2. amps-preamps
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Warm Up Time/Cost of Operation

When I have solid state gear I will leave it on 24/7. For amplifiers this was no big deal and with certain amps previously I could hear the differences between a cold start up and 3 days of power up. 

A year ago I bought a pair of Classe Omega monoblocks. A bit ago the wife was commenting on our electrical bill. I could not find online specs for power consumption but this morning I located the manual.

Consumption is listed at 706 watts. I assume this is per amp and hourly consumption. Electricity here is 12.6 cents per KWH. A calculator shows the cost of 24/7 on ad being $126 a month. 

It's a bit wasteful to idle like that so I am planning on switching off moving forward. But I am wondering what should my plan be moving forward.

 Thinking I will turn them on when listening in the morning casually, shut them off while at work, turn them on when I get back, and shut off when I go to bed. 

Anyone have experiences running big amps like mine in this manner? Thoughts and experiences are greatly appreciated. 

neonknight

Showing 2 responses by ghdprentice

ghdprentice
6,465 posts
 

OP “…Thinking I will turn them on when listening in the morning casually, shut them off while at work, turn them on when I get back, and shut off when I go to bed…”

 

This is a pretty good plan. You might also start a study to learn how much warmup is really required. I would imagine if you immediately turned on your amps when you got home, then come listening time, things would be good. 
 

The amps I have owned have required about 10 minutes to 45 minutes to sound their best. My current tube amp and preamp seems to sound good as soon as turned on… very different from previous generations.

ghdprentice
6,465 posts
 

500 watts is a lot of power to use 24 x 7 for an hour or two of listening. At very least I would turn off over night.
 

Pass has an idle mode where a trickle of current is used to keep the circuits warm, Audio Research now has a 3 1/2 minute soft startup. Too bad they did not implement something.

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