Tube Pre & SS Power Amp

Obsession18

I'm considering the purchase of a Rogue Audio 99 Preamp and have a question about its use, the users manual for the Rogue states the following:

After turning on the preamplifier, turn on the power amplifier and source material and you are ready for listening.

Does this mean the power amp must be powered down before you turn on the preamp to avoid any issues? I'm running an Odyssey power amp which does NOT like to be turned off, the capacitors take forever to charge and the sound suffers as a result.

I also saw in the classified section (now sold) that the unit can be had with home theater bypass which would be a plus.

Pycroft

When Turning on our system, turn on the source first (CD player, etc), then Preamp, then Amp. When powering off, do it the opposite - power OFF the Amp (making sure volume is down on the preamp), then preamp, then source. This will avoid 'pops' in the speakers, etc.

James

Obsession18

Pycroft - I see you also run an Odyssey amp, so do you turn it off after each listening session?

I'm wondering if leaving an SS power amp on while powering up a tubed preamp will cause any problems other then popping, provided the popping isn't so loud as to damage your speakers.

tonyb

Powering off, I agree with the above, but powering on.....anything tubed should be powered on half an hour before listening if possible. Actually, I like to turn everything on a half hour prior. Trick with powering off is to make sure the volume is way down, otherwise it really matters little, but to avoid the pops.....volume down, amp first.

billbillw

I never had a problem pops or thumps with my BAT preamp. I turned it off before my amp all the time. However, every preamp is different. Some automatically mute the output during on/off to prevent such problems. I'm not sure if Rogue mutes or not. Since they mention this in the manual, its possible they don't.

Obsession18

I looked at the Rogue manual a little deeper and found this:

Delays- Note that the Rogue Ninety-Nine is equipped with a slow turn-on feature that protects other equipment from dangerous transients at turn-on as well as significantly prolonging tube life. This feature is provided via several timing circuits that allow the tube filaments to reach operating temperature before turning on the high voltage supply. The outputs are muted during this sequence and then opened after turn-on transients have been safely dissipated to ground.

I think I'm going to call Rogue and see what they say, based on the above it seems like it would be OK to leave the power amp on when turning the preamp on and off.

drumminman

I also run a tube linestage (Odyssey Candela) and Odyssey amp. The amp stays on 24/7 and the linestage gets powered up 30 min-1 hr before I start the music. I can hear the Candela click on 30-45 seconds after powering up, so it must have some kind of slow power up as well.

I usually turn on the Candela and then the Oppo and have experienced no issues. Just to be safe I always have the volume on the Candela turned all the way down on start up/power down.

Pycroft

I power everything down after each listening, so I have no way to answer the above question - sorry

James