( 27 reviews )
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Posted: Jul 13 2009
I purchased the Antec AV cooler in the hope that it would vent the heat from the top of my Onkyo TX-SR806. After reading the positive reviews, why not give it a shot. It works, but only if the switch is on high - and when in the high position, it's really loud, like a Hoover. If I could retrofit this with larger fans, it would run quieter and move more air. (My equipment is in a rack with glass doors, but open in the back.) My solutions was to modify a 120mm pc case fan, set it on top of the receiver, and raise the receiver with audio insulators to allow air to flow through the unit. I am really disappointed in this product from Antec. I returned it after a week. Antec makes great power supplies and computer cases, but I think they missed the boat on the AV Cooler for my application. Your mileage may vary. Thanks.
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jun 24 2009
So I got my cooler last weekend and I've been using it for a couple days. There are good and bad aspects to this unit. The good: It does what it says, and my receiver operates much cooler than before. I can leave my hand on the top of the receiver and it only feels warm, before it was hot hot. The not so good: The unit is made of cheap plastic. There is a nice looking sheet of metal on top, but it's razor thin and only for looks. I thought there would be more solid metal in this to act as a heatsink. It's not heavy duty at all. Even for plastic it is very light. There's no way it's worth the $70ish price. Charging half that would be acceptable. When on low it doesn't seem to move that much air. High is unusable because the fans are too loud. Since it seems to cool acceptably on low I guess this isn't too bad of an issue. I have a graphics card silencer on my computer which uses the same fan design, and that moves a lot more air than these fans, so I was expecting a bit more flow without noise issues. The fan switch is a junky and very cheap 3 way low, off, high. Even though the construction is cheap in general most of it is done to look nice, and succeeds. This switch is similar to something off the bottom of a $5 battery powered toy. It doesn't fit in on the front of the unit right below the fancy blue power light. It's too tall! This is for cooling, so presumably it's something you would want to use in tight spaces. The main unit thickness is good, but it has feet that extend down almost another inch. If I have this much space I almost don't need a cooler! Thankfully, with some careful maneuvering around the lip on my shelf, it just fits. Another 1/8" and I'd have to send it back. "Low profile" is a bit of a miss-statement. The reason I need this product is because my cabinet is enclosed on 5 of 6 sides. Other than wiring holes, only the front is open, so that is where I need to direct the air out. This means the unit needs to be placed on top of my receiver backwards, which means the adapter plug sticks out front and center.It's very obvious and ugly. I also can't access the power/speed switch anymore (but I run it off a switched outlet like I image most people will). They really needed to put the power connection on the bottom of the unit and mold wire channels into the plastic that go out the front OR back (like most phones and charging stations do). The front AND back should be good looking enough to face outward, so no matter which way you want air to go it looks nice. This cooler isn't made to sit the way I have it, but considering what users need it for, it should be. If I had an open back on my cabinet I'd have gotten some regular fans for much less money. They make you pay for the aesthetics of this unit, but in my setup they are totally lost (the power light, the front view, and the top plate). In the end I do recommend this product because it does its job, and it's the only product I could find that worked for my setup. I also looked into notebook pc coolers, which are much cheaper. The design between those and this product is 95% the same, but the notebook coolers don't direct the airflow the way I need and this does. If you have a setup that requires this kind of specific solution, it is worth paying for even though it's overpriced. Otherwise I'd look into other options. It's a few modifications away from being a great product. Maybe next gen...
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Posted: Jun 13 2009
Great solution for a closed space and needed ventilation. It blends perfectly in with the rest of the equipment. It just needs a 12v switch and it would have gotten 5 stars.
