Turn off or leave on?


I am curious to know what others are doing with respect to powering on/off their hifi systems. My system like most is a mix of tube and SS components: tube gear (mono amps, preamp, and phono). SS gear consists of (SACD/CD player, DAC, server, and external clock) and I have a conventional DC powered motor for my LP player.  On days when I know I will listen to music, I turn it all on and leave it on until I go to bed at which time I turn it all off. I have read that it is better to leave SS components on (limit the number of temperature swings associated with powering up) and only power down tube gear (extend tube life).  Many of the components have power saving features so they shutdown after an inactive period but that is more of a sleep mode as I understand it and not the same as a true power down.  Not to complicate the question further, all the amps are hybrid so they have in effect both tubes and transistors  My SS gear is a dCS Vivaldi One plus external Vivaldi clock, server is Taiko Extreme, and my amps are all from Tenor Audio. LP player is AMG 12 that uses a typical external DC motor always left on and powered up.

besonic

Showing 1 response by sokogear

According to the rebuilder of my solid state (integrated) amp, it should be left on all the time for longest life of the electronics. On their newer models they moved the on/off switch to the back.My phono stage (also SS) doesn't even have a power switch.

If in doubt, talk to the manufacturer or authorized repair shop.

It sounds better when played for a little while, but I'd hate to have to wait for it to warm up - often times I'll just play a record or two.