Hello all.
I own the Onkyo C-S5VL Super Audio CD/CD Player. I picked up the Little Dot I+ because I have many low impedance cans (AD700, M50, MS1, HD555, DT770 Pro 80 ohm (is 80 still considered low?)) and I was hoping the headamp would be significantly better than the headphone jack. When I purchased the amp, I read online many things about caring for tubes and amps in general. As such, I got to wondering about caring for all my products. So I sent Onkyo a message that said:
"Hello, I recently purchased the Onkyo C-S5VL. I am interested in preserving the life of my product and have a couple of questions about it.
It is to my understanding that all parts (capacitors, resistors, potentiometers, transistors, etc.) found within the motherboard making up any electrical audio component undergo normal wear and tear. Therefore these questions arise:
1) If I do not have an output (whether it be digital, analog, or the headphone out) I should not start (or have any) playback, is this correct?
2) If I wanted to play music for days nonstop is that okay? A better question: Is there a limit to how long the unit should be working?
3) I plan to use the analog output as well as the headphone out. I believe it is okay to leave the connection between the analog output and its destination plugged in (as long as the destination is powered on and using the signal), but what rules are present for plugging headphones in? Should I plug/unplug headphones only when the unit is off? Therefore plug in, turn on, listen, turn off, then unplug? Or is there another method? Also is it okay to use multiple outputs at once (e.g. analog and headphone jack)?
4) I have heard that turning on most audio units (whether it be receivers, amplifiers, sources, transports, or external DACs) is where most of the wear and tear occurs. As such, I try to limit myself on turning my C-S5VL on and off many times. If I know I will be listening in 15 minutes I turn the unit on in advance. If I need to take a break for 15 minutes I keep the unit on. I do understand that wasting energy is not morally right therefore I do turn my unit off while sleeping or if I know I will be away for long periods of time. But leaving the unit on and not having it produce playback, is that okay?
5) Is there a warm up period (turning the unit on and letting the components inside get ready for playback)? Is there a cool down period after turning it off and before turning it on and using it again? This also brings up another question as to headphones being plugged and unplugged. I currently only plug/unplug when the unit is off. Is it okay to turn off the machine, unplug the headphones, plug in other headphones, and immediately start playback after turning the unit on again? Or is there a cool down period where I should let the unit remain off before using it again?"
Onkyo replied:
"We don't have any method on how to play back your unit with or without an output. We strongly don't recommend playing your unit for days because it will cause the unit to over heat and cause internal issues. It doesn't matter if you power the unit down first before you plug in your head phones, that should not cause the unit to decrease is life span. Leaving the unit off for long period of time will not cause any damages to the unit, and there are no warm up and warm down for our units. It simply turn on and play, and when your done using the unit just turn it off."
As far as I'm concerned, the only question that is really answered is about no warm up or cool down periods (unlike tubes and such).
Anyone feel like they can clear some of this up for me?
Thanks in advance.
