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To Power Down, or Not to Power Down

My pre-amp (Rogue Audio 99) and amp (Cary CAD-120S MkII) are both tubed. There are days when I will have a listening session for about an hour followed by a two or three hour break followed by another listening session (or two). If the next session will be within an hour or so I leave the system up, but I'm not sure what to do when the interval between sessions is longer. My questions are...Is it better for the equipment if the system is powered down between sessions that are more than 2 hours apart, or should the system be left up? Is there a detrimental effect on tube life by cycling power up/downs in this short a time period? I would prefer to power down for simple green reasons, but the cost of eight KT88's failing prematurely would be far greater than the increase in my electric bill. I would like to know what others in a similar situation do?
Jerry
jerroot

Showing 1 response by rar1

rar1's avatar
rar1
1,803 posts
 
I power up the tube amps when I start listening for the day and shut the amps off at the end of the day. If I know that I am finished for the day, I shut the amps off. I try not to leave the amps on if I am leaving the apartment for more than an hour and the amps are never left on overnight.

Rich
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