Amp — Leave on or turn off

@soix  I worked in the insurance industry for over 20 years and can confirm that companies are always looking for ways to deny claims.  People generally misunderstand an insurance contract.  The majority of people view a policy as explaining all the protection they have.  The reality is slightly different.  An insurance policy is a legal contract that lays out the limits of liability the company has taken on.  When viewed in that context, you start to understand that insurance companies are not looking for ways to help you out.  They are looking for ways to limit their exposure at time of claim.  To your point, is there a real chance an amp could lead to a claim?  It's extremely remote.  Is there a chance you could win the Power Ball Lottery?  Even more remote but people still win it all the time.    

Should you be rude to another member because he/she expresses an opinion that you do not agree with?  I think not.  In fact, I think that is the worst attribute of Audiogon.  The number of members who have lost sight of the fact they are only expressing their own opinions.  And those opinions are generally no more or less valid than the next.  IMHO.  Cheers.

Off. If you prefer, a digital timer might be the thing to rely on if you are prone to forget.

I also like to power down all my components at the end of the day, just before bedtime.  Well, not exactly.  All my components are plugged into a power conditioner, so when I turn them off, they are actually still on, but in stand-by mode, which prevents cold-starts, which allows things to sound much better when you do your initial power-up.  Coming out of stand-by mode allows for it to take less time for things to warm up and to sound their best.  I like doing it this way.  It works for me.  However, I suppose that nothing beats just leaving everything on all the time so as to keep things nicely warmed up and ready to go for the absolute best sound 24/7.          

Why all the controversy? Check with the manufacturer. Plinius told me to to leave it on all the time for maximum life since cycling on and off causes more wear and tear  than just leaving it on and since it is a Class AB SS amp it draws very little current when not playing. My amp is 18 years old and counting (and I bought it very slightly used from a high end dealer who told me I don't "have to" leave it on, which suggests it is better to leave it on).  I will say that even though it is always on, it seems to sound a little better after playing for a while. In fact, they moved the power switch to the back on the model that replaced mine (which is almost the exact same amp internally) to strongly suggest leaving it on. My phono stage and all those made by Sutherland have no power switch. so with that is isn't even a point of discussion. Same with Rega tables - they either turn or not. So everything is always on! If I was burning out expensive tubes I would probably turn them off and suffer through the warm up period.

Interestingly enough, I was told the same thing from an Apple technical guy about my MacBook Air which I view through a 24" monitor. I use it as a server with a wireless keyboard and mouse. He said leave it on and plugged in with the lid shut. I think the less start up cycles with pretty much anything electronic, the better, when it is feasible.

To your point, is there a real chance an amp could lead to a claim?  It's extremely remote.

@bigtwin  So, in your 20 years in the insurance biz did you ever see a claim based on audio equipment being left on?  How about a refrigerator?  That’s always on, so how many claims did you see from a fridge causing a problem?  The likelihood of an amp causing an issue from being left on is so small it’s downright laughable, and those yelling fire on this are just feckless alarmists IMHO.  I take your point about insurance companies being stingy about paying claims — I had that happen once and am still pissed about it.