Leave it on?

@larryi all my tube equipment have tube rectification, it's usually harder on the filament during turn on, even if tube rectification is used.

Interesting, inrush current having an affect on cap life. That is also not any kind of spec on caps. What is a spec is time, temp and voltage. 

On tubes, they also do not like heat, or voltage spike/changes. There are devices that stop inrush current on tubes, power them up slowly. 

On switches a lot of new stuff doesn't have one. If it does have a power switch, it's not really a power switch, but a button that puts the unit in stand-by. 

My system is all plugged into a Furman, I just flick the mag breaker off when not in use. Don't use any of the switches on my gear. However, my HT system has power all the time.

Sound wise, yes, leaving it on is best. Not sure it's best for longevity. Also think what Paul is saying when using perfect power with a regen unit, there may be less of a need to power down. 

I turn everything off the second I stop listening. And thanks guys for using this an opportunity to lecture us on climate change. 

Again lets talk about nuclear and not the other other underperforming solutions.

2 additional points;

1-in Roon as far as clearing the 'image cache' once you hit that button you do need to wait for at least 10 seconds before you restart Roon for the action to complete.

2-i use an Equi=tech 10WQ 10kva Isolation Transformer for my whole system. in the Pacific Northwest where i live we very rarely get electric storms, maybe once every 3-4 years. nothing like the mid west or southeast. but when we do i just throw the main breaker for my whole system and it's is isolated from the grid and protected. even when connected that transformer protects the system from spikes.

https://equitech.com/products/wall-mount/10wq/

What if your amps don’t even have an on/off switch, just an IEC?!  I just leave them powered up all the time.  SMc Audio now uses thermal-magnetic switches (think Swiss Digital Fuse Box) that serves the purposes of both equipment protection (i.e., fuse) and on/off switch.  After sourcing two of them from SMc, I mounted them in-line, in the wall, one for each amp and replaced the line fuses in both amps with copper rod.  At least I can now turn the amps on/off without unplugging them.

@mitch2 Nice. I’m jealous of your magnetic switches.  My upgraded DNA 0.5 has the power switch disconnected so I’ve gotta unplug my amp to turn it off.  But I leave it on all the time anyway, unless I’m going away for at least a few days, so it’s no biggie but still it’d be nice to have the power switch working.  BTW, Patrick at SMcAudio said I probably prolonged the life of my amp by years by leaving it on.   All I know is the thing lasted 30 years with me leaving it on.

Everything but the amplifier stays in 24/7, the amp usually gets turned off before I go to bed.  Everything gets unplugged when bad weather is approaching.  All of my equipment is solid state.

No on and off switch anywhere, the designer obviously meant for the unit to be powered on 24/7.

@baylinor 

Turning off every piece of equipment that has an on and off feature in front of the unit and always leaving on the ones that only have a on and off function on the back of the unit. 

What if your amps don’t even have an on/off switch, just an IEC?!  I just leave them powered up all the time.  SMc Audio now uses thermal-magnetic switches (think Swiss Digital Fuse Box) that serves the purposes of both equipment protection (i.e., fuse) and on/off switch.  After sourcing two of them from SMc, I mounted them in-line, in the wall, one for each amp and replaced the line fuses in both amps with copper rod.  At least I can now turn the amps on/off without unplugging them.

For the past 10 years or so, I have been content to have all solid state equipment that I can leave powered up all the time.  It has been a change for me to now have a DAC with tubes that I need to remember to power down.  Even though it seems to take less than an hour to sound its best, my sporadic listening schedule (I often don’t know when or if I will have time to listen each day) makes it more difficult to have equipment that requires some forethought and warm up. 

I do unplug everything when thunderstorms are eminent (seems too often lately) and when I am going to be away from home more than a day or two.  I also occasionally power down my digital chain (server/streamer/DAC) as suggested by @grannyring and seconded by @mikelavigne but I was previously unaware of the Roon clear cache button, so I will also try that. 

We use a Yamaha receiver for our TV sound and just leave it on all the time. It has been on for several years now with no issues. FWIW.

