If muting is available does this mitigate risk?
I’m not arguing with the safer practice being to power down gear first but agree with the OP, it’s inconvenient, especially if tubes are involved.
I’m guilty of doing IC and speaker cable changes while gear is powered up (though not speaker cables on a powered up tube amp).
My practice has been to switch preamp selector to an unused input (if changing an IC), turn volume to zero, and activate muting on both preamp and amp. Less risky?
I’m not arguing with the safer practice being to power down gear first but agree with the OP, it’s inconvenient, especially if tubes are involved.
I’m guilty of doing IC and speaker cable changes while gear is powered up (though not speaker cables on a powered up tube amp).
My practice has been to switch preamp selector to an unused input (if changing an IC), turn volume to zero, and activate muting on both preamp and amp. Less risky?