Today I had the music cranked up while I was outside working and I heard the volume go down, then a few minutes later it came back up. I went inside and noticed that my amp (Rotel RMB-1075) was going into protection mode on the right and left channels. The receiver was set to 5 channel music. I changed it to 3 channel, and turned it down to 72 from 75. It's range is from 1 to 90, It never happened again. My current setup allows for about 3 inches on top, and about 1.5 inches on the side.

Setup includes
M80's, vp150, and QS-8's.

Thanks,

Rick

Hi ralderman,

Because you had it "cranked up" (meaning loud) and you were running it in a 5-channel music mode, it means there's lots more energy going to all of the speakers, not just occasional effects and ambience stuff. Plus you're driving 4-ohm loads, so you should thank your Rotel's protection circuitry for saving the output stage. It heats up--remember, there are five or more amps on one chassis, not two like in the old days of stereo--so the protection circuitry limits output for awhile until the output transistors cool down.

Do you have plenty of ventilation room above the amp?

Regards,

Ralderman,

I think you need more air to your Rotel. I've heard you should have more than the recommended (3 inches) of room on the top if you're going to run at high volumes, especially if you're in 5 channel!

Someone I know has a fan pushing air away from the top of his NAD amp but it's very noisy and obtrusive.