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Why No Power Button on Some Phono Stages?

I am upgrading my phono stage, and several of the ones I have shortlisted do not have a power switch/on-off button.

Why is this? Is the user supposed to keep it powered up all the time, or manually unplug the power each time?

I know certain electronics are supposed to have better sound once they have reached thermal equilibrium, but that doesn't mean I want to keep it powered up 24/7.

Switching the phono stage power off from the power strip is a PIA, as it would switch all of my other components off, and I'd lose by tuner settings.

I want to choose the phono stage by sound quality, but an on/off switch is a major convenience factor for me. Why do some manufacturers leave it off?
kixo

Showing 4 responses by czarivey

czarivey
5,721 posts
 
It takes substantially less play time than stand-by to worm-up. My area is vulnerable to devastating surges so my equipment is always OFF when not played. It takes one full album to play (near 40m) and wormup of Musical Fidelity XPS and pretty much the rest of system is complete. Do home errands while worm-up tunes are playing. They still sound great. I shut down my system or turn on with single button of Furman conditioner and care less about power switch on my phonostage.
czarivey
5,721 posts
 
Power supply caps with behavioural memory...
czarivey
5,721 posts
 
Definitely, Lewm, I forgot to mention that it's being unplugged from the wall.The sources are various: unstable main transformer, winds and devastating lightning bolts.
czarivey
5,721 posts
 
Dover, How do you discharge PS caps? Turning off for day or 2 may not do the trick and still keep'em charged. It's highly recommended regardless of unit being turned on or off to discharge caps with 1mOhm resistor before any 'surgery' on electronic equipment for certain reason and if you want to verify it, you can (certainly with your own health risk) touch terminals of your power supply caps just to verify and test the information you currently believe into.
As to sound differences, you're simply listening to the 'colder' rig than one was running for a month 24/7. Speaking of electronic components, normal operating temperature is very important to have specified parameters, but excess of temperature can also be even more destructive. In solid state electronics the vibrations against heat sinks will cause loss of integrity and certainly higher running temperatures. In tube electronics in general LOTS of components exposed to the hot running temperatures. It also tells that turning off even solid state devices, will prolong length of good performance.
If you keep recharging a battery before it is discharged fully, it can form a "memory" whereupon it wont work any more when it reaches that point that you kept recharging it, whereas if you completely run the battery down before recharging, then it will work at all levels.
Can you specify what kind of battery has such phenomenal capabilities?
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