These ugly things
"Just stick it in the corner!"
NO!
I'm all about convenience too, but not the type of convenience where the manufacturer takes the liberty of a small, current convenience at my expense -
my large, future expense
SURPRISE: (what is it?) Inconvenience!
(..did I mention it's inconvenient?)
^That ugly mess of words and nonsense is nothing... NOTHING! compared to fixing what's left after two Mean-Well IRM 20-15s go belly-up!
I really like my Topping A70 Pro. Really, I like it (except for its two IRM 20-15s...)
I would much rather be working on the L70:
Than the A70 Pro:
(scale is similar in both pictures)
It's not all about the inconveninence, though - yes, it's inconvenient to replace a whole car when it just needed its rusty fuel tank replaced. It's also expensive!
Mr. Manufacturer might have saved 20c by not needing to order the individual parts to stick on the board for the standard, integrated SMPS.
But now I have to pay $40!
I don't know what I'm going to do when my IRM 20-15s eventually give out..
The A70 Pro's "standby" power is between 3 and 4 watts the last I checked, which is about half its draw during normal operation. Since it's powered on for most of each day, I estimate my A70 Pro's average power consumption is 80+% of "on and playing 50mW music"
The MTBF of the IRM 20-15 is "2K hrs. minimum", and they might have calculated it to 10656 hours to some lower standard (a temperature and humidity they didn't provide). The 2K hours probably comes from the 70 degree max case temperature causing an 85 deg C internal temperature, which matches the 2000 hour 85deg C rated, cheap-asz caps theyused hid inside!
You can see the L70 has nice, 105deg C caps! Therefore, its power supply is rated for at least 4x as long as A70 Pro (2000 hours, 105C derated to 95C is 4000 hours, derated to 85C is 8000 hours. The L70's external temperature (black matte aluminum) is 32.5C, A70 Pro is 41 deg C.
The A70 Pro's temp at the top is 41C - the case temp shouldn't be too much (if at all) over 45C:
Mean-Well: 2000h 85C > 4000h 75C > 8000h 65C > 16000h 55C > 32000h 45C
32K hours...
Is there any way to get these things to last longer? I'm not looking for extreme solutions like a Peltier, but... lol
Oh, they take DC! Should I give them DC? 120-430V!
For a consumer device like this, is a 20-30k hour expected lifespan acceptable?
I don't think it is..
I'm disappointed to learn this about my A70 Pro...
It sounds so good... Goes so loud...
It looks so nice! Its measurements are totally off the chart! (lolll)
If only the power supply wasn't cemented into a plastic box!
I believe that bulk capacitors should be accessible and never glued in or made to be a part of something else due to how important they are, and the way they wear out. Mean-Well could sell a version of these boxes with input caps to be installed externally (except the tiny ceramics)! These SMPS modules are nothing special (in case you thought it was because of the A70s 147dB SNR measurements - regulation is normal few %, noise is normal mV).
"Just stick it in the corner!"
NO!
I'm all about convenience too, but not the type of convenience where the manufacturer takes the liberty of a small, current convenience at my expense -
my large, future expense
SURPRISE: (what is it?) Inconvenience!
(..did I mention it's inconvenient?)
^That ugly mess of words and nonsense is nothing... NOTHING! compared to fixing what's left after two Mean-Well IRM 20-15s go belly-up!
I really like my Topping A70 Pro. Really, I like it (except for its two IRM 20-15s...)
I would much rather be working on the L70:
Than the A70 Pro:
(scale is similar in both pictures)
It's not all about the inconveninence, though - yes, it's inconvenient to replace a whole car when it just needed its rusty fuel tank replaced. It's also expensive!
Mr. Manufacturer might have saved 20c by not needing to order the individual parts to stick on the board for the standard, integrated SMPS.
But now I have to pay $40!
I don't know what I'm going to do when my IRM 20-15s eventually give out..
The A70 Pro's "standby" power is between 3 and 4 watts the last I checked, which is about half its draw during normal operation. Since it's powered on for most of each day, I estimate my A70 Pro's average power consumption is 80+% of "on and playing 50mW music"
The MTBF of the IRM 20-15 is "2K hrs. minimum", and they might have calculated it to 10656 hours to some lower standard (a temperature and humidity they didn't provide). The 2K hours probably comes from the 70 degree max case temperature causing an 85 deg C internal temperature, which matches the 2000 hour 85deg C rated, cheap-asz caps they
You can see the L70 has nice, 105deg C caps! Therefore, its power supply is rated for at least 4x as long as A70 Pro (2000 hours, 105C derated to 95C is 4000 hours, derated to 85C is 8000 hours. The L70's external temperature (black matte aluminum) is 32.5C, A70 Pro is 41 deg C.
The A70 Pro's temp at the top is 41C - the case temp shouldn't be too much (if at all) over 45C:
Mean-Well: 2000h 85C > 4000h 75C > 8000h 65C > 16000h 55C > 32000h 45C
32K hours...
Is there any way to get these things to last longer? I'm not looking for extreme solutions like a Peltier, but... lol
Oh, they take DC! Should I give them DC? 120-430V!
For a consumer device like this, is a 20-30k hour expected lifespan acceptable?
I don't think it is..
I'm disappointed to learn this about my A70 Pro...
It sounds so good... Goes so loud...
It looks so nice! Its measurements are totally off the chart! (lolll)
If only the power supply wasn't cemented into a plastic box!
I believe that bulk capacitors should be accessible and never glued in or made to be a part of something else due to how important they are, and the way they wear out. Mean-Well could sell a version of these boxes with input caps to be installed externally (except the tiny ceramics)! These SMPS modules are nothing special (in case you thought it was because of the A70s 147dB SNR measurements - regulation is normal few %, noise is normal mV).
