[SennFan]

Do you turn your amp on/off for each listening session or keep it on constantly (solid state)?


Heard a lot of different opinions/thoughts on this issue. Some manufacturers have told me that it's ok to leave it on as long as you want whereas others have recommended turning it on/off each time you use it. Wondering what all of you think and if there is any hard evidence to support the benefit of either preference.

What are the disadvantages/advantages of leaving your amps on constantly?

 

[rickcr42]

All my amps are pure class-A so my wife would likely kick my a*s when she received the monthly electrical bill if I left them all on 24/7

I have instead gotten used to "turn it on,go do something for 1/2 hour to let it warm up then listen" thing.Class-a means also a loooooong time to stabilise and actually warm up before it sounds right

 

[some1x]

DAC1: 24/7
RKV: 23/7

 

[edisonwu]

computer - 24/7
DAC - 24/7
EMP - ?/7

 

[rickcr42]

uh,the question is on amps guys

I f we want to do a list I can drive all of you whacko when I do the entire lineup soup to nuts

 

[rogue]

24/7 for my RS HR-2. I would probably turn it off if it had a switch, but since it's SS leaving it on shouldn't really affect it.

 

[Gabe Logan]

I asked that question to Mikhail when i first got my amp because i wanted to have a faster burn in by having it on 24/7 but he told me to turn it off when not in use so that is what i do.

 

[rogue]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabe Logan I asked that question to Mikhail when i first got my amp because i wanted to have a faster burn in by having it on 24/7 but he told me to turn it off when not in use so that is what i do.

Interesting...I may start doing that as well then. Thanks for the info Gabe. Shame then that the HR-2 doesn't have a power switch (going behind my desk and unplugging the power cord isn't incredibly easy).

 

[BrianS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabe Logan I asked that question to Mikhail when i first got my amp because i wanted to have a faster burn in by having it on 24/7 but he told me to turn it off when not in use so that is what i do.

tubes get really hot and wear out faster if left on 24/7 apparently

if i had solid state i would leave it on if i didnt worry about the electricity bill

 

[SennFan]

We're still only really talking about preferences. I am interested in finding solid facts on the pros/cons of leaving an amp on.

Answers to questions like:
1) Will leaving the amp on diminish the useful life of the amp?
2) Will there be any degradation of performance over time?

etc etc

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 I have instead gotten used to "turn it on,go do something for 1/2 hour to let it warm up then listen" thing.Class-a means also a loooooong time to stabilise and actually warm up before it sounds right

I do exactly the same thing with my M3 and speaker amp, although I usually only wait ~15 minutes before I get impatient trying to do something else and go ahead and listen.


To address your question SennFan:

I typically leave the amp on the rest of the afternoon/evening once I've already turned it on, unless I know I'm not going to be using it anymore. Except for the Aria, which I turn it off whenever I'm not using it so as to not be blinded by the blue light when I walk around. If I ever get around to reducing the brightness on the Aria's LED, I'd probably follow the same pattern as my other amps.

In general for solid state, leaving the amp on all the time isn't going to cause any problems. Arguably turning it on and off all the time would be worse than leaving it on, but it's really a non-issue and just boils down to personal preference.

 

[rickcr42]

Quote:

if i had solid state i would leave it on if i didnt worry about the electricity bill

I have a 10WPC class-a solid state amp through the ASL UHC that idles at 5A continious

No way that puppy stays on without there being a noticeable impact on my light bill

My "Stax" driver at 20WPC,also class-A but more efficient,is about half that in idel current but still "out there" when compared to more conventional amps and my Szekeres pulls a full amp stereo so those three alone if left on full time would mean 8.5 amps continious current draw and that is just not acceptable.

Quote:

Answers to questions like: 1) Will leaving the amp on diminish the useful life of the amp? 2) Will there be any degradation of performance over time?

Yes and yes but varies with topology.

Everything eventually hits its lifespan and that measured in hours of actual electricity flowing through the part.The more stressed that part is during normal operation the sooner it will first get noisy then expire.High bias Class-A means heat and if there is a circuit killer it is that so the great sonics come at a cost in equipment life/replacement cost,energy used in the home and then there is the wating period before it actually stabilises and sounds good.That last would alone drive some nuts

My triode gear again is all class-a but here with the cost of quality tubes being the main consideration and with the definate noise free lifespan being measured in years not decades i am taking no chances

 

[SennFan]

The results from the poll so far are about what I expected. Currently I'm using an Outlaw 750, and wanted to see what others do concerning powering their amps. This amps seems quite efficient so I don't think I'll have a problem keeping it on for extended periods and only turning it off every other week/month or so.

Any advice? thx

 

[Senn20]

I've gotten in the habit of not turning anything off unless I'm not going to use it for an hour or longer. All of my gear is solid state for now.

 

[smeggy]

I leave my stax 313 on all the time, in only gets mildly warm overnight and just a little warmer when being used. My Spitfire DAC get's warmer. Come to think of it my DVD player gets warmer than the Stax even when the DVD is off.