more harm if they plug in a unit that was just delivered from a cold UPS truck. I always let mine warm up to room temperature an I have had great luck with all my purchases except for two Athena ps 6000 subwoofers.Both amps failed within a year.