I recently acquired a CI 102 amplifier. I have no complaints regarding its performance; it has all the features I need and works very well indeed. However, I do have one slight concern.
When the unit is powered on—both when driving speakers and when used purely as a pre-amplifier with no speakers connected—the underside of the chassis, particularly near the speaker terminals, gets rather hot. This seems to be the area directly beneath the power output stage.
Looking at various photographs online, the unit is often shown sitting flat on a surface without much room for ventilation underneath.
In my set-up, I have added a small, silent PC fan to ensure a bit of airflow both above and below the amplifier.
Has anyone else experienced something similar with their unit?
I do hope this isn’t an issue that requires a repair and that nothing is actually faulty with my unit. I was simply expecting that a few other users might have paid attention to the heat dissipation as well.
In case any further technical details might help clarify the situation, here are the chassis temperatures measured after two hours of light music listening:
Ambient room temperature: 25°C
Clearance underneath: Raised on 4 cm feet
Hottest spot on the underside (approx. 5 cm from the speaker terminals): 59°C
Surrounding underside area: Temperature drops down towards 49°C as you move away from the hot spot
Top panel: Almost uniform temperature across the entire surface at around **44°C
NO fan ** *
All temperatures were measured using a Bosch PTD 1 infrared thermometer.*
I checked a unit today & after 3 hours streaming with no speakers connected the area under the amplifier section reached over 50 degrees, so it is normal.
Many thanks for all the replies, and especially to you, Niels. As a newcomer to the “Naim world”, I really appreciate getting such a prompt and reassuring response. Your last post highlighted a really interesting characteristic of this amplifier.
I look forward to joining in on more fascinating discussions here in the future.
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