Does anyone leave their amp and preamp on all the time?
I listen most nights after work. I find that the system takes a while to warm up and sounds it's best if it has been shut off. So I leave it on. I always have and this is vintage stuff. The amp is a 25/25 Bedini class A. It stays warm but never hot. It has never caused an issue but recently I've been speaking with others that were stunned that I would do this. So let me know if I'm the only one that lets it run. Do you shut off the equipment after each session?
It's a good question. One of the reasons I chose the Class D was for this reason. Runs cooler than most and uses little power, <28W, when on but not in use.
I turn my integrated amp off, as I don't think it is good for the wear and tear on it to be on 24-7. I also don't think that it is good for my power bill either. It just seems like a wasted drain of power, cash and the longevity of the equipment.
My PS Audio BHK Mono 300's and BHK Signature Pre have a stand-by mode that keeps them ready to go after turning them on. So it is a 45 second wait and they are off and running fine.
Eddie, S.S. i leave on all the time It's the same as a light bulb. You only see them go when you turn on a light. Same with SS. i know you have a very nice Power condishner. Yes If not just blow as much money as you can on one You will want to buy me Cocktails after doing it The power Condishner Has to be over $1000 Just Saying
I notice my Audio Research tubed line-level preamps (LS-15 and LS-16) keep the tubes glowing even when turned off; I believe this not only offers better sound sooner but also extends the life of the tubes. (I don't know about tubed amps, however.) I leave the big Levinson in stand-by in our main system. In our bedroom system I turn everything off when not in use. Ditto for our office system.
I can't leave my Class A amps on all the time. They draw around 400 watts each just sitting there when not converting any of it to sound and they heat the room up noticeably by the end of a listening session. They do not take long to sound good once turned on, though.
Similarly I do not leave my tube amp (main system) on as the tubes only have a certain life time and I intend to use it all with me in the room.
My main system preamp is also tube, but is always powered and just takes a minute or a bit better to wake the tubes up when switched to active mode. No big changes in sound once they are on.
All of the time. My Threshold T2 preamp doesn't have an on off switch so I have no choice. My Threshold amp has been left on for years and only gets a little warm and never hot, surprising for a class A amp.
I am sporadic with when my system is on or off during the week, but I typically leave my entire system on from Thursday night through Sunday night for weekend listening. During the week if I want to listen I’ll turn them on when I get home, but turn them off at the end of the night to save on power (class A baby!) and save the tubes. If I’m leaving for a few days or more I’ll turn the breakers off (they are dedicated to audio).
I have a Krell 400cx Class A amp and per factory I leave my amp on standby ALWAYS, unless away for more than 4 or 5 days in which case I will power it off completely. Solids state amps LIKE to be in and always sound appreciably better when warm. Most amps don't like to be turned on and off. Standby alway best.
I have 3 Plinius Pre-Amps, a Plinius Phono Amp, a Plinius power amp and a large Perreaux amp and powered electrostatics with subs which all run constantly, Plinius recommend leaving them on.
I also remember reading that the heating up , cooling phases are where most component failure occurs.
The only time I turn them off is during a power blackout, as the return of electricity surge/brown power often is not clean.
Left my SA-9900 Pioneer integrated on for 32 years unless I left town was the only time it was turned off. I have a 1980 mosfet SoundCraftsman that I never turn off. My 77 Marantz I turn on the night before I use it.
Hi everyone this is my first post. I don't know if you're ever up all night but it seems like the electrical companies in my area must move power around at 3 or 4 a.m. which sometimes looks almost like a brown out by the time it gets to my house. I unplug all of my equipment when I'm done listening. If it's disconnected from Power surges and brownouts there is no way they can hurt you. I also have a recording setup which I connect to a few Tripp Lite dual conversion systems that create AC from DC I unplug those When Storms are coming. I'd rather wait for something to warm up then wait to buy a new piece of gear.
