Leaving Amps on

Turn your amps off, PLEASE! Never heard of voice-coil stretching due to turning amps on and off. How do you keep a pro sound system turned on when you're moving it into a trailer for a 400 mile ride to the next concert? Also, is your amplifier's DC offset so high? It should be zero. A properly functioning amplifier will have NO output even when turned on. A properly designed amplifier will have no output while being turned on (a protection circuit or a relay will see to that). If your amp doesn't have this protection circuit or a muting relay, buy another amp! As for your second question, of course delivering large amounts of continuous power to the voice coil (it's just a coil of extremely thin wire) will damage them. There are no other parts to damage, however, unless you own a speaker that has an accelerometer, like the Velodyne subwoofers. Leaving your amps on all the time should cause no damage, but why risk lightning strikes and run up your electric bill? Some pro setups leave the preamps on all the time, especially if they're computerized (like some discos and recording studios) but the amps are always turned off. The world's three premier discos turn their gear off every morning at 6 AM, and on again at 10:30 PM every day 365 days a year. You may ask them if you wish: http://www.extra-palla.com.mx/enigma/ http://www.extra-palla.com.mx/palladium/ - and http://www.babyo.com.mx/ If a recording studio runs twenty-four hours a day, then there may be no need for them to turn the monitor amps off. Otherwise, fear about voice coil stretching is just BS. Period.

Leave them on! Notice how the amp is warm/hot when left on? When the amp was designed, it was always evaluated after it had warmed up. It does sound different after it has warmed up (Not just the heatsinks but EVERYTHING). If it is a big solid state amp, this can take hours, or even days. But even the most powerful amps draw very little power, when left in idle, so don't worry about power consumption.

Hi, fotopres hit the nail on the head. amps often sound a little sweeter warmed up, but i just turn the amp on and come back a few minutes later to crank everything else up. late

I have some original adcom equipment GFA-1A amp and a GFP-1 preamp. I have had some cold solder joints repaired several times and noticed that when the amp warmed up my left channel would come back. Call it foolish but I have had the amp and preamp on constantly for about 5 years. No problems.