It could vary by amp design I suppose. The designer of my McCormack amp is adamant it should be left on unless leaving home for an extended period. I will say my amp lasted 30 years being left on 24/7 90% of the time. Turning a component off and on frequently — again probably depending on amp design — can be stressful and detrimental (think of incandescent lightbulbs mostly blowing out when turned on), and electronic parts tend to prefer staying at constant temps rather than constantly fluctuating between cold and warm/hot. I would not turn my components on and off more than once/day regardless unless it was a tube amp, but that’s just me. Maybe call Classe and see what they recommend as they’d know better than anyone.
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.
Showing 2 responses by soix
Thanks @tonywinga — here’s another interesting and similar kinda story… |