NEVER leave tube equipment on unattended. I leave my fussy Yggdrasil DAC on 24 x 7, but expect to be replacing it with a Lampizator after 6 years of faithful service. I don't leave my Levinson amp on though due to power consumption. All electronics with electrolytic capacitors should be used rather regularly to slow their degradation. The electrolyte eats the foil when left idle for long periods. A well designed circuit should be fine running 24 x 7 assuming good quality components without defects were used. Honestly though, it's generally fine to leave solid state gear running, but you never know, it's a bit of a gamble. Additionally if there are going to be thunder storms ideally you should shut down and disconnect all electrical/electronical devices when you expect thunder storms. I don't,but I know that I should. Don't expect power strips to do much, they often react too slowly.
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.
Audio repair since 1985, and can tell almost immediately whether a SS power amp is left on 24/7 or turned off. (If over 5 years old).
Especially telling on gear made AFTER RoHS in 2006, when lead was taken from solder. I say turn them off when not in use, even the power supplies of SS gear get worn from simply being on (electrolytic capacitors and solder work) |
Regarding turning off devices to save energy… Just be aware, as long as you are hitting your house, you may as well leave these things on. All they are doing is contributing to the heat in the home, and so you are using your furnace less. This is even true for lightbulbs. The only difference is if you have a heat pump system, which is more efficient than other sources of heat. |
My experience - I could leave my solid state amps on, or on standby, with no problems (like the Krell FPB600) over several years of use. My Atma-sphere MA1 tube amps are another matter - I turn them off, after use, to preserve tube life. My Io phono preamp, also using a lot of tubes, is another matter. I fell in love with how good the Io sounds, fully warmed up, so I left it on, all the time. Not a good idea. Not just because it took tube life, but also because some components - including crackelating soldering - did not like it. Also, I used to have my Einstein The tube preamp on, most of the time, and when I sent it to service, recently, several components (capacitors, mainly) had to be replaced. A main rule becomes clear. Regardless of the cost in tube life. How components react to "always on" depends on time x heat. With more heat, e g restricted air flow above the component, the problems increase over time, the longer you leave it on. |
In my two systems the transistor gear (one amp, one tuner, one disk player/dac, one separate dac stay on, or at most I may turn off the transistor amp overnight. The tube gear (amp, preamp, headamp, tuner) goes on a half hour before listening, and gets turned off when done listening. Optimum life for all, sound enhancement at least 99%+ of being on all the time. When the equipment is new I hear more change when violating this routine, but with time I can hear no difference. |
@kgbspy, (putin, is that you ???)
Ok you can climb down from your pedestal now and go ... well go somewhere. If the component is solid state and does not consume huge amounts of power when in its quiescent state then better to leave it permanently on, unless it's not going to be used for a considerable period. Those who remember the old incandescent light bulb will know that 99% of the time they blew at switch on. The filament is cold, its resistance at its lowest and is when it draws the most current. POP. Same with the solid state component. When on it warms up and then cools again when powering down, there is expansion and contraction on the PCBs and also condensation. You have now unwittingly provided all the ingredients for failure. Left on the device stays gently warm and should last decades. For tubes that are permanently on their life will be shortened but there is a work-around. Some amps that have a standby switch just turn off the HT but leave the heaters/filaments on which will, over time, lead to cathode poisoning, however if the cathode voltage is reduced to 2/3 voltage, that is 4.2V instead of a 6.3V supply, all is fine and stripping is no longer a problem. This feature is not often found but I use it on my DIY stuff. When coming out of standby I arrange for the heaters to come immediately to design V and use soft start for the HT. There is little or no warm up needed as the amp is always and safely warm. 😎
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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. |
makes me wonder if any of you got electronics training ... 1. there is no harmful effect to non-tube equipment to turn it on or off (unless somebody decides to sit and push the power button on/off for 2-3 hours ) thus, to save electricity turn it off. 2. Tube stuff...here comes the pickle...the tubes normally go weak slow losing cathode emission. Emission is the process when electrons are flying out of the heated cathode... now here is the fun part...at turn on the heating element in the tube starts to heat the cathode and it takes 2-5 minutes to get to the correct temperature .during this period electrons slowly start flying off the cathode to anode under voltage potential on anode and greed(s) . while the cathode is not hot enough electrons are not flying out freely but are kinda "ripped" from it. and it creates micro-cracks and the slow destruction of a cathode .that is how over the years tubes go bad most of the time. Now ,if the heater in tubes is always ON and the cathode is always hot , tubes may last 2-3 times longer. in the old days of picture tube TVs, there were enthusiasts who installed a circuit to apply a permanent supply to the heater of a picture tube extending its life. Now, to turn off tube gear or not is your choice ...no advice from me at this point. Good luck my HI-FI enthusiasts |
My solid state monoblocks draw 420 watts each in standby. Just part of the cost of having large class a Amps. Even so it takes a hour for them to sound decent. The preamplifier is one all the time as well. I never bother turning off to standby. The front end is all tube so it gets turned on and off when I go down to listen. Many times I turn it on then make and eat supper then go back down and everything is super then. On my second system it is a tube system except the Krell cd player it gets left on. Takes it at least a week if shut off before it sounds it's best. Bedroom system is tube based except the cd player which is left on. The integrated amplifier is a tube one and I have it on a timer. I turn the timer on for a half hour and it shuts down after I am asleep. |
