Do you leave your components on 24/7?

I turn everything off except a Rel sub that's designed to be left on (no on/off switch anyway, and it's plugged into a different outlet...I unplug it when gone for days) as not much is happening until it gets a signal. Otherwise, having had gear work for MANY years without any issues from switching, I feel that more is likely to go wrong when electrons are running around my gear without adult supervision. I did have a hybrid guitar amp die from being on for a week once. I think it makes my gear appreciate me and perhaps look forward to seeing me as I can use my "godlike" powers to give it life. Am I insecure?

I think hell would have to have electricity...what...it runs on some imaginary power? Get real....

I wonder what this "breakdown rate" might actually be? I've been an audio fan and pro musician/soundman since 1967 and I personally haven't experienced much breakdown at all...and the perception of things sounding better after sometimes hundreds of hours of warmup seems more like a design flaw than otherwise, although since it's a fact of life among respected gear reviewers who hear much more stuff than I even will, I will allow it. "Mister nice guy!" My gear goes on as background music when I read my morning paper, and often stays on all day...maybe it's warming up and I didn't know it, but I haven't noticed much, if any, difference.

So the simple solution is this: Use gear that sounds GREAT the moment you turn it on, and once it warms up a bit it sounds greater. Actually...I think I have that already. Still, nobody has mentioned what the supposed "more likely to fail" failure rate might be (any tests of this?), and I know if my amps are off they can't fail.

First, I think using SS amps as lightbulbs wouldn't work at all...very difficult to screw in...secondly, I've always used dimmers...they save a ton and don't trigger seizures and distribute mercury pollution like compact flourescents. This thread reminds me of the days when high end purpose built speaker cable first arrived on the scene...it was always compared to "lamp cord", yet nobody tested the speaker wire in lamps. I bet a lamp wired up with high end speaker wire would have better photon distribution and cleaner shadow definition.

I tried Minorl's suggestion of having a glass of wine while waiting for my system to warm up...and I became too drunk to read my morning paper.

Indeed, an amp manufacturer will rightly claim the amp sounds better left on, and until it fails I'm sure it does. A car runs better when warmed up...leave that car on! If my gear is on and nobody is listening, does it sound good? Hmm...