AC Infinity, AIRCOM S10 AV Component Cooling Fan System 17”, Front-Exhaust

I heard about this from a Skylabs Audio (West Des Moines, IA) video on You Tube: "9 Vintage Stereo Upgrades You Didn't Know About". The unit is exactly what Kevin described in his video, works perfectly, and it does an amazing job.I have a 1977 Technics Receiver which was reconditioned and rebuilt by Skylabs. The receiver produces a bit of normal internal heat as it operates, but nothing excessive. Per Kevin, heat can shorten the life of vintage units such as this, so purchasing the basic AC Infinity fan made sense. It is VERY easy to set up, and I am using the auto setting with the orange and white panel lights showing - this means the unit monitors the temperature of the receiver, and adjusts the fan speed accordingly. The AC instructions explain how to select the various settings.Sure enough when the receiver is on during the day or if I turn up the volume, the protective fan activates when needed and does it's job. The fan is silent and removes the excess heat perfectly. The top of the receiver and the internal components stay cooler thanks to the fan. As an extra bonus, the receiver sits on top of a credenza, and the fan helps to keep dust out of the inside of the receiver which has an open ventilation grid on its top.

I’ve used this for the past 2 1/2 years and this is a very effective cooler for any AVR/amp that tends to run warm or hot. On the lowest fan speed the sound is barely noticeable even on low volume settings however if you allow the cooler to run at higher speeds, you will hear the fan engage at higher speeds when it senses heat heat from your AVR or amplifier. Of course this will depend on how hot your amp runs during use. I have offloaded power on my setup to seperate amplifiers allowing for a lower fan setting compared to using the built in power of my AVR. You will be able to adust temperature and speed settings to your liking. Overall it does a good job and should help prolong the life of your equipment.

This is a high quality piece of equipment. From the packaging to the user manual, to the unit itself, it is evident that this company holds its products to a high standard. I am using this unit on top of a Denon receiver that is in an enclosed cabinet that is open at the rear. Heat is drawn out of the top of the Denon and exhausted out the back of the cabinet. The smart mode ensures that the Denon is always at the low end of its recommended operating temperature range, confirmed by a hand-held infrared thermometer. The fan does not make an unacceptable amount if noise, barely noticeable, IMO. Prior to my purchase, I always kept the hinged cabinet door open while using the Denon and worried that someone walking by would hit the open door and break it. Problem solved.

** EDITED REVIEW MAY 7, 2022: After using for 1 year, the Aircom S10 continues to impress. I did make one change, however, to the settings below. The change was to set the device to Mode=Auto/Fan=Low. The reason for the change is that I kept forgetting to turn the fan off manually when set to Mode=On/Fan=Low. I also had the occasion recently to check for dust build-up, and I am happy to say the amount was minimal - the fact of which I attribute to the low fan speed setting. **MODEL PURCHASED: S10 (w/front exhaust)COOLING SETTINGS USED: "Mode=On/Fan=Low"TRICK TO GET FAN SPEED LIGHT TO TURN OFF: Press and hold Mode/Power button (far left while facing unit) for 3+ seconds, then release and wait a few seconds for fan speed light to turn off. When the fan light is "Off" it is truly invisible behind the faceplate bezel, as you can easily see (or not see!) for yourself in the attached pictures.MODE/POWER LIGHTS REMAIN ON: The mode lights - which double as "Power=On" lights - will remain lit depending on mode selected. However, they are not overly bright. In my case, using the "On" mode, only the very tiny white light remains lit. I did not find it distracting.TRICK TO TURN UNIT OFF: Press and release the Mode/Power button to cycle through the modes to reach power off state. In my case, 4 presses are required to reach power off state.AMP USED: Twenty-plus year old NAD 906 Multi-Channel Amplifier with three separate (and very large) power supplies, and six discrete/bridgeable channels. The NAD 906 amp was advertised as having "high quality, high temperature" components. Inside there is a lot of chunky metal, so to speak, that not only produces its own heat but also holds any heat around it. Most significantly the amp has no fans, which is a tip-off it was designed and built for consistent performance at high levels of heat. However, when considering the massive amounts of chunky metal inside, it is clear that the 906 would shed heat very efficiently with any kind of increased air movement across any of the metal, especially the large heat sinks.AMP DUTIES: 4-channel Atmos/DTS-X amplification of "Dolby-enabled" Height 1 and Height 2 speakers line-out signals from NAD 758 v3i receiver. (Note: On the NAD 906 amp, I employed two channels on far right of chassis and two channels on far left of chassis to widen heat distribution/dispersion.)AMP PLACEMENT: Cabinet shelf, two 2" holes in cabinet back cover, open front, no other electronics in same shelf or above/below.SEE BELOW for AMP TEMPERATURES at VARIOUS AMP STATES (Note: Measurements taken at center/top of amp cover, and room temperature is 75f average):With Fan NOT In-place/NOT In-use (i.e. prior to purchase):77f - Amp Off (TV, lamps, and exterior wall by cabinet create ambient heat increase 2f higher than room average)94f - Amp On/Idling, RCA inputs from receiver not active111f - Amp On/Idling, RCA inputs from receiver active but w/no signal (strong "Class A" bias?)120f - Amp On, temp after 140min movie w/Atmos content ("Ready Player One")With Fan IN-PLACE/IN-USE but removed for measurements AFTER MOVIE:77f - After movie, amp immediately turned off, fan immediately removed, amp temp immediately measured after 140min movie w/Atmos content ("Ready Player One")85f - Amp left off, fan still removed, and temp measured after 20 minutes86f - Amp left off, fan still removed, and temp measured after 40 minutesPERFORMANCE/TESTING CONCLUSION: The AIRCOM S10 performed beyond expectation, using low and quiet air flow to keep my amp at 77f while in normal use, which is as cool as it is when powered off. To give some credence to the above active cooling effect's astonishing measurement of 77f, you can see from my other measurements that the heat increased (as expected) after the amp was off and the moving air's wicking effect was removed. Still the amp's heat had only increased to 86f after 40 minutes. I am confident leaving the fan on for 5-10 minutes after the amp has been powered off would wick away most if not all the residual heat from the sinks. To be fair, the amp is not cluttered inside, has enough slits in the top and bottom shrouds to easily call them screens, uses very large heat sinks that allow for amazingly quick heat conduction, and the movie was not overly loud.OPERATIONAL TESTING/CONCLUSION: I did not want to wait for the amp to reach the mid- to high-80's before the fan would automatically turn on, so I avoided all of the S10's automatic settings. In my testing, and now ongoing use, I decided to just manually turn it "On" at its lowest setting (which is very quiet) when I started watching a movie, and thus it would always stay many degrees ahead of the amp. Said another way, by turning the fan on at the same time I begin using the amp, the fan would not have to "play catch-up" with the amp if the amp had been allowed to get hot, first. I work with huge servers in datacenters (and have my own computers) and, in my opinion and based on experience there is no real benefit - aside from convenience, which will understandably be the winning feature to others - to waiting for a fan to do its job later rather than sooner. Now, what I will do differently in the future - distinct from my measurement process above - is let the fan run for a little while after the amp is turned off.VALUE CONCLUSION: With over 20+ years under the belt of my NAD 906, the AIRCOM S10's outstanding ability to remove heat from that hot-running amp will only help it remain stable and useful longer than otherwise. And the cost of the AIRCOM S10 is far, far less expensive than buying a new amp of similar quality.