Invalid,

Your personal experience represents a small sample size.  Also, it sounds like you experience a lot of tube death in order to detect a pattern.  Is it possible that your gear is hard on tubes, particularly at turn on?  If your gear has tube rectification, turn on of the rest of your tubes will be inherently gentle.  Some tube gear have “soft start” circuits that slowly ramp up the juice.  
Almost all of my gear uses tube rectification.  I’ve been running the same amp and linestage and phonostage for 15 years and I have not replaced any tubes.  I cannot draw any conclusions from personal experience with that kind of data.

@mylogic Thanks for bringing up the environmental point. One things folks might do if they want to deal with energy costs to the planet is consider voluntary renewable choice programs, such as the ones offered by companies like Xcel Energy. Consumers can support renewable energy generation, thereby reducing their individual carbon footprint associated with electricity consumption without necessarily putting in solar panels, etc.

I have a Pass Labs integrated, class AB, and they recommend leaving it on. There's a mute button but it doesn't appear to be a standby.  It still stays warm.

@larryi  my tubes always seem to last longer when I leave the equipment on 24/7, tube filaments always seem to burn out quicker when I power them on and off daily.

My main system is linked and the components all go to standby mode if not used for about 15 minutes.  If I go away for  a week or more I turn them off.  The 2 old AVRs in my other 2 systems I turn off when not in use since there’s no standby and they heat up and waste much more electricity.  

@spenav 

Have you not heard of the butterfly effect? If not look it up, research it a little. Lots of little things all mount up.

Refrigerators are required to be left on, a fact of life.

The car example was an ironic comparison to make people think. I see it worked on you. It was not like your car engine “doing serious work” It was not meant to be taken seriously.

Manufacturers want you to buy more of the same, it’s called sales marketing and supply and demand. Some manufacturers intentionally build in operational redundancy (like mobile phones), but that’s another subject.

l will ask my stepson about equipment related fires in the UK. He is a chief fire officer Commander for the new Hinckley Point 2 Nuclear Power Station under construction, and the Trident submarines laid up in Plymouth over here in the UK. Will that do? 

It should not be considered a swear word to use stupid, ignorant or the like and l do not address these to any individuals. I’m sorry if you may possibly find my “handle” mylogic in anyway confrontational, but if you do l suggest you are maybe the child here.

My opinions are mine alone and in my opinion only based only on what l believe.

@mylogic 

Your logic is flawed at best. 
“How confident are you leaving other appliances on all day and night?”. 
Do you turn your fridge off at night?  Leaving a DAC on with the display off won’t affect global warming in a million years. There is no work done and the energy consumption is negligible. Comparing this to a car engine in idle state is ridiculous. The engine is doing serious work so much so that the fan will come on after a certain time to cool it off. The engine is still running even at idle. 
You are fast to call people ignorant and unconcerned about the environment but your logic doesn’t make sense. Why would a manufacturer give you advice that will be detrimental to the longevity of your equipment and expect that you will buy another one from him after the first one fails? Do you have the stats on the number of fires started by hi-fi equipment left on continually?

you should try to express your opinion without throwing insults around like you are a nine year old. 

@jomace 

Why not (as it’s on) ask the computer what it thinks is best practice?

I even leave the computer on.

I feel it is up to each individual to decide what they feel comfortable with.   I have a streamer which stays on all the time (I restart it periodically as it is a computer after all). My Transport stays on all the time... My DAC stays on all the time and is periodically restarted.   I have  a tube preamp that is only powered up when used and a pair of Pass labs amps that go into standby when not being used.    I do substitute in a pair of Quicksilver tube monoblocks that are only powered up when playing music.     I try to use common sense in what I leave on 24/7.   I do not mind a short warm up period.....

I used to leave my Innuos ZENith Mk3 on all the time. Since I have been turning it off each time I'm done listening, I no longer have any kind of hiccups at all. I only had issues once in a great while, but it is better without any. Soundwise seems unchanged however.

@gano 
This site is so educational.

Dresses allow for more air around your instruments of your own intimate personal system. During hot weather dresses are a considerable asset to the “nether regions”

Think of it as a part of a room treatment dressing solution.

like a old lady's dress

I had no idea that I need to be educated for this 

it wasn't opinions or conclusions, it was numbers = facts. Stuff outside of how we like it, how we feel about it. 

