Do you leave your components on 24/7?


Lately I've been leaving my components on all the time, on the assumption that a) they'll be ready when I want to listen, and b) the on/off cycle ages the equipment (tubes, anyway) faster than leaving everything on. Is the latter a reasonable assumption?
cmjones

Showing 3 responses by phd

I have a VTL preamp and the manufacturer states that a new set of tubes from them will last 5 years. Nothing mentioned on what the average time a consumer will have the preamp powered up. I leave it powered up most of the time mostly for sound quality so maybe that time (5 years) could be cut in half. My amp is solid state and it is never turned off unless I change interconnects.
Minol, 15 minutes may work with your system but I have found at least an hour of warm-up gets you 75% of the desired sound, 24 hours and you have reached a 100%. A case in point is I had a Musical Fidelity solid state preamp. It sounded so much better after 24 hours of continuos operation! Here is some other food for thought, In regards to Audible Illusions preamps I know that the tubes are always on even when the power button is turned off. The only way to turn the tubes off is to unplug the power cord. Manufacturer claims this will keep them operating for the best sonics whenever you are ready to listen. Not sure how this effects tube life.
Mcintech, I recently talked to a tech who told me that long storage can be far worse on the caps then leaving a piece of gear on 24/7.