We are an anal bunch, aren't we??? Could you imagine if you average joe read this thread? Of course I understand the importance, but to the average person, they would probably think us insane... which, upon reflection, is ok by me :) aj |
Jedi, One point, Make sure you are not alone when doing this! My 2 centavos. |
Alexc you are a good man with some good tips. I will have to keep that in mind! |
I usually start with a light dinner, a bottle of good wine and witty conversation for the turn on part. As for turn off, this is a bit more unpredictable, but mentioning your old girlfriend's name at the wrong moment will more often than not do the trick :-) |
Thanks Boys and girls lots of good info here. |
Hi, Jedi. I suspect that you are going to get a turn-on / turn-off thump (or pop) with the Adcoms even if you use the correct sequence. I owned the same Adcom preamp and amp you have, and also sold Adcom equipment during the early 1990's, and I always found the Adcoms have a momentary discharge. I am not a "circuit design geek", but I believe the Adcom amps experience the "thump" because they are direct coupled and have no capacitor at the output stage to absorb power transients when the amp is switched on/off. Aside from being annoying, the "thump" is really not harmful -- just be sure to have the volume turned all the way down when you start up or shut down. |
Paraphrased from page 3-4 of the Audio Alchemy Digital Line Controller (DLC) Preamplifier manual.
(paraphrased)
1. Do no plug the preamp PSU into AC mains, yet. Powered OFF.
2. Connect DC input from preamp to PSU. This grounds the preamp and you may see a small spark, which is normal.
2a. (I'm adding this) I usually connect the speakers to the power amp at this point., and if the preamp has a manual volume attenuator I crank it to the lowest setting and mute it. (I learned the hard way, once!). I also plug my power line conditioner into AC mains at this point and turn it ON)
3. With Preamp and power amp powered OFF and NOT connected to AC mains, connect interconnects from amp to preamp. (grounds the connection between the two?)
4. With source components powered OFF and unplugged from AC mains, connect interconnects from source(s) to preamp. (grounds the connection between source(s) and preamp?) (note: manual does not say what to do with turntable ground at this point. and not having a TT, myself, I do not know either!)
5. At this point I connect the preamp's power supply (PSU) to AC mains.
6. At this point I connect the source(s) to AC mains.
7. Finally, I connect the power amp to AC mains.
=======
Power down is the reverse of power-up for me. Also, any time I switch interconnects between ANYTHING, I perform a full power-down sequence, disconnect AC mains, and ground all interconnects to the preamp in sequence.
I had an audiophile friend over last month, and he watched me power the system down like this just to swap an interconnect. He was actually quite impressed that there was a "sequence" for doing this. It's quite easy to perform by rote memory.
Basically.
1. Ground preamp to its PSU
2. Ground all interconnects to preamp.
3. Ground to AC mains (pre, source, amp) |
If your amps and preamp are SS leave them on 24/7.
I have Lamm M1.1's amps and, although they are mostly SS (only one tube) I turn them off because they draw a great amount of electricity even at idle and they also run very hot! I always turn them off first and I hear a pop coming from the speakers,but is normal:it is caused by the condensers releasing the current they accumulated during the operate mode:infact I noticed that if the amps have been on for a short time (e.g. less that 1 hour) the pop turns out to be not so loud.Finally, never turn off digital sources!! Hope it helps. |
the above posts are correct but ALWAYS make sure the preamp volume controls are turned all the way down and the preamp is MUTED before turning it on and off and before turning the AMP on and off. |
No, I do it off last too. ????? I've owned these things for four years. Its like riding a bike. |
I had to think about think about it for a minute or two, its so habitual. But I think I do the amp on first and then off first. My stuff has tubes which are quikier warming up if that matters any. I always turn down the pre's volume knob too. I always get a slight deep turn on thump, but its never dramatic. |
When turning system on, you start with the sources, and follow the interconnects to the pre-amp then amp(last). When powering down,reverse order. Turn off closest thing to the speakers...amp first, then pre-amp, CD, tuner,other sources etc.Equipment sounds better when you leave on particularly if it has standby!!! Make sure you ALWAYS turn the source off LAST!!!if not left on all the time. Hope this helps. Steve |
You always turn on working from the source to the amplifiers and turn off working from the amplifiers to the source. The idea is to avoid creating an amplified pop which could damage the speakers.
Greg |
I'd just leave it all on all the time.
KP |
Amps go on last and off first. Frankly, I would never turn any of your equipment off. |
Startup:
Preamp, source(s), amplifier(s)
Shutdown:
Amplifier(s), everything else.
Works for me.
beemer |
I might suggest that, if you listen to your stereo often, do NOT shut off your amps. You actually incurr more "wear and tear" by frequent warmup/cool down cycles than by letting it run 24/7. The cost of electricity is also very low as the amps only use a few watts in quiescent mode. |
Usually it is amp on last, off first. |