I run pretty much all tubes so shut everything down when done listening. I do typically leave my streamer on 24/7 but interesting posts from @grannyring and @mikelavigne I will try turning the streamer off every few weeks and see if that improves SQ.

@aewarren “Treat your SS equipment like an old lady’s dress. Once it’s on, leave it on”

The comment above, are you trying to drop us a gentle hint about your life style choice?
To run/burn us in gently?

No judgments from me, it’s a free World 🤐

What do you think @grannyring ?

@vair68robert  l think you could be called an energy champion. $155 is quite a hit for an 85 watt amplifier being left on for a year and just for one piece of gear.

p.s.  I turn my system off but I do turn everything on at least 1/2 hour before I sit down an listen .

using the national average of 19 cents per kwh the cost to leave an amp that uses 85 watts just being on would cost $166.45 in electricity a year .  So look at what your amp uses when not being played but left on 24/7/365 and decide if it's worth especially if your electricity cost more than national average .

Treat your SS equipment like a old lady's dress. Once it's on, leave it on.

After trying the always on or turned off ways multiple times, I have adopted the following method:

Turning off every piece of equipment that has an on and off feature in front of the unit and always leaving on the ones that only have a on and off function on the back of the unit. I am not gonna try to outsmart the designers any longer. It's common sense to me.

Very true. Amplifiers also benefit sonically in my experience.  

For those of you that leave your gear on like dacs, streamers and SS amps I have a tip to try.   Every couple of weeks or so shut them down for 5-10 minutes and then restart. While I don’t understand why, I can say it did something positive to sound quality. A couple of designers I respect told me about this.  

music management software, servers, dacs, and network switches need to be re-booted often to clear stored data cashes that will build up and cause issues. all the meta data gums things up. Roon has a ’clear cashe’ button that helps under ’setup’.

I have a field  coil power supply for my speakers. I do keep it turned off. 

leave on---Wadax dac, server, power supply, two Ethernet switches, class d bass amps, Herzan TS active isolation, Esoteric clock.

if gone for over a week these are turned all the way off.

standby--darTZeel amps, battery powered preamp

off; tape decks, tape tubed preamps, phono tubed pre, turntables, power supply for field coil cartridge and field coil arm.

Ok @gano I leave you with your opinions and conclusions. Enjoy your music! 

For those of you that leave your gear on like dacs, streamers and SS amps I have a tip to try.   Every couple of weeks or so shut them down for 5-10 minutes and then restart. While I don’t understand why, I can say it did something positive to sound quality. A couple of designers I respect told me about this.  

@grannyring 

 short term trend  is no way to draw long term conclusions

right, I am drawing conclusions from the past 50 years. During which the climate on the Planet changed dramatically. The place where I grew up, when I was a kid, 85 degrees was big news and people talked it for a week, is now 100+ for weeks and months. Not once in a while but EVERY SINGLE summer in the last decade getting hotter every year.

I have a Carver 5X100w amplifier hooked to my Rotel Surround pre-amplifier. I turn on and off the Rotel - it does that with the TV remote, but the carver stays on all the time. Every once in a while I'll turn it off, but for the most part it's always on. This thing is over 30 years old and quiet as a mouse. That is my surround system, not what I listen to music on. My stereo is all tube except the streamer and the Schiit Loki Max - which I never turn off.

@gano, you are smart enough to realize a hot season, cold snap, or short term trend  is no way to draw long term conclusions…..unless one has an agenda. Brutal cold also kills today. Yes conditions have come together in Europe and that is real and unfortunate.   I am not saying it’s not real or a concern for folks dealing with it.  Don’t think leaving your amp or dac on helps cause either situation. 

@mylogic yes, places famously and traditionally not hot or warm like the UK are unprepared. Barely surviving these heat waves is the new norm in Europe

I use SS gear and I leave it on 24/7, because I listen daily. Simply sounds better to me after a long burn in (no pun intended). Never had a failure in 60 years for leaving ss gear on. In fact, I keep an FM station playing 24/7, through the system, except when I listen to something else. Enjoy! MrD.

