Is it safe to leave an amplifier on continuously?

[Uncle Erik]

Anyone check this thread yet? Look here:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=190183

Case in point. Gear fails. What would have happened if he wasn't there to turn it off?

 

[tnmike1]

Tube amps by their nature --and i'm talking about home audio tubes--take about 1/2 hr to one hr to totally warm and deliver their "tubey" sound. Therefore many people leave the tube amp on constantaly. Does not harm the tube as long as the amp has a "standby" switch which reduces the power to the tubes drastically--in other words, the standby mode only allows the tube to stay warm, not fully "on" and "hot'

Don't know about the tubed amps being used for headphones--only those in older Macintosh amps, preamps and the newer Careys and that ilk

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnmike1 Tube amps by their nature --and i'm talking about home audio tubes--take about 1/2 hr to one hr to totally warm and deliver their "tubey" sound. Therefore many people leave the tube amp on constantaly. Does not harm the tube as long as the amp has a "standby" switch which reduces the power to the tubes drastically--in other words, the standby mode only allows the tube to stay warm, not fully "on" and "hot' Don't know about the tubed amps being used for headphones--only those in older Macintosh amps, preamps and the newer Careys and that ilk

My old guitar tube amps (Fender and Ampeg) have an standby switch but I have not seen a single tube headphone amp with one.

 

[Snake]

Just because it is solid-state does not automatically mean it is OK to leave it on continuously.

If the device runs Full Class A it runs at a very high bias, even while idling...and therefore runs much warmer / hotter than a A/B biased machine. That extra heat can cause premature component failure in the long term.

My recommendation is: if it is A/B then leaving it on is, generally, no big deal and helps the sound as "warm up" times on a A/B system can be lengthy, depending upon exact design. On a Full Class A machine turn it OFF when not in use - it's warm up time is quite a bit shorter than A/B and your components will thank you later (this is from long personal experience)