I have a Bryston 3B-NRB power amp, more than twenty years old. The only time it’s been off in the last 7 years has been during power outages & overnight+ trips. It’s warm, but not hot. I’ve read of studio installations with Bryston gear that was powered on for over twenty years and still going strong. Bryston does have a 20 year warranty, so I’m not worried about anything bad happening to it due to it being switched on non-stop.
I leave my Aragon on all the time. Another thing to considered for solid state is that on/off cycling increases the chance of component failure. The heating and cooling accelerates metal fatigue. Electronics manufacturers will repeatedly power cycle devices to weed out early life failures. The down side is that it also shortens the life expectancy of the device.
My Denon stays on all the time, as does my music server. The individual nodes (raspberry pi servers) are turned off. My Wyrd and Schiit Modi stay on all the time.
All tube pre-amps and amps in my main listening room and living room systems are never left on when I'm not in the room. Tubes are too precious to burn up, the power draw is high on the amps but they run cool which is a good thing.
However, both video systems use a Yamaha CR 620 receivers which are left on 24/7 and have lasted a decade without incident. They draw less power and are also quite cool running.
My preamp (Levinson 326s) and amps (Parasound JC1's) have standby modes which minimize the amount of warmup time. I wouldn't leave them on all the time even if they didn't however.
I’m no model “Mr. Green” when it comes to conservation, but I’m sufficiently astute to recognize that some vacuum tube power amplifiers so exceed the bounds of tolerable waste that they merit special distinction. Other forms of electronic inefficiency pale when compared to tube amplifiers that use eight (or more) high power vacuum tubes in their output stages.
Listed below are basic performance claims for three closely comparable stereo power amps. One is solid state ($$$), and the other two are premium ($$$$$) vacuum tube power amps. Take a look; compare. Also, be assured that what’s shown is entirely representative of equivalent product that’s offered by other makers. Specifications are precisely as extracted from the related websites.
(1) Parasound model Halo A23 stereo power amplifier (solid-state): Continuous full power output of 125 Watts (x2) into 8Ω, 200 Watts (x2) into 4Ω, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, both channels driven.
Total harmonic distortion: < 0.06% at full power output. (Note total harmonic distortion limit.)
Power required: 25 Watts in standby idle, 700 Watts at full power output into 4Ω loads.
(2) VTL Amplifiers Inc. model ST-150 stereo power amplifier: Uses eight 6550 output tubes. Full power output of 150 Watts/channel is cited, but the related test condition is not given.
Specified power output = 120 Watts into 5Ω. (Driving both channels is assumed, but not stated.)
Total harmonic distortion: Less than 3% at 120 Watts into 5Ω loads, 20 Hz - 20 kHz.
No power output ratings were provided for 8Ω load or 4Ω load. (Rating would decline at 4Ω.)
*Power required: 240 Watts in standby idle, 800 Watts at full power.
Mains fuse (USA): 15 Amperes.
List price: $12,295 ea. in Canadian dollars (per Melbourne Hi Fi, Victoria, Canada, on-line site).
(3) VAC (Valve Amplification Co.) model Phi 300.1a stereo power amplifier:Uses eight KT88 output tubes. Power output of 150 Watts cited, but conditions not given. (See distortion rating.)
Total harmonic distortion: Less than 3% at 135 Watts/channel continuous average power at 1 kHz into 4Ω load when connected to the amplifier’s 8Ω output tap (stereo mode operation).
*Power required: No power consumption data is provided, but it’s likely ≈ VTL ST-150 (above).
Mains fuse (USA): No information provided.
List price: MSRP $22,000 ea. (per Scott Walker Audio, on-line site).
*Both tube amps consume more power when in benign standby than a 55 inch Sony LED/LCD TV set does in use. Consider: 240 Watts of standby consumption is equivalent to continuously burning four 60 Watt incandescent bulbs without providing any light—just undesired heat. That’s conspicuous waste—and periodic expense to replace the tubes becomes even more vexing.
