Leaving Amps on 24/7

MillerLiteScott

How many people leave their SS amps on all the time?

jm1

My DAC does not have a power switch and is on all the time.

My preamp and amp both have rocker switches for power. They also have stand by switches; the preamp's is on the face plate while the power amp's is on the back of the unit. The manufacturer recommends they be powered up at all times, which is what I do.

I also leave the dbx active crossover on as this is connected between the pre and power amps.

MillerLiteScott

I did not even think about this until now:mad: My amp is in standby mode untill the trigger turns it on.

Question?

Does this mean that the caps or whatever is getting juice to it so it is reasonable ready when the trigger turns it on?

Scott

danger boy

me me me me me.

i live my 4 amps all da time. they still work.

WilliamM2

I'm lucky if I get to listen to music 6 to 8 hours aweek, so mine get turned off every time I am done listening. No point wasting electricity, or wearing all the parts out.

Does this mean that the caps or whatever is getting juice to it so it is reasonable ready when the trigger turns it on?

Your caps charge in milliseconds, they have to, as they discharge and recharge constantly when playing music. Your amp will be ready to play right after it is turned on.

george daniel

SS-on

cfrizz

Mine is on in standby.

joeparaski

With all the crap I've got, it takes so long to turn the thing on that I have no time left to listen since I don't have much time to start with.:D

Joe

George Grand

Used to do it. Then I got to thinking I got away with murder the few times I wasn't around my house but severe thunderstorms were. Too much money involved.

halo

George Grand wrote: »

Used to do it. Then I got to thinking I got away with murder the few times I wasn't around my house but severe thunderstorms were. Too much money involved.

Excellent point GG.

That said, I leave them on 24/7 as recommended by the manufacturer: LINK

ben62670

All the time, unless I know I won't use them for a while.... Which is almost never. 4 Adcoms
Ben

Early B.

Similar question --

Do you plug your amp directly into the wall? If so, what improvements do you gain by doing so?

Thanks.

janmike

Standby here as well - both amp and pre.

louthewiz

I have my amps turned off and I use a power strip with a 12volt trigger which I made with a relay from radioshack and a transformer plugged into the avr to control it.
Total cost $12.50 for the entire project...

George Grand

Halo,

That Sanders amp sounds like it's pretty sharp, and also maybe using some Carver Magnetic Field technology. So small, so light, so powerful, and drawing so little current at idle.

RuSsMaN

Off, unplugged if there is a chance of threatening weather.

There isn't a surge box out there that will stop a direct hit. NOT one. It will run straight through fuses and breakers, and cook everything in the path.

I even make sure the cord is at least a foot away from the outlet, that kind of voltage can jump.

ben62670

Early B. wrote: »

Similar question --

Do you plug your amp directly into the wall? If so, what improvements do you gain by doing so?

Thanks.

I run my amps straight to the wall. My GFA-585, 5800, 7500 all draw almost 15 amps max. My GFA-555 draws over 10 amps max. To try to condition or protect that kinda power would be tough. Also if you believe in power cords, and you run them through a protection device you are limited to the capability of the protection device.

Willow

My outlaw is on standby my marantz always on as they only have a video trigger, which sucks if I only want audio.

hearingimpared

My preamp and DAC manuals instruct to leave them on 24/7, and since I've had my rig up (January 7th I think) everything including amps have been continuously on. Unless I was upgrading or biamping. I'm amazed at how cool the Adcom 565s and the Parasound runs. One time and one time only do I remember them getting hot and that was the day it was over 80 degress here and I kept the windows closed while blasting music so I didn't get any outside interference, if ya know what I mean.

As a matter of fact my Spectral doesn't even have a power switch.

janmike

hearingimpared wrote: »

As a matter of fact my Spectral doesn't even have a power switch.

No power switch - WOW! Sorry, for the lack of knowledge, but I'm not sure I would want that. Then again, I never have.

hearingimpared

janmike wrote: »

No power switch - WOW! Sorry, for the lack of knowledge, but I'm not sure I would want that. Then again, I never have.

I spoke to the engineer at Spectral and he said that it should be left on all the time that is why no power switch. It doesn't consume much electricity so that is not an issue. The power amps on the other hand . . .

pearsall001

I shut everything off at night before I hit the sack. I don't want any surprises during the night.

Ron-P

What is the reasoning behind leaving everthing on 24/7?

madmax

Ron-P wrote: »

What is the reasoning behind leaving everthing on 24/7?

Some equipment reaches a good thermal equalibrium after 1 to 3 days and begins to sound its best. I have a preamp that sounds like crap until its been on for 3 days then it becomes magical. I've had others where it didn's seem to matter. My tube amps get turned on at least an hour before I'm ready to listen because they sound kinda bad until they hit about the hour mark and I won't leave them powered up. Actually, all my tube amps have been that way. My DAC seems to want to be on a few days before it sounds its best too. Until everything else is right none of this really matters. I'd suggest many tries of continuous power and intermittant power to see if you can tell a difference.
madmax

billbillw

Ron-P wrote: »

What is the reasoning behind leaving everthing on 24/7?

