If tube gear doesn't have a stand-by mode, you should turn it completely off. Most SS gear that is properly designed can be left on. As i type this, i have 12 of the 14 SS power amps that i use turned on along with the other support components for each of those systems. The only components that i power up and down as needed are the very old tube based units that i have. Having said that, tubed gear should be allowed to warm up and heat down prior to use or pulling the plug. Trying to stand on the throttle right off the bat or disconnecting power just after throttling the tubes causes pre-mature failure. The tube based DAC's that i have stay on 24/7 as i'm not worried about them due to more advanced parts being used and the extra safety precautions that newer designs have brought with them. Sean
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PS... ALWAYS make sure that units have adequate ventilation and don't leave them resting directly on flammable / easily damaged materials. I've heard stories from one manufacturer where a guy left their high bias power amp turned on sitting on deep pile carpeting. The carpeting got so hot that it melted. I don't think that anybody wants to deal with something like that, so take such things into consideration before finding out the hard way. |
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I'm convinced that my system sounds better when warmed up, but my consern is safety. I have a tube amplifier. What are the safety considerations when leaving a very hot tube amp on 24 hours? |
Does not living power amp on shorten his live?
My Clayton monoblocks do not have standby feature.
Shoud I leave them on or off for the sake of longevity not sound quality? |
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conrad-johnson recommends turning thier tube products off when not in use.claims it causes pre-mature tube failure. |
Dweller: Your post didn't come across as a "funny" to me. Other than that, i wasn't "gouging" on you or what you said, but was asking who / what / where you were drawing your references from and went on to explain why i had the thoughts that i did. Sorry if you took it the wrong way. Sean
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I ultimately had to decide that burning the tubes for hundreds of hours when I am not listening is too high a price to pay for the small, but precious, number of enhanced listening hours. Have left on solid state equipment, without the same misgivings, since there is not the more obvious aging seen with tubes, and lack of a power switch seems to be a hint from the manufacturers when it doesn't worry them. |
Joel:
In my experience it is more important to leave the DAC on than the transport. The DAC takes days to get going - mine takes ten days to sound right! I'm serious. My transport is usually good after a couple of hours. With a one box player I would be very tempted to leave it on the whole time for the DAC's sake. |
Dr. Joe. My Philips 963SA DVD/SACD goes into standy mode when the power is shut off. IMHO, if something hardly draws any power it should probably be left on. Besides costing almost nothing, with little current it could take a very long time for the components to warm up. |
Lighten up Seany, I was making a funny... |
Dr Joe. My cdp has a standby mode. The main power switch is in the back. I believe the idea is to keep the DAC's warm. My preamp also has no on/off switch. And I do leave my amp turned on. |
The biggest shock to an amps system is the turning on process. If something is going to fail it usually (remember I said usually) happens when the amp is powered up.
Unless something is going to go unused for a long period of time, leave it on! |
I have a solid state preamp in one system that does not even have a switch. It is meant to always be on once plugged in.. |
IMO it depends on the gear. To use my own for an example, the preamp is designed to be on at all times, so it is; the amp has a stand-by feature, which I use. I put the amp in stand-by every night and then turn it "on" every morning. I do believe there is other gear that does benefit from being left on all the time, like my friends Plinius. |
Both manufacturers of the amps I've held on to for a while--Bryston and now Meitner--recommend that you leave the amp and preamp on all the time unless you're out of town or there's a thunder storm.
It's certainly my experience that most solid state amps sound better when always powered up.
My question is: does the same apply to CD/SACD players? I've never seen that recommendation in a disc player manual.
Regards,
Joel. |
Not a stupid question at all - we're all here to learn. My gear stays on unless I am away from home for an extended period, or there is a thunderstorm - in either case it gets turned off and unplugged. I agree with Sean; most of the equipment I have owned during the last 15 years needs a couple of days to get spun up. |
Dweller: What "experts" are you speaking for? While i'm no expert on anything other than running my mouth, in my opinion, Class A or very rich AB amps benefit the most from constant power. This is primarily due to the wide temperature swing and stabilization that takes place when cycling the amp off and on. Lower bias designs with less of a temperature variance tend to show reduced benefits from constant power.
One can find quite a few threads on this subject in the archives. From what i can recall, every single person that has posted a response about this subject has experienced sonic gains by leaving their high bias amps on 24/7. In most instances, the amps reach their plateau after appr 72 hours of being powered up non-stop. Sean
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There are a few amps whose mfg'erers recommend leaving the amp on at all times. The Sim-Audio Moon W-5 could actually take a full 3 days to warm up.
But in my limited experience it seems that the majority of amps only require between 30 minutes and a few hours to warm up.
For sake of fire and/or lightning, I prefer to shut it off every night and depending on the season, even unplug things.
-IMO |
Ideally, standby leaves the primary gain stage(s) powered up so your capacitors stay nice and juicy and ready to go.
The final, power consuming stage is switched off. |
Here's a wrinkle - my amp is in "standby" until it's switched to full power. Is standby the same as full power? |
My amp encourages me to leave it on, the power switch is on the back. |
I agree with Ken, I am scared that my power switches may not work- I only used them once when I got the amps! Though in a few months I will need to turn them off to swap out an interconnect and power cords- I better start preping myself for this :o) |
I speak for all the experts when I say: "If it's not tubes or solid-state with class-A bias, leave it turned on".
Class-A solid-state uses too much electricity to leave powered up 24/7.
Now some experts say that it's O. K. to leave a tube preamp powered all the time. To me it's a waste of tubes.
Regards, Ken |
