2. amps-preamps
  3. 188522-89202

Amp — Leave on or turn off

I always turned my Benchmark AHB2 amp off after use every night. After all, why is there an on off switch on the front panel if not to do that? Last night I accidentally left it on. This morning, when I played my first record, I couldn’t believe my ears. The same record I played last night sounded infinitely better. I tried a second record and that, too, was much better.
I know there’s a debate on the question of leaving an amp on all the time.
I now know where I stand!

128x128rvpiano
aball
2,016 posts
 

@jl35  I'm like them - we don't care if your amp is worn out. This information is for those who want to know what really happens inside.

invalid
1,186 posts
 

Every piece of equipment I've had a failure with was on power up. I've found that most of the small electrolytic capacitors are what fail due to heat in my krell equipment the big power supply caps don't seem to fail as often. 

aball
2,016 posts
 

The power-up condition triggers failures due to inrush current.  In standard failure theory, the starting condition is always the toughest (it's the same for mechanical systems).  Electrolytics are typically rated for 85C, which is actually quite low.  They try to get nicer 105C rated ones for the supply.  Unfortunately many amp designers don't think about thermal management enough.

vinylcat
33 posts
 

I listen 2.5-3 hrs every day for the most part...

everything stays on for me (all SS):

Power Amps

Preamp

Phono Preamp

Dac/Streamer

Master Clock Generator

Turntable ADS

 

ptss
1,964 posts
 

Turn it off. 

More to discover