So they stay warmed up and sound up to their full potential. Many solid state devices sound like crap until they warm up. Many also argue that heating up and cooling down causes more wear than just leaving them on all the time. For transistors and ICs, this is probably true, but not for Capacitors and some other passive components that are degraded over time from heat, so its a trade off really and it depends on the device. Items that run hot, I tend to turn off. Items that only get warm or stay cool, I'll leave on.

My old Sony 333ESL was grainy and awful for the first 5-10 minutes. Although, it had so much Class A bias, it was pretty much fully warmed up in about 15 minutes, after which, it was probably hot enough to slow cook a roast! That said, I didn't leave it on.

My current Parasound amp, doesn't run quite as hot, but I still don't leave it on. Parasound claims to have special bias circuits that optimize the sound until the amp is warmed up. I can't really hear a difference between the first 5 minutes and after 10 hours, so it must do the job.

Neither my Preamp or my Tuner get hot at all, so I tend to leave them on for longer periods and often 24/7.

My CD player does get quite warm, so I don't leave it on. Haven't heard much difference in the sound between warm and cold with it either.

MillerLiteScott

I turn my HT theater equipment off with the exception of the amp which is in standby.

My 2 channel is turned off also. Around happy hour I usually turn the pre on which powers up a integrated power strip that the rest of my 2 channel is plugged into. I then power up one mono block at a time and let everything warm up for about an hour or so. Usually after dinner I will play a cd at a low level for a warm up while I put the kids to bed and then @ 8-8:30 I come down to have a listen. I usually turn everything off between 10:30-11:30.

And if I am so inclined, I repeat the above procedure the next day.

unbridled_id

There isn't a surge box out there that will stop a direct hit. NOT one. It will run straight through fuses and breakers, and cook everything in the path.

What about this ?

"We believe that a surge protection device should not fail. At the heart of our Series Mode Surge Filter is a massive inductor. This is not a sacrificial component. It will never fail. It will not degrade with use. In fact no component used in the construction of this product is sacrificial. A Brick Wall Surge Filter will never experience a surge related failure.

You do not have to take our word for it. Consider the following:

* IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) states that 6000V is the largest transient that the interior of a building would experience.
* IEEE defines its harshest interior surge environment as one that could experience 100 surges of 6000V, 3000A in a years time (category B3).
* A new federal guideline recommends that a surge protector utilized in a harsh environment should be capable of withstanding 1000 surges of 6000V, 3000A or ten years worth of IEEEs category B3.
* UL (Underwriters Laboratories) now provides a new adjunct testing service (in addition to the 1449 safety classification) that will test to the 1000 surge, 6000V, 3000A federal protocol.

Passing such a test is a virtual guarantee that a surge protection device will never experience a surge related failure.

Early in 1996 UL applied 1000 surges (at 60 second intervals) of 6000V, 3000A to an off-the-shelf Series Mode Surge Filter.

There was no failure. There was no performance degradation. Let through voltage did not exceed 400V. Certified by UL.

We still perform this testing on our equipment today.

You cannot do any better than this for a point-of-use surge protection device".

reeltrouble1

I just turn my amp off. As soon as I get home I turn everything on have the evening meal, watch the PTI guys, then its off to the shed, works for me.

RT1

halo

unbridled_id wrote: »

There isn't a surge box out there that will stop a direct hit. NOT one. It will run straight through fuses and breakers, and cook everything in the path.

What about this ?

"We believe that a surge protection device should not fail. At the heart of our Series Mode Surge Filter is a massive inductor. This is not a sacrificial component. It will never fail. It will not degrade with use. In fact no component used in the construction of this product is sacrificial. A Brick Wall Surge Filter will never experience a surge related failure.

You do not have to take our word for it. Consider the following:

* IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) states that 6000V is the largest transient that the interior of a building would experience.
* IEEE defines its harshest interior surge environment as one that could experience 100 surges of 6000V, 3000A in a years time (category B3).
* A new federal guideline recommends that a surge protector utilized in a harsh environment should be capable of withstanding 1000 surges of 6000V, 3000A or ten years worth of IEEEs category B3.
* UL (Underwriters Laboratories) now provides a new adjunct testing service (in addition to the 1449 safety classification) that will test to the 1000 surge, 6000V, 3000A federal protocol.

Passing such a test is a virtual guarantee that a surge protection device will never experience a surge related failure.

Early in 1996 UL applied 1000 surges (at 60 second intervals) of 6000V, 3000A to an off-the-shelf Series Mode Surge Filter.

There was no failure. There was no performance degradation. Let through voltage did not exceed 400V. Certified by UL.

We still perform this testing on our equipment today.

You cannot do any better than this for a point-of-use surge protection device".

Who makes this? Got a link?

RuSsMaN

Lightning is typically between 20,000 and 2,000,000 volts at anywhere from 10,000 up to 200,000 amps.

It can't be stopped by off the shelf 'protectors'.

Your link is talking about interior surges IN the building, ie its own devices failing. It has no talk about good ole mother nature.

Cheers,
Russ

hearingimpared

Ron-P wrote: »

What is the reasoning behind leaving everthing on 24/7?

According to an engineer I spoke to from Spectal it takes time for electronics to stabilize, once they do you don't want to keep disrupting them hence leaving them on 24/7.