I'm always wondering and like to hear it from you guys. What benefits do you actually get by having your equipments ON 24/7? I do admit that my Power Amp sounded so MUCH better after 30 minutes or so, but other than that I'm hard pressed to find any other reasons. You will definitely shorten your Amp's lifeline (although some manufactures recommended that you always leave the power ON, why? because they do not want you to get stuck with just one Amp, the faster your Amp burned out, the quicker you're in the market for new one). Why not just turn on the Power for 30-40 minutes before listening? Have you guys heard of Manhole Explosions? if your car parked above one and if the explosion happened, your car is toasted. To be continue
As I was saying, what if that Manhole is right outside your house/apartment, then you might ended up with a toasted car and a well toasted Stereo System. Hey, you left your equipments on anything can happen right? who to blame now?
Class D amps can be left on permanently. My Gilmore Raptor monos do not even HAVE an on/off power switch, only a mute button. The manual says to leave them on 24/7 for best sound.
My amp sounds better after 30-45 minutes of being powered on. I have experimented with leaving it on for weeks at a time, but I haven't noticed any improvements in SQ by doing so. So now I turn it on first thing in the morning, and turn it off at night before bed.
FWIW, I have another component that, when left on for days or weeks, actually sounds WORSE. Strange but true.
Wow Bryoncunningham, you have an interesting component there. My system sounds worse only after I had a few drinks. I guessed there are more upsides from leaving them on 24/7. From now on, I might start leaving them all ON and hope that I have a deep pocket for replacements just in case something happened. I do have a deep pocket, but it has holes in it and I still can't find a Tailor to sew it up for me yet guys.
All my components stay on 24/7/52. Brake down rate is now non-existent . Elizabeth's research , about thermal switching seems sound . Large solid state power amps usually sound better ( smoother ) after a few days use . Power bill increased by $10. per month , not much in a six digit system . System always sounds better after copious amounts of red wine . If you have tubes disregard the above . except the wine . Tim
One last thing guys, besides the high Electric bill to pay. After 10 hours or so, not just my Amp is hot but almost the entire room's temp is definitely raising. I think the class A amp will do that to anyone not just me as I am using a Pass X350, you know how hot that thing is.
. When I first got my monoblocs, I left them on 24/7 because of what I read on Audiogon. After I got my first electric bill, I nearly had a cow, so no more 24/7 for me. It sounds good right from the start without any warmup. It possibly gets better after a few hours of warmup, but I really don't pay that much attention as to whether it sounds better with or without warmup.
Nguyen357, if your system sounds worse after a few drinks, you're drinking the wrong thing. Good cognac or 12 year old Scotch will do the trick. The older the Scotch or cognac the better. .
Regarding MTTF in electronic systems, numerous factors come into play. Thermal cycling can have an effect, but it depends on what the low and high temps are, what kind of parts we're talking about and how much they're derated, etc. Leaving your gear on will wear down certain types faster (class A power amps come to mind) due to current flow and hence electrochemical migration. So depending on what kind of gear you have, how it's designed, and how you use it, turning it on/off vs leaving it on is truly component specific; making a blanket recommendation is not possible.
FWIW - I work as a reliability engineer in the semiconductor industry.
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