Which to turn on first...Amp or preamp?


Hoping someone can help me out. I have a tube preamp and solid state amp. I'm very new to tube equipment and have discovered that regardless of which unit I turn on first, be it the amp or the preamp, there is always some "electrical noise" from the speakers when I turn the second device on. If I turn the amp on first, followed by the preamp, I hear a slight buzz (I'm assuming this is the tubes warming up...?) followed by a low frequency noise that makes the woofers on my speakers push out and pull back to a large degree. If I reverse the order of turning the equipment on, I no longer hear the buzz, but the speakers still display the push/pull effect. This never occurred with my solid state preamp. Two questions....Is this normal? ...and....If it is normal, which unit should I be turning on first to do the least amount of damage to my speakers or equipment?

Any advice would be appreciated!
Tony
calgarian5355

Showing 2 responses by mitch4t

I have a tube preamp and like to turn it off at night too preserve tube life. My amps are solid state and I like to leave them on all the time. So when I turn off the preamp, the above advice suggests that I should turn my amps off too.

Any compromise or advice on this setup. My system is listed below.
Excellent tip Charlie101, especially to engage an unused input when powering down.

....thanks, mitch