I have an ND5 XS2 / SN3 / Ovator 400 with NACA 5 cable. Internet connection is all ethernet, with an ID Net fibre connection 900mb up and down. The SN3, 4 years old, came back from Salisbury yesterday for the second time in a year with a new mute relay. Left last time, Right this time.
As it happens I had the option for a listening evening home alone tonight and have had issues with the SN3 cutting out, with the volume no more than 50%. 40% is fine. 50% shouldn’t be an issue. This has happened before but I’d forgotten about it, as it doesn’t last long.
Any ideas before sending back to Salisbury again?!
IIRC a flashing CD button indicates excess temperature.
if the volume knob is at 12 o’clock that’s pretty high - does the Supernait have enough air around the case (the casework is the heatsink) for it to dissipate heat?
Typically I run it at 25% - 9 o’clock - but as it had just come back from the factory and I was on my own I thought I’d have a listening evening. It sits in a Simrak which is pretty open as you can see.
I agree that it was overheating, but I might have thought that running it at 50% should be OK for a couple of hours or so?
Volume knobs and percentages don’t mix
It all depends on the dynamic headroom.
When I had Linn amps the vol went from 0-100 I used at on good sessions at about 65-70 this was ok but I always found Linn amps did little really below 50
I’m on a Naim Supernait 3 now and to listen at those enthusiastical levels my volume is hardly ever beyond 9 O clock if it were a clock face.
12 O clock in this room would be.
Volume doesn’t work like that. Having the knob at 12 does mot mean it’s operating at half power. There’s loads of tutorials and stuff out there if you want to find out more.
It sounds like you’ve been working your amp too hard. Th 400s have a fairly low impedance and aren’t that sensitive. Driving them at high SPLs for any length of time may be problematic.
