Leave it on?


I just listened to Paul McGowan explain that turning SS equipment on and off degrades the capacitors from the tiny power surge and that leaving SS equipment on ALL THE TIME is best. What do you do? 

maprik

Turn them off.  Heat and cost matter.  

The exception to this is some Class D, like ICEpower which absolutely sound bad until they have warmed up for 2-4 days.  Can't explain this in any logical way.  laugh

I do not subscribe to that philosophy.    Many devices today have a standby or remote IR sensor so they are "on" sort of.   And if they have a mechanical switch I use it.

My main set up is all tube and that is only on when I'm listening and have time to listen for a few hours 

My second system is Solid State and has a full function remote.  Plus it has Auto Off so I let it do that when there's no signal for 20 min .  Either way it's " off" when not in use 

If it's got an I.R. window its always on .   

 

 

I put my integrated amp into standby when done listening. 
My DAC doesn’t have a standby mode, it’s either on or off using the switch on the back panel. It runs cool so I just turn off display and leave the unit on. I unplug everything when we’re going away on a trip. 

If your electronics have a standby mode I encourage you to use it. 

McCormack recommends leaving it on all the time.  I did this and my amp lasted 30 years, and it’s always warmed up and ready to listen to immediately.  Think about it — light bulbs mostly blow out when you turn them on.  Capacitors and other components constantly going from cold to warm just can’t be good. Unless you’ve got a tube or class A amp I’d just leave it on. 

Interesting. I emailed Hegel about my H200 and they said that it is designed to be turned on and off. It is interesting that when I push the power button on the front it takes a second for it to make an audible clicking noise when it powers up. Maybe some kind of soft start?