Leaving your amp/preamp on 24/7?

[pyonc]

Hi Forum friends,

Do you turn on or off your amp and preamp everytime you use them, or just leave them on all the time 24/7?
I've got vintage preamp and amp to drive my 4343s in bi-amped mode.
When I don't listen, I always turn them off, along with DAC and electric crossover.
In my case, a couple of times a day, or sometimes more I turn them on and off. Any shock to the electric circuits?
I just want to invite your opinion on what's the best way to keep this vintage gear, or generally modern audio gear.
Some say they leave only preamp switch on/off while leaving the amp on all the time.
So, what do you say about leaving both amp and preamp on 365 days, or leaving them just off when you don't use?
What's the correct, or best way to maintain your gear in great condition?

[Maron Horonzakz]

I have krell equipment,,,Krell states I can leave them on 24/7,,.....But if you are going to leave them for a long time(going on a trip) left unattended,, than turn them off.

[4313B]

Leave everything on. This guy will dig all the coal required. When he drops dead someone else will take his place.

[Fort Knox]

Hi Forum friends,

Do you turn on or off your amp and preamp everytime you use them, or just leave them on all the time 24/7?
I've got vintage preamp and amp to drive my 4343s in bi-amped mode.
When I don't listen, I always turn them off, along with DAC and electric crossover.
In my case, a couple of times a day, or sometimes more I turn them on and off. Any shock to the electric circuits?
I just want to invite your opinion on what's the best way to keep this vintage gear, or generally modern audio gear.
Some say they leave only preamp switch on/off while leaving the amp on all the time.
So, what do you say about leaving both amp and preamp on 365 days, or leaving them just off when you don't use?
What's the correct, or best way to maintain your gear in great condition?

I'd at least shut down the main amps..It's kinda like "did you unplug the Iron" sorta thing...ya know ..piece of mind...

[pyonc]

Looks like you guys agree on leaving them on.
Would you explain about the primary benefits?
Does this hold true for JBL vintages such as SE400S, SE460, SG520, etc?
On googling on this topic, I notice lots of pros and cons.

[DavidF]

Hi Forum friends,

Do you turn on or off your amp and preamp everytime you use them, or just leave them on all the time 24/7?
I've got vintage preamp and amp to drive my 4343s in bi-amped mode.
When I don't listen, I always turn them off, along with DAC and electric crossover.
In my case, a couple of times a day, or sometimes more I turn them on and off. Any shock to the electric circuits?
I just want to invite your opinion on what's the best way to keep this vintage gear, or generally modern audio gear.
Some say they leave only preamp switch on/off while leaving the amp on all the time.
So, what do you say about leaving both amp and preamp on 365 days, or leaving them just off when you don't use?
What's the correct, or best way to maintain your gear in great condition?

The answer is an unequivocal maybe. Actually there are lot's of pros and cons.

I think basic common sense says you should turn off equipment not in use. Cuts down on your power bill if nothing else.
Common sense and we audio types sometimes don’t always orbit the same sun, however.

If you are like me the system is typically used just at night during the workday but periodically during the day on weekends.

The maker of my amp (Odyssey) says leave the amp on 24/7 as this keeps the components at optimum temp. That assumes components at optimum temp sound better and it takes a while to reach that temp. Haven’t made that determination, not sure I can. The maker of my tube pre amp (Van Alstine) says don’t leave it on if you are away for periods of time. Wasteful in terms of power and tube life.

I like to save on power. I am always going around the house turning off lights.

I am also conditioned to think that the power surges into cold electrical components tends to shorten the lifespan compared to leaving same powered all the time. Picked that from my Grand Dad who worked for GE lighting up through the 50’s. I’m not sure that applies in this modern era.

I turn everything off at night. On weekends I typically leave the system on all day if I am around.

I am currently making an exception with the Odyssey amp. For one thing the power switch is on the back of the chassis. Also, it has huge heat sinking and does not consume much power at idle so it does not stress components heat-wise at idle. I do, however, have reservations about leaving a power amp on when I am not around the house should the amp someday give it up and blow pure DC through the woofer coils.

[Allanvh5150]

Turn em off. Electronic components have a service life span, especially electrolytic capacitors. Things get messy real quick when the big ones decide to give up...

Allan.

[Fort Knox]

Turn em off. Electronic components have a service life span, especially electrolytic capacitors. Things get messy real quick when the big ones decide to give up...

Allan.

Speaking of electrolytics, your Amps, above mentioned, are pretty ancient....have they been
ckd out at the shop ..for safety..(I had a Flames Linear 400 go out at 2 AM back in the 80's..)

[Mr. Widget]

Virtually none of my modern equipment gets fully turned off. When you turn it off it goes into a "stand by" mode and depending on the equipment, this can be only leaving the IR control circuits active to remotely power up the unit to keeping the circuits live but at lower power to reduce the warm up time for optimal audio performance.

My phono preamp has no power switch and is designed to be on 24/7 and has been for many years... still sounds great!


Widget

[hjames]

I think the TIVO, the OPPOs, and the Integra preamp are the only things that sees the lines 24/7

We get too many powerline glitches and such for me to leave the gear on 24/7, esp when I am away.
I have Adcom power controllers for the B&K amps in the home theater that power them up and down gracefully,
and the SS gear warms up quickly.

Even the tube gear upstairs warms up fairly quickly -
tho for critical listening I do give it some time to stabilize ...

[Dave_72]

I leave everything on all the time, except during thunderstorms.

[martin2395]

I always keep the preamp, D/A converter and my Squeezebox Touch turned on.
The amps are never left alone unattended, since they are getting old you never know what might happen - a small cap or resistor, or even the output stage can pop and set the amp (and the house!) on fire...
Not to mention that the Carvers will most probably throw DC on the speakers when the output section goes bust.

[sheltiedave]

My repair tech says to leave everything on all the time. He needs more business.

[SEAWOLF97]

Turn em off. Electronic components have a service life span, especially electrolytic capacitors. Things get messy real quick when the big ones decide to give up...

Allan.

agree ..... heck, even Mr. Coffee's in standby mode have combusted.

[Maxwelhse]

agree ..... heck, even Mr. Coffee's in standby mode have combusted.

Unless you have a power sensing outlet strip....

I don't care what Crown or Sherbourn/Emotiva says, my amps are plugged into auto-sensing outlet strips and are FULLY powered down when I'm done playing them.

Currently my Crown XLS-2500, Sherbourn 5-200, and Sherbourn 12-45 are all completely dead to the world.

I became a convert to that idea when the the first strip on my PC knocked $10/month out of my power bill.