While I don't leave my entire system on all the time, I use 833-A single ended triodes to run the bass in a tri-wired speaker system, the cathode heater on an 833-A runs at 10 amps and 10 Volts and it will not let you get away with anything but the purest DC because it hums loudly otherwise. The power supplies for the heaters need at least 4.5 Farads from automotive digital capacitors to filter out the hum. But you can't hit them with the current from the 10 volt transformers, heavy duty rectifiers, and the 0.1 Ohm dropping resistor with such colossal capacitors emulating by force and effect a short circuit. Therefore the capacitors have to have a charge maintained by 9 volt AC to DC converters that maintain this charge through 100 Ohms before you start up the system. I am certain that there are other SETs that use a less exotic triode, but once you hear what it does to the bass you never want to go back to something more ordinary and less fun.
I have a VAC Auricle preamp (w/phono stage). I called VAC, and Brent, their head tech said tube wear is less by leaving it on all the time. The VAC monoblocks are turned on only when in use. For solid state gear, including power amps, it is the on/off power pulses that wear out components. Anything with a motor (CD players, open reel tape machines, etc.) should not be left on when not in use. It has worked for me.
Preamp tube wear is less when left on? That is utterly positively and absolutely not true. Also, the myth that power amps suffer from on/off power pulses might be true for poorly designed gear, but I've owned lots of amps over 5 decades and that has never been an issue.
When I owned a solid state preamp many years ago, it had to be on for about a week before it sounded right. Friends of mine with solid state preamps tell me that the week long thing really hasn't changed.
My current preamp is all tube and has to be on for about 20 minutes to sound right, and seems to get to where the warmup is going after about 2 hours.
Tube Research Labs builder and founder also told me it was easier on the tubes to stay on. The way he used the 6sn7 tube in the preamp sure gave it long life and I did leave it on.
Many amps and preamps have warm up cycles of a minute or less so that the tubes are brought up to full power slowly. How would this feature figure into the leave on/turn off debate?
It would figure strongly! My TRL preamp did not have this feature and the on/off cycling was indeed robbing the tube of more life than just leaving it on. Like all things audio....it always depends and few things are just black and white.
Wow...didn't expect this would be a debate, but it's a good debate.
I used to worry about it, but these days, I really don't. Back when I had my quicksilvers, I just made an educated guess that turning them on and off more than twice a day was about the same as leaving them on, as far as tube wear goes. I could be wrong, could be right.
Off and on IS hard on tubes...but, so is playing them. At idle...not so much.
Obviously, designs vary on how hard the tubes are driven, right?
I pay my electric bill, I pay my taxes, and I pay for my stereo stuff. Sometimes I gotta leave it playing to break it in. Like doing laundry.
My big 125 watt tube amps have a 45 second warm up. Once on, they take about 20 minutes to reach maximum set bias. Although they run cool enough to put your hand on the transformers (Class A/B), the tubes only last 2500 hours. So, I do not want to run them full time or pay for the excess power used (I do have solar covering most of the year except the summer when a 9000KV system just isn't enough in inland SoCal). I leave on my Bryston BIT20 isolation transformer all the time as it uses nominal power when no load is asking for power. I used to leave my EAR 324 phono stage (solid state) on all the time as well but have switched to a tube phono stage.
My DACs and Players I leave on all the time. Most DACs I have play best after a week, so there is not much choice here. But I am unsure about my tube A class amp, it needs 2 hours to sound full (maybe after more it goes even better, didn't test that). It has 9 tubes, draws constantly almost 300W and runs very hot. Now I don't care much about tube lifespan (I even believe on all the time is better for them, than 5x on/off per day!) or electricity bills, but about getting the darn house on fire or breaking this high end capacitors. It is so annoying needing to wait 2 hours for a proper listening session. I think I will get myself $1k++ power conditioner (should help when something bad happens with amp??) and just leave it on all the time except when travelling... Just not sure about the room temperatures when comming home after work when this thing was on.