It seems there is some confusion perhaps to “on/off” on SS amps etc. Stand by, is not powered off. There is still current flowing to the system in standby. At least with everything I’ve ever owned. “Off” is when the master switch is indeed “off”. I only do that if leaving town for an extended period. Still, it’s about an hour give or take till everything is singing to full potential. |
Interesting thread and am guessing there is no right answer with many dependencies that range from equipment design to how often you listen. I keep mine on unless I know I am not going to be listening for a few days... My approach is based on this excerpt from my Lampizator DAC user manual: "Power on-off cycle The tube lifetime, almost like the life of a car engine in cold climate – is determined largely by the on-off cycle. The heat expansion coefficient of the glass is so much different than that of the metal, that the air-tight seal of the metal pins can leak oxygen inside the tube and eventually kill it. Even if it is just one molecule per day. So in other words it is better to keep the DAC always on, than to switch it on and off more than necessary. The lampizator DAC with tube rectifier has a slow start feature which brings the high voltage supply gradually up, at the rate of two- to five volts per second. The PSU reaches 250 V DC after 90 seconds. This helps to extend tube life. The DAC is also equipped with voltage down feature (bleeders) which reduce the power voltage upon switch-off at roughly the same rate. On top of that – the tubes are operated always around 25% of full nominal power, which greatly increases their life expectancy. Combining all the factors together, the tube lifetime should be anywhere between 10 and 20 years, assuming the player is switched off only once per day, for the night." |
DACs/SS Pre/non Class A power amps/Streamers/Phono Stages can take many many hours to 'warm up', or rather, sound their best. My previous Jeff Rowland pre was said, by Jeff, to take several DAYS after switch on to sound its best. So, leave those pieces of equipment on 24/7 unless going on holiday etc. If one turnes such equipment off at night, and on when one wants to listen, even an hour before, you are almost guaranteed to NEVER hear your equipment performing at its best. Tubed stuff warms up faster, obviously, but can still take hours to sound its best - it's not only the tubes, but also the transformers, which can take several hours to reach the optimum operating temperature. Previous QuickSilver Monos/ARC tubed power amps and EAR valve amps took c3 hours before they were up to operating temps. This seems like a predominately 'tube user site', but I say that 'tube sound' and their limited lifespan, and the degradation of SQ during their life (power tubes), which is difficult to hear/quantify, and the fact that one tube will/may sound different to another, are some of the reasons I left tube use many years ago, not to mention that one never knows if they are really perfoming as good as they can, which, after initial burn in, will be a downhill slope - I almost resisted mentioning their inherrant distortion too! (waits for the bricks!) |
Mad to leave tube amps on 24/7. However hard your amp is on tubes and whatever their expected life, if you listen 3 hours a day every day you are wasting 87.5% of their lives. That will be expensive. I don't believe Bob Carver that any tube retains its initial quality for 50 years nor that any amp will allow it to. Some people with Class D amps switched them years ago and are still waiting for good sound. |
I leave my DAC on almost all the time, but it's power consumption is minimal unless playing high resolution music. My SS integrated is AB and I leave it on a lot because I rarely get to sit and just listen for an extended period of time, but it does really well even when first powered on. OTOH, I have some Class D amplifiers that do really poorly for music until powered on for 3-4 days. They are very cool running though, with minimal power consumption when not playing music. Your mileage may vary. :) I do want to point out we are not always aware of or home when power surges hit. I'm obsessive over surge protection in this home but if I know a storm is coming over night I still turn everything off I can, including the surge protectors. |
Everything off when not using, especially when not listening for an extended period of time, due to work etc..in fact, I shut down all power conditioners and even shut off the breaker. The only detriment is a long Warm up period, especially with my tube gear and class A Amp. It will usually take up to 90 minutes for it to sound its best. With the supposed shortage of tubes, probably a good thing to shut down. I would not know of the shortage, as I’m set for tubes, as I bought them years ago, mostly just small preamp type tubes. |
In my mind, leaving components on 24/7 is probably the best for sonic performance at least when initially playing the system. But, since I have 18 tubes in my system and I am somewhat energy conscience (if only to conserve $$$ from the Electric company), I turn the equipment on when I use it and off when done. ozzy |
Definitely turn off tube equipment.
Some of my tube equipment specifically warnings against leaving the unit on or for an extended time or unattended. Most of my high end pieces have automatic shutoff after two hours with meters to track tube time.
There are some tubed preamps that I think are not using tubes in the power supply and generate little heat… these are probably ok to leave on. While my understanding is that tubes that are just idling do not age as fast as being driven… it is still tube time.
Most of the thirty tubes in my system have a expected tube life of 3,000 hours… or 125 days… less than six months if left on. My high end tube stuff has a function to slowly bring up tubes to full power in order to avoid abrupt turn ons thus improving tube life. Solid state… leave it on unless it has a standby mode like most Pass equipment. |
There was a recent thread on this subject, with no consensus. Fwiw, I had always heard the opposite of what you state, that tubed gear is best left on all the time for SQ, and that it isn’t so important with transistors. I have a tubed pre amp and I always turn it off to save life on the tubes but I try to turn it on at least half an hour before a listening session |
