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ModWright KWA 100SE Power Amp Warm up

During the end of a listening session, I inadvertently failed to turn off my ModWright KWA-100SE Amp.
Two days later, I discovered my "mistake".
Decided it was an excellent opportunity to audition the Amp with an extended warm up time.

EVERY parameter you care to verify improved.
Now that I let the Genie out of the bottle, she's not going back in!

Discussed the 24/7 on time with Dan.
I was concerned about the possibility of a power failure with a resulting hard turn on by the Power Company.
In my area, this turn on is full on with a resultant power surge.
This burned out a circuit in my washing machine causing me to put an inline surge protector.
Luckily, when the KWA 100SE loses power, it turns off completely.
Upon resumption of power, one has to press the hidden on switch to let juice flow to the Amp.

Of course, if I leave town for a few days, I would turn it off.
Also, in case of Lightning in the forecast, I would turn it off. (as well as the stereo system's circuit breakers)

With all that determined, Dan gave me his blessings to leave it on 24/7.

I HIGHLY recommend this Amp be left on.
The improvements are well worth it!

This leads me to believe ANY Power Amp (not Class A) would benefit from being on 24/7!

128x128eichlerera
5 responses Add your response
rocray's avatar
rocray
1,448 posts
 
I agree,sonically,the amps I have experience with,definitely perform better when well warmed up.  I have been home the last 3 days,and decided to leave my FirstWatt F5 on.  I normally do not do this,but I wanted to verify the SQ with the amp left on. Mission complete. The sound is just so much more liquid,for lack of a better term.  

    Like I stated earlier,I normally don’t leave it on being it’s a class A amp,but it was an interesting test.  I will be shutting it down when I turn in tonight.  

   Years ago,I had an Adcom GFA 555 II. That particular amp I left on 24/7, unless we were going on vacation. I never had any issues doing this. 
eichlerera's avatar
eichlerera OP
101 posts
 
First of all, it takes 1-2 hours of turn on time for my system to snap into focus.
The difference between a 2 hour warm up and a 24/7 warmup was fairly significant. Otherwise I wouldn't do it.
The ModWright runs very cool so I don't think it's an issue at all.

Dan gave me his blessing, so that's good enough for me!
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,769 posts
 
OP said it sounds great and manufacturer said it's fine. That's his choice.
I agree that it doesn't necessarily imply that "ANY power amp" will benefit. Leaving a non class A solid state amp on all the time, as long as it's well ventilated should not "burn the life out of it."

russ69's avatar
russ69
3,501 posts
 
Nope. You are burning the life out of it, 30 or 60 minutes warm up is enough, turn it off for the other 20 hours of the day.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,769 posts
 
Yup.
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