Putting the energy consumption issue to the side here is something to consider in terms of component reliability. I have had two sources tell me that electronic component lifetime is related to the number of power cycles (on/off). This came from discussions with a supercomputer designer as well as discussion with a speaker manufacturer on the topic of crossover design. I would guess that slow start circuits could also reduce the impact of on/off power cycles to a degree. Of course leaving a component powered up all the time does not make sense for a tube amp with the power tube life issues and heat. Personally I leave my TRL Dude preamp and Samson monoblocks on all the time unless I leave on vacation.
No worries! We now know that any issues regarding conserving energy are no longer valid as we’ve reached the irreversible tipping point in our impact on climate. Unprecedented massive wildfires cover snow with ash that absorbs sunlight, wild animals in the warming Northeast are driven to their knees by tick infestations, trees are succumbing to disease from warming, the ice caps are melting far faster than anyone expected, reefs are dead or dying all over the globe so it’s "goodbye natural fish," the sea currents and jet stream are being effected causing massive weather changes, and coastal flooding will lead to chaos, massive migration, and unprecedented death and destruction. It’s too late to do a damn thing about it (we may have had a shot in the late 70s or so, but oil interests lobbied and lied us out of that possibility). So hey...be as wasteful as you want as it’s the sound of your gear that counts, not your children’s future.
I used to leave my Marantz integrated and SACD player on all the time. Now that I have the Kinki EX-M1 I turn it off when not in use. It simply gets too warm after several hours which is why they have those massive heat sinks inside and the numerous vent holes above and below.
No worries though as it sounds so much better at a cold start than the Marantz did leaving it on 24/7. Go figure. Optimum sound is reached around the 30 minute mark but I don't really notice an improvement as I'm already way into the music by then.
The SACD player draws so little that I still leave in on 24/7. Now if it's conservation you're after, make sure to turn off that damn cable box as they're power hogs, the likes of which you've never noticed.
And Wolf is right. We're way past the point of no return and what we're leaving future generations will have them cursing us long after we're gone.
You got it. NO worries. But Humanity is the worst thing happening to humanity, and since I like the outdoors it seems kinda sad we tossed it out. I got mine...played with Zeppelin, won some surf contests, etc, so I'm fine, and should enjoy the place reorganizing itself and the surf might get better.
Do batteries need to warm up? Do they break in? Just curious. Is the break-in time longer than the battery life? I use graphene contact enhancer on my Walkman batteries. Is that wrong?
Wow, someone bought into the climate change hoax big time! It’s all made up BS! You have been duped by Greta apparently. The earth has been here for billions of years, I think it will survive a few hundred of the industrial revolution. People are soooo gullible, it’s a freaking money grab period! The earth goes thru warming and cooling cycles and has since the beginning of time ......there Is absolutely no scientific evidence that any of this $h&t is true, none....In fact 99 % of scientists agree there is no freakin crisis my god.....its the new religion is all it is. Come back to Jesus Christ and be happy...its laughable really....get rid of fossil fuels? And use what? Electric cars? Hahahaha where does most of the electricity come from to charge the car? You guessed it fossil fuel....why? Because it is plentiful and reliable and it works.....wind power, not always windy. Solar? Too expensive and well not every day is sunny....these people are insane moonbat liberals sitting on piles of cash with nothing else to occupy their time except to go out of their way to make normal , rational, logical thinking people miserable. Ludicrous...
Yeah, one flight in their private jet instead of flying commercial and they have polluted more than I will in a hundred years of leaving my equipment on. They also typically own several gas guzzlers by way of automobiles, SUV’s and or super sports cars not to mention pools, jacuzzis, and lawn sprinkler systems.
My amps are Pass Aleph 2's pure class A, they run way to hot to leave on 24 -7 unfortunately they take a couple of hours minimum to start sounding good. Luckily I only work 5 mins. from home so when I plan on listening I'll turn everything on 2 or 3 hours prior. My sub crossover/amp has been plugged in and on for over 25 years but is probably class D and runs pretty much at room temp, the Aleph's on the other hand I could probably cook dinner with them! LOL.
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