Leave your CD player on??

madmax

I wrote the following to Hoosier and afterward thought I should have posted it for everyone to read. Instead of re-writing it I'll just paste it in here.

Russ,

Remember when we were talking about the systems sounding great many times then all of a sudden one day it sounds like crap then good again later? (I thought it was mood swings or barametric pressure or something). I think I’ve found in the past few weeks that it is a combination of two things. One is the source. After replacing my CD player it only sounded a little crappy once, and not too bad that time. Not bad enough to turn it off and forget about it. The other is that I read that CD’s and preamps often need up to 100 hours of warmup before they reach proper playback specs. I started leaving mine on and every time in the past two weeks it has sounded exactly the same to me. Normally in two weeks I would have had at least 2 or 3 times when it was really lacking. Maybe it’s too soon to tell but I’m pretty sure this has solved the problem.

Chuck



madmax

organ

Very interesting. I only find my system lacking when I'm grumpy. The only thing I leave on all the time are the AA DTI and DAC. It was even recommended in the intruction book.

Let's see what everyone else thinks about this issue.

Maurice

I-SIG

I think I can justify leaving on the source, preamp, and any "auxiliary" items, but not the amp.

Wes

dragon1952

hey organ,
I just bought a dde 1.1 w/ dti+ but no manual. It says to leave them on , huh. Does it give any specifics?
Thanks, dragon

Tour2ma

dragon,
Be sure to plug the power supply into the DDE and DTI before plugging into the wall socket. Many AA units have been zapped by their own PS's going in the opposite order.

As for leaving sources on... any bit of gear that sees regular duty stays on here. Vacations and electrical storms are the only exceptions.... OK, hurricanes, too.

organ

Dragon,
Congrats. The DTI is an awesome unit. What are you going to do with the MAN now?

Here's what's written in my DTI instruction book:

"An on/off switch is not provided since the DTI is intended to be powered at all times to insure maxiumum sonic performance. After initial turn-on, the DTI will require at least 24 hours of continuous operation to reach its maximum sonic potential. Because the DTI draws less than 2 watts from AC mains, power consumption is inconsequential."

Maurice

steveinaz

I know its probably harmless, and produces the best sound, but my cheap-**** just can't do it.

FWIW, I do notice that my system sounds better after being on for about 40 minutes....

I agree that amps should be turned off however. Amps don't take long to come-up to temperature...at least Parasounds' don't.

I-SIG

Originally posted by steveinaz
I agree that amps should be turned off however. Amps don't take long to come-up to temperature...at least Parasounds' don't.

You got that right!

Wes

dragon1952

Agreed also....;)

organ.....Thanks a lot for the info...that will definitely help. I'll probably move the dac*man to another source....like the satellite receiver maybe???

smglbrth

I leave the pre, CDP, and DVD all in the standby mode, except for thunder/lightning storms.

Some things I do find interesting about the standby mode in different pieces of equipment though. The pre stays warm to the touch right on top of the transformer, as does the CDP. The DVD player doesn't stay warm at all. The amp is turned on via the 12 volt trigger from the preamp so it's supposed to be in some type of standby mode but I get no warmth at all from this either.

I do notice differences in sound with warmup time. When I had everything off completely it took over an hour for everything to sound correctly. In standby it only takes about 10-20 minutes depending on the volume setting.

One other thing, when the pre and CDP are in standby the LCD screen "lines", which run horizontally, do show up in darkness.

madmax

One real plus of leaving my preamp in standby mode is that you can see the four tubes lit up all the time. Really cool! They are only at 50% power so it doesn't kill the tubes too fast. At least that is what the manual says. I wish my amps had the same feature. I wonder if they just power the filaments with half voltage??

madmax

Willow

Hey Max, years ago I worked at a thrift shop and let me tell you they had loads of tubes, it may be worth while to check them out and ask if they have any lying around, we had a stock room full, wish I would have known what they were way back then I would have bought them all....maybe not all but you get what im saying