Amp biasing question

@whart  and @testpilot 

I understand what you are saying.  My question was due to reading separate threads that: if I was understanding them correctly, were stating that prior to turning an amp on, not only should it be connected to speakers, but the preamp should be turned on first (and shutting the system down should be done in the same order--amp off first and then preamp)

AND

that (again, if I was understanding correctly) that biasing should be done with the preamp turned off.  Perhaps that was what I misunderstood and what was meant was that no signal should be being sent from pre when biasing. 

@whart  , yes, I agree that is separate from biasing.  And I may have misunderstood the postings I have been referring to.  I just was getting the impression that before turning the amp on, the pre should always be on.  If I had that right, one would have to have his or her preamp on while adjusting the bias.

@ghdprentice  , do you bias your ARC with the preamp turned off or on?

Thanks, @jea48  , I just remember reading here that an ampifier should not be turned on unless it was hooked to a speaker load and had a preamp  connected to it and turned on.  And I am pretty sure I have read that an amp should be biased with the preamp turned off.  The two seemed to me to contradict one another so I was just wondering how folks were doing their biasing.

With all that above being typed, it is possible that I misunderstood something along the way.

Thanks again for the input. 

@arcguy  , I once owned a pair of ARC VTM120s, and for all the good things I can say about them, I would hesitate to use the term "perfectly stable."