Do you leave your components on 24/7?

We repair technicians who work for the manufacturer love when you leave them on 24/7. Over many years the heat damage to the circuit boards or the brittle fragility of overheated wires in point-point wired amps makes them unrepairable (well, beyond economical repair, anyway) so we get to sell new amps and preamps.

You can always tell, even with the coolest running solid state units, which older components were left on or turned off during their lifespan.

I say turn them off. And if tubes, absolutely turn them off.

I should have emphasized that I was referring to vintage gear (my specialty, and what I listen to at home), and since I typically like to buy once (I drive a 16 year old Corolla) long term reliability is paramount 'cause this boy don't like to repair his own gear.

The Nagra pyramids run so cool I doubt you'd see heat damage for over 10 years or more.

My shop is also McIntosh Labs and several other brands, and the same applies. After SEVERAL years, you can tell which units never get turned off, even CD players in the power supply areas.

If you only keep new units for a few years, leave it on.