@gano The Hots

l just came back from Lanzarote and it was hotter in England. Most Americans think of England being rain and green fields. Parts of the UK are officially becoming drought areas.

People are flying out to Continental Europe seeking the heat and Sun. The mind boggles. It’s turning into an upside down World

@grannyring ”conveniences come with risks”

I note your points, thank you. No offence intended.

 wait till you learn that we can’t even measure the Earth’s temperature accurately

maybe unlivable and deadly hot in Europe right now is not accurate for you, but counting the number of dead is a precise number

@mylogic I understand your point. I suppose life with our technology and conveniences comes with risk.   More risk than life before them some 100-150 years ago? Different risks for sure and obviously less overall.  I just don’t see the added risk of keeping your Class D amplifier on. Class A SS amps don’t all run hot today. Valvet is one example. I would not leave tube gear on 24/7. 

@grannyring ”What does this have to do with the topic?”

l think you missed the point. My point was not leaving electrical devices on unnecessarily. 
Refrigerators left on yes, the nature of the beast. Every electrical appliance is a risk factor. In London a refrigerator caused a fire in a housing complex, Grenfell Tower. 70 lives lost that night.y

Yes again with global warming, arguably self destruction with the jury more in than out. That was only part of the debate regarding wasted power, it’s not all cleanly generated like wind or hydro-electric.

@mulveling Good points posted on what you believe “should be kept OFF” 👍

In most cases this is just picking nits. Well-designed gear that is relatively low in idle power draw (preamps, class D / G / H amps) should have NO problem either way. Do what you like. Gear that is high in constant power draw, are therefore heat dissipation - tube power amps, class A and high bias AB solid state power amps - should really be kept OFF when not in use. In my experience, hotter components are also more likely to sound good quickly after warmup - simply because they hit thermal equlibrium quicker. SS is always slower to warm up than tubes.

I keep SS gear on all the time unless on vacation or a storm.  
 

How long will you keep your new gear? 1 to 20 years as I am an audiophile 🤓.  Just don’t know. 
How do you feel about global warming? Really not a thing you know.  Current thinking is coming around to this thought. If you haven’t studied it, wait till you learn that we can’t even measure the Earth’s temperature accurately. Never have, never will. Our instruments, we humans, and our methods are flawed.  Always will be. 
How confident are you leaving other appliances on all day and night? Like my refrigerator? HVAC? Some lights? Water heater? I think you get the point. 
How would you feel if your house burnt down? Not good.  What does this have to do with the topic?  I think interjecting fear on this topic is not helpful. All of our homes have live 120 V outlets and electricity networked throughout the home. Fires do happen and that is certainly a possibility in most any home.   However, suggesting that leaving on a streamer, dac, power conditioner or amplifier  is more likely to cause a fire is really not serious.    
 

As you can see from all these replies very equipment specific. I don't believe Paul was issuing a blanket leave it on but rather if you have standy mode then use it as it keeps the electronics consuming little power but ready to perform quickly at peak efficiency. 

Turn off or leave on 2.  The benefits of from the off starts.

Manufacturers and dealers will always say “keep it turned on” as gear sounds better warmed up. We all know it is mostly true. They want us all to be happy with our purchase’s every time and want revisits buying more stuff further up the price line. They will not want to be involved however if your place burns to the ground afterwards.

Said on here….

”Standby mode keeps the solid-state circuitry of the amplifier in a reduced power mode, maintaining excellent performance benefits while consuming little power”

Hmmm…. Another way of looking at this…

Leaving any car engine turned on keeps the engine warm in the reduced power idle mode, maintaining excellent “from the off” benefits while consuming little petrol.

Everything wears out from when you first start using it, and if you continually use it. Electrical components permanently turned on is not guaranteed to extend their life.

Another thought….. Have you ever added up the wattage of all the electrical devices in your home on permanent standby mode? There may be a big surprise as to how much power idles away with your energy bills. 

If you listen every day or so, leave everything on.  If you listen once a week or less, turn everything off. I also turn off everything delicate when thunder boomers are approaching.  I lost an amp once from lightning.