Just a quick update on my 502 amp. I have the 6 channel version, but for now I'm only using two channels.
This is sort of an experiment to see how I like them in a recording studio control room. This is a very demanding environment. First, it operates in the neighborhood of 8hrs/day, but like all studios there are days that run into 16-18 hrs.
These days, the way studio control rooms work, there is a lot of recording in there as well as mixing/mastering. Most studios do guitars, keyboards and other things that are "direct in" and/or a "mic'd cabinet in another room" from the control room. It's just easier to communicate and operate and most modern control rooms are plenty big enough. But this also puts additional strain on the monitoring environment as some times they are used for very demanding things other than mixing.
And of course with lots of Rock/Metal recordings, the old adage of listening at 85db or less is thrown out the window. So there are many times when it's very LOUD!
The value of these amps in this environment is that they can produce a lot of power and they can run without fans so they are silent. My concerns with them are quality of the audio, which is paramount, and operating cool enough to not destroy them. Even though they produce very little heat when idle, they still produce a fair amount when pushed hard and these get pushed HARD on a regular basis.
From the reviews by Amir, I was pretty sure the quality would be ok. And subjectively comparing the audio to previous traditional amps, as suspected they sound excellent. So very happy with that aspect.
The heat looks to be ok as well. They do get fairly warm to the touch, but I don't believe they are overheating. The other nice feature is the "auto on" feature. That seems to work very well. With that feature we're considering putting the amp "out of sight" and removing the top cover. This will open it up and should improve the air flow and keep it plenty cool.
The verdict so far, after about a month, is very good. If things change or we have longer term problems, I'll come back here and post again.