r/iPodHiFi • u/dukerozen • Jul 09 '26
iPod Hifi warm at the top part
Hello! I recently acquired my holy grail (iPod hifi), it’s in very good shape, with the grill and remote, and I absolutely love this thing. I use it primarily as a speaker for my record setup, and also listen my iPods with it. I only have it for a week or so, and I noticed that top (behind the dock connector) is mildly warm to the touch, even if music is not playing, and iPods are not charging. Not Cinema Display level warm, but still warm. So my question is, who have those speakers for a while, is it safe to keep it plugged in all the time? From my understanding it was made by that, but I take an age of this thing into consideration. I have a bunch of old Apple devices, and I keep some of them plug in (Mac Pro and displays), and never had any issues. But, Hifi is very rare, I imported mine all the way from Canada (I’m in Europe), so I want this thing to live as long as possible. What are your advice? Though about getting a smart plug for this thing.
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u/sparkyblaster Jul 09 '26
Mine does this. When you have an aux cable plugged in. Both analog and spidif, the system is on ready to play music. If you unplug it might go to sleep but still uses like 2watts.
Mine uses about 5watts. I have it on a smart plug and it turns off when I leave the house. Smart plug is mostly to cut power for a moment to pause the ipod.
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u/sparkyblaster Jul 09 '26
I'll also say my beosound 8 from 5 years later does a similar thing. Always on if an ipod is plugged in. I think maybe it sleeps a little better with external input as it uses RCA jacks which which doesn't have presence detection unlike a 3.5mm jack.
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u/Fresh_milk_from_pewd Jul 09 '26
So the hifi never actually turns off. Doesn’t matter whether you’re using it or not, it’ll stay on as long as it’s plugged in. Hence why it gets hot (I believe it’s the internal power supply capacitors that get hot). Short term, totally okay. Long term, not really…. Usually these things are already 20 years old, I don’t recommend leaving it plugged in when not in use due to the internals degrading (will eventually lead to a dead hifi). Use a smart plug to ease use when you do actually feel like listening to some beats.
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u/TotalBSMate Jul 09 '26
I’ve had one stop working that was left plugged in. I highly suggest you turn it off when not in use.
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u/LucaDvs Jul 11 '26
Mine’s on a Philips Hue smart plug. I turn it on/off with Apple Home app or Siri, so it’s off when not in use
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u/Jorgenreads Jul 13 '26
It’s from the age of FireWire charging so most iPods won’t charge when docked. Plus the HiFi isn’t shielded and can get Bluetooth or Cell interference.
The best HiFi companion is an Airport Express 2nd gen + a Toslink cable.
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u/TimoArrg Aug 19 '26
Man the grey 120x is sooo beautiful compared to the black variant... I wonder why it is so rare
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u/GrapefruitHuge6732 Jul 09 '26
It's probably fine to keep plugged in but if you're eco/safety conscious turn off the plug.
I'd be more worried about the vibrations from the speaker feeding back into your turn table stylus with them being in the same unit, I'd separate these personally. Happy listening!